Does Alcoholics Anonymous really work? Here’s what the latest evidence says

Research has documented a significant correlation between AA attendance and successful outcomes. Research has not demonstrated that AA is more effective than other approaches to recovery from drinking problems. There is hope if you or a loved one struggles with drug and alcohol addiction or a mental health disorder. TruHealing Centers across the country offer high-quality treatment for substance use and mental health disorders.

• There is hope if you or a loved one struggles with drug and alcohol addiction or a mental health disorder.
• He is a board member of Ahavas Chaim, a non-profit that offers at-risk teenagers crisis intervention and mental health support.

It is considered the gold standard in medical research and is the international ‘go to’ source for national treatment systems and government clinical decision makers. Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) has several million members in 180 countries, has continuously operated for almost a century, and is the world’s most widely available and widely used mutual-help organization. Yet since AA started to be formally studied by clinical scientists in the late 20th Century, scholars have debated its effectiveness. Though many early studies showed benefits of AA, the rigor and methodology of much of this research was questioned, and up until the late 1980s, there were few gold-standard randomized controlled trials or rigorous quasi-experimental studies. In the early 1990s, however, the United States National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) called for more rigorous investigation of AA, and its mechanisms. This systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted through the Cochrane Library of systematic reviews – the recognized gold standard in scientific rigor for medical research.

Cocaine Addiction

Despite AA’s long-standing international popularity, there has been debate about its clinical and public health utility. Addressing this gap in knowledge was the rationale for this 2020 Cochrane Library report. This pattern of relative advantage for AA/Twelve-Step Facilitation interventions appeared to be consistent across both randomized controlled trials/quasi-experimental and non-randomized studies. AA/Twelve-Step Facilitation also reduced healthcare costs substantially more than other types of treatments.

However, rigorous studies examining online recovery support meeting participation to inform best practices have not yet been conducted. While the benefits likely outweigh risks, online AA participation requires formal investigation. In research, bias is a systematic distortion of the relationship between a treatment, risk factor or exposure, and clinical outcomes. Though researchers usually seek to minimize bias in their studies, even very well-designed studies often include some potential for bias. In this report, 11 of the 27 studies were rated as potentially high risk for selection bias because they either used alternation group assignment versus true randomization (6 studies), or were non-randomized (5 studies).

Exercise has many mental health benefits, but can it reduce craving and negative mood in active alcohol use disorder?

“Well,” he told me, “it’s 2,000 euros.” That’s about $2,500—a fraction of the cost of inpatient rehab in the United States, which routinely runs in the tens of thousands of dollars for a 28-day stay. Several concepts used in AA add to the success of the program, including sponsorship, anniversaries, and social support. A new member of AA is mentored by another member, a sponsor, who is usually of the same gender https://www.healthworkscollective.com/how-choose-sober-house-tips-to-focus-on/ and has been active in AA for a minimum of 1 year. New members are encouraged to contact their sponsors when they are considering drinking or are having difficulties with sobriety. This system of social support and mentoring has been shown to be beneficial both to the new member and to the sponsor. Cross and colleagues53 showed that 91% of sponsors maintained their abstinence from alcohol after ten years.

• No one knows that better than Mark and Linda Sobell, who are both psychologists.
• As mentioned above, it also allows us to have a national brand, which will make us a recognizable name in the addiction and mental health field.
• Recovery Support From WillingwayThe board-certified professionals at Willingway introduce many progressive ideas as part of each client’s relapse prevention plan, based on their unique needs.
• Research shows that being able to easily access treatment is the key to staying with recovery.

He has successfully drunk in moderation on occasion, without any loss of control or desire to consume more the next day. And he has more at stake now—his daughter was How to Choose a Sober House: Tips to Focus on born in June 2013, about six months before he found Willenbring. Jellinek, however, later tried to distance himself from this work, and from Alcoholics Anonymous.

Twelve-Step Programs

Wilson was known to drink two quarts of whiskey a day, a habit he’d attempted to kick many times. He was given the hallucinogen belladonna, an experimental treatment for addictions, and from his hospital bed he called out to God to loosen alcohol’s grip. He reported seeing a flash of light and feeling a serenity he had never before experienced. He based its principles on the beliefs of the evangelical Oxford Group, which taught that people were sinners who, through confession and God’s help, could right their paths. I visited one of three private treatment centers, called the Contral Clinics, that Sinclair co-founded in Finland.

If you’re interested in support groups like Alcoholics Anonymous, don’t wait to get started. Aftercare treatment programs reduce your risk of relapsing and are great ways to meet and find support from others in recovery. The 12 traditions of AA serve as the foundation of the organization. Because of these, members are able to rest assured that AA is a safe place to share their experiences and get support for their alcohol use disorder (AUD).

The History Of AA

Yet, traditional treatment options such as a residential inpatient or outpatient clinic can be too expensive for many people, or they may require time away from work and family. Affect’s app puts a program in your pocket and brings a whole rehab clinic to you. Research shows that being able to easily access treatment is the key to staying with recovery. We know that a lack of convenient, affordable care is one of the major reasons that only 1 in 13 people who need treatment for alcohol and substance use disorders do not get the help they need.