A.A. works for some patients and not others, and may be able to help develop individualized treatment goals (AA/Brown University)." Although there may be
some hesitance at first, I believe that it is a logical conclusion that a
person who is an active participant in a meeting, and shares their story will
be better helped that a person who does not.
The Journal of Studies on Alcohol conducted an extensive eight year study.
Their key finding was that "individuals who seek and obtain help for a drinking problem show better drinking-related outcomes over 8 years than do those who do
not seek and receive help (Timko et al)." 54% of the studies participants
maintained abstinence. However, only 26% of untreated individuals did so.
There were two important findings regarding help for problem drinking among help seekers "Informal treatment alone was at least as effective as formal treatment
alone and, in the long term, there were no differential outcomes between types
of help (Timko et al.)."
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