All right, last one. This time, Sally Satel makes the case that recovery comes down to choice and "grit and conviction." It's not just American Enterprise Institute fellows who make these arguments. I've heard people in recovery say to other AA members in relapse, "You need to make a decision!" Of course, the relapser has … Continue reading If it wasn’t rational, cont’d
Category: Research
If it wasn’t rational, cont’d
Sam Wilkinson responds to the the coverage of Hart's research (That crack and meth addicts in a lab will decline drugs for money.) and agrees that addiction is rational. Hart has found the same thing. It isn’t the addicts are powerless; it’s that nothing on the other side of the scale weighs as much as … Continue reading If it wasn’t rational, cont’d
Is low therapist empathy toxic?
Miller and Moyers make the case that low therapist empathy is toxic with a review of some research on the topic. In one study, a single in-session therapist behavior predicted 42% of the variance in clients’ 12-month drinking outcomes: the more the therapist confronted, the more the client drank (Miller, Benefield, & Tonigan, … Continue reading Is low therapist empathy toxic?
The adoption of 12-step practices and beliefs.
We're seeing a growing body of research on the mechanisms of change in 12 step recovery. Tonigan and Greenfield recently published an article in Psychology of Addictive Behaviors. Working the 12 steps is widely prescribed for Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) members although the relative merits of different methods for measuring step work have received minimal attention and … Continue reading The adoption of 12-step practices and beliefs.
Methadone, technology and outcomes
Substance Matters has a post about the use of new technologies in methadone maintenance. Patients who use a web-based intervention (TES) instead of half of their traditional counseling did better than those with traditional counseling as part of their methadone treatment. It provokes important questions about the usefulness of new technologies and how they might … Continue reading Methadone, technology and outcomes
Consuming research
A couple of fun posts about research. (Did I really just write that?) First, Tyler Cowen reviews a widely cited study: In 1991 Halpern and Coren published a famous study in the New England Journal of Medicine which appears to show that left handed people die at much younger ages than right-handed people. Halpern and … Continue reading Consuming research
Methadone with and without counseling
Drug and Alcohol Findings reviews research on the impact of counseling for methadone patients. While across the board there was significant improvement, being assigned to standard/enhanced versus interim (no counseling) programmes did not further improve retention, illicit drug use and related problems, or make much difference to criminal activity. There was no evidence that interim … Continue reading Methadone with and without counseling
NIMH acknowledges that antipsychotics worsen prospects for long term recovery
Thomas Insel, the Director of the National Institute on Mental Health comments on a recent study of the long term effects of antipsychotic maintenance for schizophrenics. The study looked at patients who discontinued antipsychotics compared to those who were maintained on antipsychotics. ...by seven years, the discontinuation group had achieved twice the functional recovery rate: … Continue reading NIMH acknowledges that antipsychotics worsen prospects for long term recovery
6 sessions of chronic care management for addiction is not effective
JAMA published a study of a primary-care based chronic care management model (CCM) for addiction. The test group did no better than the control group. The headline is a big bummer for any of us who want to see chronic disease models developed and implemented for addiction. What should we make of it? Many headlines … Continue reading 6 sessions of chronic care management for addiction is not effective
What should we think about e-cigarettes?
Motherlode notes a trend in e-cigarettes and is concerned: I was standing outside our neighborhood ice cream shop one recent evening when I noticed a plume of smoke rise above a gaggle of teenagers waiting in line ahead of me. “Wow,” I thought, “that takes some serious chutzpah.” These kids were smoking in public without … Continue reading What should we think about e-cigarettes?
Recovery Review 