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The author misses the point of who AA is intended for. Not every person who goes through a period of overindulgent drinking is an alcoholic. Many college studen

The author misses the point of who AA is intended for. Not every person who goes through a period of overindulgent drinking is an alcoholic. Many college students in the US drink like alcoholics and, like the article says, 75% of binge drinkers cut way back when they get more responsibility. AA, in my opinion, is meant for those other 25%. AA is for the people who have a serious job, a family, or other responsibility and don't slow down. There are people who hit rock bottom from drinking and realize they need help. For them the thought of getting back to that rock bottom point can be terrifying. Abstinence only isn't forced upon them, but rather it can be viewed as the only option. This article also doesn't do anything to address drug addiction. I don't think moderating heroin intake is going to be a viable option for people with a heroin problem. There is certainly a large group of people in the world who can benefit from the treatment described here, but I think the article oversteps a great deal by saying this is a more effective addiction treatment than AA.

deleted 12y ago
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warfangle 12y ago
> Eight trials involving 3417 people were included. AA may help patients to accept treatment and keep patients in treatment more than alternative treatments, though the evidence for this is from one small study that combined AA with other interventions and should not be regarded as conclusive. Other studies reported similar retention rates regardless of treatment group. Three studies compared AA combined with other interventions against other treatments and found few differences in the amount of drinks and percentage of drinking days. Severity of addiction and drinking consequence did not seem to be differentially influenced by TSF [Twelve Step Facilitation] versus comparison treatment interventions, and no conclusive differences in treatment drop out rates were reported. Included studies did not allow a conclusive assessment of the effect of TSF in promoting complete abstinence. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD005032.pub2/abstract http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD005032...

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

warfangle 12y ago

> Eight trials involving 3417 people were included. AA may help patients to accept treatment and keep patients in treatment more than alternative treatments, though the evidence for this is from one small study that combined AA with other interventions and should not be regarded as conclusive. Other studies reported similar retention rates regardless of treatment group. Three studies compared AA combined with other interventions against other treatments and found few differences in the amount of drinks and percentage of drinking days. Severity of addiction and drinking consequence did not seem to be differentially influenced by TSF [Twelve Step Facilitation] versus comparison treatment interventions, and no conclusive differences in treatment drop out rates were reported. Included studies did not allow a conclusive assessment of the effect of TSF in promoting complete abstinence. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD005032.pub2/abstract http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD005032...