Alcoholics Anonymous Helps Men and Women Recover, but in Different Ways
In terms of alcoholism recovery more generally, we found the ability to handle negative moods and emotions was important for women but not for men," Kelly said. The study suggests that for women, alternative ways to cope with sadness and depression may …
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Higher alcohol taxes lower underage drinking
An article posted November 21 on the website of the National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence, Inc. (NCADD) notes higher alcohol taxes discourage teens from drinking. "These taxes prevent and reduce drinking and death among young people, …
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Question by Maryy: What percent of rehabilitated people actually are cured?
ok so this is for a project….
does anyone know what percent of rehabilitated people get out and dont do the same mistake agian??? (i.e.- they would use drugs daily, went to rehab, then when they got out they quit completly)
i searched yahoo, google, and ask jeeves. i did all of my project and this is just a small part of it wich isnt really gonna be graded so keep your useless coments to yourself

Best answer:

Answer by raysny
Rehabs often claim amazing results, but the reality is less than spectacular.

According to Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_addiction
“The effectiveness of alcoholism treatments varies widely. When considering the effectiveness of treatment options, one must consider the success rate based on those who enter a program, not just those who complete it. Since completion of a program is the qualification for success, success among those who complete a program is generally near 100%. It is also important to consider not just the rate of those reaching treatment goals but the rate of those relapsing. Results should also be compared to the roughly 5% rate at which people will quit on their own. A year after completing a rehab program, about a third of alcoholics are sober, an additional 40 percent are substantially improved but still drink heavily on occasion, and a quarter have completely relapsed.”

That estimate is based on information from Dr. Mark Willenbring of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and in my opinion, optomistic.

” About 80 percent of addiction patients will relapse, studies suggest, and long-term success rates for treatment are estimated at 10-30 percent.
“The therapeutic community claims a 30 percent success rate, but they only count people who complete the program,” noted Joseph A. Califano Jr., of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. “Seventy to eighty percent drop out in three to six months.” ”
http://www.addictioninfo.org/articles/1633/1/Little-Evidence-that-Costly-Treatment-Programs-Work/Page1.html

90-95% of rehabs in the US are 12step-based. The rest are Scientology or religion-based.

The 12step treatment method has been shown to have about a 5% success rate, the same as no treatment at all:

Although the success rate is the same, AA harms more people than no treatment:
1) Dr. Brandsma found that A.A. increased the rate of binge drinking, and
2) Dr. Ditman found that A.A. increased the rate of rearrests for public drunkenness, and
3) Dr. Walsh found that “free A.A.” made later hospitalization more expensive, and
4) Doctors Orford and Edwards found that having a doctor talk to the patient for just one hour was just as effective as a whole year of A.A.-based treatment.
5) Dr. George E. Vaillant, the A.A. Trustee, found that A.A. treatment was completely ineffective, and raised the death rate in alcoholics. No other way of treating alcoholics produced such a high death rate as did Alcoholics Anonymous.
http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-letters85.html

1) http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-effectiveness.html#Brandsma
2) http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-effectiveness.html#Ditman
3) http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-effectiveness.html#Walsh
4) http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-effectiveness.html#Orford
5) http://www.orange-papers.org/orange-effectiveness.html#Vaillant

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!

Substance abuse and addiction are a problem for millions of Americans. It’s been estimated that almost one-tenth of the population of the US has or is recovering from a substance addiction. These addictions don’t just affect the addict- they affect their entire family, their jobs, their friends, and especially their health. The reasons that substance addiction happen are almost as varied as the people that have the problems. Some people can occasionally indulge but many cannot. It is very hard for a person with a substance addiction to quit on their own, and some do not stop until it kills them.

Most times the addict knows very well that the substance they are addicted to is harmful, but they don’t have the means or the self-control to stop themselves. Almost all addicts are in some form of denial, and if you’ve watched much reality TV, you might think that an “intervention” is always the answer. Sadly, that’s not always the case- for a person to really get help for a substance addiction, they have to WANT to get help.

Why do people get addicted to things that they know are bad for them? The reasons are as different as the people are. Some people drink, smoke, or do drugs to have a bit of an escape from the stress of daily life, and when the problem that has caused the stress has been dealt with, they will keep right on doing it and a substance addiction will result.

Some people get addicted to substances that were originally prescribed by a doctor. Depressants like Valium and Xanax are particularly addictive because of the “rush” they give, and people continue to take them after they are no longer needed. Prescription substance addiction is as big a problem as illicit drug use, and teenagers are especially at risk. For them, these drugs are often readily accessible or even prescribed. No matter how the drugs are obtained, substance addiction is a serious and deadly problem.

People sometimes become addicted to substances because of boredom, or to fit in with their peers, or like we said earlier, to deal with stress or a traumatic incident. Unfortunately, the “escape” provided by the substance ends up creating a lot more problems than it solves. The substance addict will use, then get depressed, then use even more.

It’s a vicious cycle that cannot end without medical intervention.

When a person decides to finally seek help for a substance addiction, there are plenty of programs (like Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, and various drug rehabilitation centers) to help them start out on the road to recovery. It is difficult to beat a substance addiction, but it’s not impossible.

Drug Enforcement Agnecy (DEA) – http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/index.htm
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services (SAMHSA) – http://www.samhsa.gov/
National Institue of Health (NIH) – http://www.nih.gov/