Teens Medical Cost Less with 12 Steps
Conclusions
The findings suggest that 12-step participation conveys medical cost offsets for youth who undergo AOD treatment. Reduced costs may be related to improved AOD outcomes due to 12-step participation, improved general health due to changes in social network following 12-step participation, or better compliance to both AOD treatment and 12-step meetings.
Marlon P. Mundt, Sujaya Parthasarathy, Felicia W. Chi, Stacy Sterling, Cynthia I. Campbell. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. Volume 126, Issues 1–2, 1 November 2012, Pages 124–130 (Source: Twelve Step Facilitation.com)
Source: Twelve Step Facilitation.com - December 27, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Sparrow Tags: 12-Step Groups Addiction Alcoholics Anon Alcoholism Brief-TSF Mutual-help Narcotics Anon Recovery Relapse prevention Self-help Youth 12-Step participation avoid relapse post-treatment Medical Cost Less remain abstinent Source Type: blogs
Bad Bedside Manners
This article discusses the psychology of dehumanization resulting from inherent features of medical settings, the doctor–patient relationship, and the deployment of routine clinical practices.
First, we identify six major causes of dehumanization in medical settings (deindividuating practices, impaired patient agency, dissimilarity, mechanization, empathy reduction, and moral disengagement).
Next, we propose six fixes for these problems (individuation, agency reorientation, promoting similarity, personification and humanizing procedures, empathic balance and physician selection, and moral engagement).
Finally, we disc...
Source: Twelve Step Facilitation.com - December 15, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Sparrow Tags: Addiction Adjunctive therapy Alcoholism Assessment Co-dependency Contrast to other models Doctors Loss of control Policy Relationships Spirituality Stages of Change Bad Bedside Manners Dehumanization doctor–patient relationsh Source Type: blogs
Al-Anon Family Groups
Conclusions: This method of collecting data from 12-step group attendees yielded valid data and also was seen by many in Al-Anon as consistent with the Traditions.
Both newcomers and members had aimed to improve their overall quality of life and well-being through Al-Anon, and, indeed, members were more satisfied with their quality of life than were newcomers.
J. Stud. Alcohol Drugs, 74, 965–976, 2013. Christine Timko, Ruth Cronkite, Lee Ann Kaskutas, Alexandre Laudet, Jeffrey Roth, Rudolf H. Moos (Source: Twelve Step Facilitation.com)
Source: Twelve Step Facilitation.com - November 9, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Sparrow Tags: 12-Step Groups Alcoholism Co-dependency Demographics Recovery Al-Anon Family Groups Source Type: blogs
Stress and Vitamin B in Recovery
Conclusion
Given the direct and indirect costs of workplace stress, these findings point to the utility of a cost-effective treatment for the mood and psychological strain effects of occupational stress. These findings may have important personal health, organisational and societal outcomes given the rising cost and incidence of workplace stress.
Stough, C., Scholey, A., Lloyd, J., Spong, J., Myers, S. and Downey, L. A. (2011), The effect of 90 day administration of a high dose vitamin B-complex on work stress. Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical and Experimental. doi: 10.1002/hup.1229 (Source: Twelve Step Facilitation.com)
Source: Twelve Step Facilitation.com - September 15, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Sparrow Tags: Addiction Adjunctive therapy Alcoholics Anon Alcoholism Brain Personal stress relapse in alcoholism vitamin B Source Type: blogs
Spiritual Recovery
Recovering from alcohol and other drug dependency.
AA describes itself as a program of spiritual recovery from alcoholism. Its philosophy and methods have strongly influenced formal treatment programs.
AA’s 12 steps, beginning with an admission of powerlessness over alcohol, provide a structured series of self-examination and improvement tasks to help overcome alcoholism.
Although AA is difficult to evaluate because of its informality, subjectivity, and lack of control groups, formal treatment programs often involve AA participation as an adjunct.
AA’s reputation has led to the development of similar organizations for ...
Source: Twelve Step Facilitation.com - September 9, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Sparrow Tags: 12-Step Groups Alcoholics Anon Alcoholism Drugs Recovery Spirituality drug dependency formal treatment Source Type: blogs
Network Support for Abstinence
Persistent influence of social networks and Alcoholics Anonymous on abstinence
The role of changes in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) involvement and social networks in relation to abstinence following substance abuse treatment is studied.
Specifically, the role of AA and network support for abstinence are examined in relation to their effect on changes in abstinence states between follow-ups. Study sites were 10 representative public and private alcohol treatment programs in a northern California county.
A recruitment of 367 men and 288 women seeking treatment were interviewed at intake and re-interviewed 1 and 3 years later to...
Source: Twelve Step Facilitation.com - September 8, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Sparrow Tags: Alcohol Alcoholics Anon Alcoholism Recovery Alcoholics Anonymous on abstinence social networks Source Type: blogs
Long Term Drinking Destroys Choice
NIH study finds chronic alcohol use shifts brain’s control of behavior
Chronic alcohol exposure leads to brain adaptations that shift behavior control away from an area of the brain involved in complex decision-making and toward a region associated with habit formation, according to a new study conducted in mice by scientists at the National Institutes of Health.
The finding provides a biological mechanism that helps to explain compulsive alcohol use and the progression to alcohol dependence. A report appears online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
The brain’s prefrontal cortex is involved...
Source: Twelve Step Facilitation.com - August 24, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Sparrow Tags: Alcohol Alcoholism Disease of addiction Loss of control Chronic alcohol exposure Source Type: blogs
Al?Anon Works
Building Healthy Relationship With One’s Self In Al-Anon
As a family recovery coach, my radar goes up when I hear clients talking about how much someone else’s drinking is bothering them. What the drinker’s actual diagnosis is or isn’t, is not important to me. If their drinking is bothering my client, I gently begin asking questions to help me better understand just how much of a problem it is to my client. Often, these conversations lead me to put Al?Anon on my list of recommendations for the client.
