Newswise — While highly effective, specialty alcohol treatment may present barriers, such as cost and stigma. A variety of strategies and other factors—often in combination—help people address their problem drinking without the use of specialized alcohol services, according to a study of untreated people in recovery from alcohol use disorder. Social support and changing one’s social and physical environments were the strategies participants most frequently found helpful, and most used a combination of multiple strategies to reduce or quit drinking. The study, published in Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research, suggests that identifying individual motivations for behavior change may help people with alcohol use disorder find a set of recovery strategies and resources most relevant to their values and needs.
Researchers interviewed people who had resolved their alcohol use disorder without specialty treatment to understand the factors that helped them address their problem drinking. Sixty-five adults who had not used specialty alcohol treatment services, such as medication or inpatient or outpatient alcohol rehabilitation, were analyzed as two groups. One group consisted of twenty-seven of the participants, categorized as the ‘assisted recovery’ group, who had attended mutual help groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) at least ten times. The second group included the remaining 38 participants who addressed their alcohol problem independently, attending fewer than ten mutual help group meetings or none at all.
Cost was cited as a barrier to seeking specialty alcohol treatment. Stigma, embarrassment, lack of awareness about treatment options, and concerns about consequences at work were barriers to participants’ seeking both specialty treatment and attending mutual help groups.
Changing contexts and social support were the most commonly reported strategies by the people interviewed. Changing contexts meant, for example, changing friend groups, avoiding places where alcohol is served or sold, removing alcohol from the home, or avoiding or leaving social engagements if drinking becomes excessive. In addition, friends, family, others in recovery, and more casual social connections provided support, validation, inspiration, or resources. Partners or spouses who were supportive, and perhaps even reduced their own drinking, were mentioned by some to be particularly important, while friends or spouses who continued to drink or encouraged drinking made participants’ recovery more difficult.
Although less than half of participants made use of mutual-help groups, those attending groups like AA often found structure and a sense of belonging; however, others avoided these groups due to social anxiety or disagreement with the tenets of the program. Engagement in other activities, such as exercise and hobbies, and personal self-reliance, as well as attention to overall well-being through treatment for anxiety, depression, or underlying psychiatric issues, mindfulness exercises, positive self-talk, and improving nutrition and sleep, also supported recovery.
While not a random probability sample and generalizable, this qualitative study provides deeper insight into strategies people have used to successfully resolve their problem drinking without specialty treatment and is aligned with other studies on the topic. Findings highlight an opportunity for new interventions to support recovery for the large number of people who are unwilling or unable to seek specialty treatment for their alcohol use disorder and the need for reduced stigma and increased awareness of resources and self-help groups beyond AA.
“Everybody needs to find the best path for them”: Insights on recovery strategies of people who have not used specialty treatment for alcohol use disorder. L. Soweid, P. A. Gilbert, G. Maharjan, P. Holdefer, S. Evans, N. Mulia.
ACER-23-5893.R2
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