Churchill famously said that the US and Great Britain are two countries separated by a common language. Arguably TV and movies may have bridged the divide a bit, but nuances of language and spelling are not the only things that differentiate us; something I was aware of when reading Marc Galanter & colleagues' paper on … Continue reading God and recovery
Tag: Narcotics Anonymous
A culture of communion
Jim Contopulos writes about the beauty in brokenness he witnessed when his (now deceased) son took him to an NA meeting. Years before we lost Nick to the diseases of addiction and mental illness, he invited me into a Narcotics Anonymous meeting. I had never attended one, but of course, I said “yes” to his invitation. I … Continue reading A culture of communion
Recovery anniversaries unscientific and crazy?
Robert DuPont has something to say in response to the media blitz for Dodes' new book attacking AA. He's more strident than I'd be in defending AA, but he makes some great points. . . . Dodes criticized AA and Narcotics Anonymous' (NA) "tally" system, which recognizes incremental periods of continued sobriety by awarding chips. "The … Continue reading Recovery anniversaries unscientific and crazy?
Tribes of the recovering community
Narcotics Anonymous has gotten a lot of attention this week after Philip Seymour Hoffman's death, so it'll be this week's tribe: Narcotics Anonymous is a global, community-based organization with a multi-lingual and multicultural membership. NA was founded in 1953, and our membership growth was minimal during our initial twenty years as an organization. Since the … Continue reading Tribes of the recovering community
Tribes of the Recovering Community
This week's tribe is Millati Islami: Millati Islami is a fellowship of men and women, joined together on the "Path of Peace". We share our experiences, strengths, and hopes while recovering from our active addiction to mind and mood altering substances. We have sought to integrate the treatment requirements of both Al-Islam and the Twelve Step … Continue reading Tribes of the Recovering Community
Mental Illness not a barrier to 12 step benefits
A recently published study replicates findings that addicts with co-occurring mental illness benefit from twelve step facilitation: Background Evidence indicates that 12-step mutual-help organizations (MHOs), such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA), can play an important role in extending and potentiating the recovery benefits of professionally delivered addiction treatment among young adults with … Continue reading Mental Illness not a barrier to 12 step benefits
A culture of communion
Jim Contopulos writes about the beauty in brokenness he witnessed when his (now deceased) son took him to an NA meeting. Years before we lost Nick to the diseases of addiction and mental illness, he invited me into a Narcotics Anonymous meeting. I had never attended one, but of course, I said “yes” to his invitation. I … Continue reading A culture of communion
Youth Recovery Contexts
Another study brings good news about adolescents and 12 step recovery: Results The proportion attending 12-step meetings was relatively low across follow-up (24 to 29%), but more frequent attendance was independently associated with greater abstinence in concurrent and, to a lesser extent, lagged models. An 8-item composite measure of 12-step involvement did not enhance outcomes … Continue reading Youth Recovery Contexts
A New Paradigm for Substance Use Disorder Treatment
From Robert DuPont, MD: Substance abuse treatment is committed to abstinence from nonmedical drug use. Yet, continued nonmedical drug and alcohol use and relapse are so common that they are often defined as part of the disease itself. A “new paradigm” for care management has been pioneered over the past four decades by the state … Continue reading A New Paradigm for Substance Use Disorder Treatment
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