You may wonder why I want my clients to go to Al?Anon, when I’m specially trained to help the family members of a...
Source: Twelve Step Facilitation.com - August 10, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Sparrow Tags: 12-Step Groups Alcoholics Anon Alcoholism Co-dependency Mutual-help Recovery Relationships Self-help Al‑Anon Works someone else’s drinking Source Type: blogs
AA Benefits Vary Between Sexes
A study finds differences in how men and women participate in AA is an important factor
A new study finds differences in the ways that participation in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) helps men and women maintain sobriety. Two Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators found that while many factors were helpful to all AA participants, some had stronger effects in men and some in women.
For example, avoidance of companions who encourage drinking and social situations in which drinking is common had more powerful benefits for men, while increased confidence in the ability to avoid drinking while feeling sad, depressed, or ...
Source: Twelve Step Facilitation.com - August 6, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Sparrow Tags: 12-Step Groups Alcoholics Anon Alcoholism Men Recovery Women maintain sobriety men and women participate in AA Source Type: blogs
Getting active in AA
Getting active in Recovery in AA
This is an extract from the book ‘Living Sober’ target=_blank>Living Sober’ by Alcoholics Anonymous.
It is very hard just to sit still trying not to do a certain thing, or not even to think about it. It’s much easier to get active and do something else-other than the act we’re trying to avoid.
So it is with drinking. Simply trying to avoid a drink (or not think of one), all by itself, doesn’t seem to be enough. The more we think about the drink we’re trying to keep away from, the more it occupies our mind, of course. And that’s no good. It’s better to get busy with ...
Source: Twelve Step Facilitation.com - August 1, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Sparrow Tags: Alcoholics Anon Alcoholism Getting active in AA Living Sober Source Type: blogs
The 12 Steps for Teens
Adapting 12 Step Programs For Teenagers
Twelve-step programs can be extremely helpful for teens who are struggling with addiction or who are on the road to becoming addicted, but they are more useful if they are adapted to the particular needs of adolescents, according to an expert on teenage addiction.
“These programs were developed for adults, and teenagers are not little adults—they are in a totally different developmental stage,” says Steven Jaffe, MD.
Dr. Jaffe, who has spent the past 25 years working to modify 12-step programs to make them developmentally meaningful for teenagers, spoke about his work at the re...
Source: Twelve Step Facilitation.com - July 30, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Sparrow Tags: 12-Step Groups Addiction Alcoholism Contrast to other models Drugs Loss of control Recovery Target populations adolescents Programs For Teenagers Source Type: blogs
Suicide and Alcohol
Alcohol Use Disorders among Patients Examined in Emergency Departments after a Suicide Attempt
To assess the prevalence of alcohol use disorders (AUD) in a population of patients examined following attempted suicide and compare suicide attempts with and without AUD.
180 patients examined in an emergency department after a suicide attempt were compared with 180 controls paired for sex and age. All patients answered the CAGE and the Fagerström questionnaire. The DSM-IV-R criteria for alcohol, nicotine and cannabis abuse and dependence, as well as for borderline and antisocial personality, were checked.
The prevalence of AU...
Source: Twelve Step Facilitation.com - July 29, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Sparrow Tags: Alcohol Alcoholism Assessment Demographics Relapse prevention alcohol-use disorders Emergency Departments suicide attempt Source Type: blogs
Executive Function and Alcohol Dependence
Executive function (EF) guides complex behavior such as planning, decision-making, and response control.
Alcohol dependence (AD) is known to impair EF.
New findings indicate that increased impulsiveness and decreased EF may comprise an inherited trait that signifies greater risk for developing AD.
Executive function (EF), frequently associated with the frontal lobes, guides complex behavior such as planning, decision-making, and response control. EF impairment due to alcohol dependence (AD) has been linked to alcohols toxic effects on the frontal lobes. A study of EF in a group of adult offspring of AD individuals...
Source: Twelve Step Facilitation.com - June 23, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Sparrow Tags: Alcohol Alcoholism Brain Disease of addiction Research alcohol-dependence decision-making Executive Function Source Type: blogs
Drinking Doctors Advice Poor
Doctors own alcohol consumption colours advice to patients
Doctors who drink more themselves are more liberal in their advice to patients on alcohol consumption. They set higher thresholds for what is harmful, and while men who are heavy drinkers get to continue drinking, women are often advised to stop altogether, reveals a thesis from the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
Researchers at the University of Gothenburg’s Sahlgrenska Academy have for the first time looked into how family doctors’ own drinking habits affect their advice to patients. The study, which took the form of a que...
Source: Twelve Step Facilitation.com - May 26, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Sparrow Tags: Adjunctive therapy Alcohol Brief Intervention Contrast to other models Relapse prevention Research alcohol consumption Drinking Doctors Source Type: blogs
Self-Help Groups Reduce Mortality Risk
The present study aimed to determine whether alcoholics who attend self-help groups experience fewer deaths than those who do not.
Subjects were patients from the Alcoholism Treatment Program (ATP) of Matsuzawa hospital.
A cohort of alcoholic patients recruited into a prospective study was followed from April 1994 to March 1999. A total of 469 alcoholic patients met the International Classification of Diseases (10th edition) criteria for alcohol dependency. Of these, 94 patients refused to participate in the study, leaving a total of 375 participants.
After discharge from the ATP and a complete explanation of the present s...
Source: Twelve Step Facilitation.com - May 18, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Sparrow Tags: Alcoholism Contrast to other models Recovery Relapse prevention Research Self-help alcohol-dependency Reduce Mortality Risk Source Type: blogs
