AA is Faith-Based, Not Evidence-Based
Alcoholics Anonymous is the most widely used treatment for alcoholism. It is mandated by the courts, accepted by mainstream medicine, and required by insurance companies. AA is generally assumed to be the most effective treatment for alcoholism, or at least “an” effective treatment. That assumption is wrong.
We hear about a few [...]

University of Wisconsin-Madison based program aims to better drug treatment

Green-Milon’s apparent success in overcoming her addictions is all too rare, experts say. Only about a tenth of the 24 million Americans who need drug treatment get it, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and at least half of them relapse.
Part of the challenge, [...]

New combination of treatments is effective for alcohol dependence
McLean Hospital researchers, along with colleagues from 11 other study sites nationwide, report that the medication naltrexone and up to 20 sessions of alcohol counseling delivered by a behavioral specialist are equally effective treatments for alcohol dependence when delivered with structured medical management in the Journal of [...]

Masekela’s message for ‘addictive’ SA
One of the biggest names in world music – trumpeter Hugh Masekela – has said the message behind his latest album Time is to help the fight against drug and alcohol addiction in his native South Africa.
Masekela himself is a recovering addict, having gone into rehabilitation six years ago before establishing [...]

The Discovering Alcoholic is the blog of a “recovering alcoholic clean and sober without relapse since the fall of 94″

Brett Favre’s addiction to painkillers (1996)
After the seizure had ended and he had come to his senses, Favre looked into a sea of concerned medical faces and saw Packers associate team physician John Gray. “You’ve just suffered a seizure, Brett,” Gray told him. “People can die from those.” Favre’s heart sank. Upon hearing from [...]

September is National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month. Voices of recovery…

From the Center for Disease Control (Aug, 2008):
The National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism defines binge drinking as a pattern of drinking that brings a person’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08 grams percent or above. This typically happens when men consume 5 or more drinks, and when women consume 4 or more [...]

Quitters: U.S. alcohol consumption declining
Overall alcohol use—particularly consumption of beer—is declining in the US, according to a new study published in the August 2008 issue of The American Journal of Medicine. Researchers examined 50 years of data and found several changes in alcohol intake but no change in alcohol use disorders. Americans are drinking significantly [...]

Singer Billy Joel spent time at the Betty Ford clinic for alcoholism treatment in 2005.
Billy Joel leaves US rehab clinic
Singer Billy Joel has left a Californian rehabilitation clinic where he was being treated for alcohol abuse. His publicist confirmed that the 55-year-old had now checked out of the Betty Ford clinic, in Rancho Mirage, [...]