Call 888-647-0579 to speak with an alcohol or drug abuse counselor.

Who Answers?

Remembering The Good Times Helps Alcoholics Stay Sober

Recovering alcoholics who focus on positive experiences in their past may be more successful in managing their addiction. This is the finding of a study by Sarah Davies and Professor Gail Kinman of the University of Bedfordshire that was presented on the 16th April 2010, at the British Psychological Society’s Annual Conference in Stratford-upon-Avon.

A hundred and one members of Alcoholics Anonymous (53 per cent male) completed questionnaires that assessed the extent to which they were oriented towards the past, present or future, and whether this orientation was mostly positive or negative. They were also asked about their spiritual experiences, level of abstinence, compulsion to drink and anxiety.

The results showed that problem drinkers who were oriented towards the past and who had a positive view of their previous life experiences were more likely to be successful in managing alcohol dependency than those with a more negative focus on the past. Participants who held a present hedonistic orientation (focusing on having fun in the here and now) also tended to experience stronger compulsions to drink alcohol.

High levels of spirituality were also found to be a protective factor in helping recovering alcoholics stay sober and manage the anxiety associated with addiction and withdrawal.

Sarah Davies said: “Our findings suggest that therapeutic interventions that help problem drinkers view their past experiences more positively might aid recovery. It is also likely that helping addicts develop a more balanced time perspective, where they are not exclusively oriented towards the past, the present or the future, will be helpful.

“The findings of this study also highlight the important role played by spirituality in helping people recover from alcoholism. This provides strong support for therapies which emphasise the importance of gaining purpose and meaning in life such as the 12-step approach advocated by Alcoholics Anonymous.”

source: British Psychological Society

More Treatment & Detox Articles

Teen drinking not going away

Four ordinary kids sat around a table at a local youth center after being posed one simple question. It was the question asked of many in the under-21 crowd, and they gave the same answer given by a majority of their peers. “I drink. I’m not going to lie,” said a 16-year-old. It’s the same….

12-Step Treatment Programs and the Spiritual Foundation for Recovery

When Alcoholic’s Anonymous first began in the early 1930s, more than 75% of all addicts who took part in the program actually made a full recovery from their addiction to alcohol. These numbers are actually very high when compared with many of today’s current treatment modalities. Alcoholics Anonymous was the first to coin the 12-step….

Load your plate with plant foods to help fight cancer

Up to a third of all cancers could be prevented by adopting a healthy lifestyle. At the start of Cancer Prevention Week, Lisa Cooney, head of education at the World Cancer Research Fund, examines how what we eat and drink affects our cancer risk IT HAS become increasingly clear over the past few years that….

Boozing Blunts Ability to Read Faces

Heavy drinking can affect the ability to recognize other people’s facial emotions, a new study has found. Researchers used functional MRI to monitor brain activity in 15 abstinent long-term alcoholics while they looked at images of faces with positive or negative emotional expressions. The brain scans revealed decreased activation in the amygdala and hippocampus, regions….

Alcohol abuse adds significantly to costs of doing business

Ensuring Solutions has come up with some sobering facts about alcohol abuse and its impact in almost all facets of our society. Excessive alcohol use by employees and their family members has a substantial impact on the cost of doing business. It costs U.S. employers billions in lost productivity and additional health care costs every….