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Certain days of the week on which they can or cannot drink (“drinking day/days”). Strategies the individual should implement to stop or control their drinking. In order to clearly see how alcohol may impair an individual’s judgment and behaviors, observing other people while they are under the influence can be quite enlightening.
If quitting is your ultimate goal, starting with moderation may help you achieve it. And even if you don’t plan to quit, you may find that you lose interest in alcohol after practicing moderation. Moderation is an alternative that works better for some people.
Addiction Treatment Options
Ria Health offers several FDA-approved medications for alcohol use disorder. When combined with counseling, this approach is proven highly effective. Antidepressants for the treatment of people with co-occurring depression and alcohol dependence.
- Moderation is an alternative that works better for some people.
- Kishline sought out professional advice when developing this method of treating problem drinking habits, even looking into clinical psychology in an attempt to determine the effectiveness of moderating drinking.
- When explaining this concept to your non-alcoholic friends, though, you may have to give them more detail so that they can understand why you simultaneously want to be sober and wish you could drink at the same time.
- Submit your number and receive a free call today from a treatment provider.
- The program is most popular with alcohol abusers, but isn’t solely aligned with them.
Our self-assessment may be helpful in recognizing substance abuse in yourself. For drinks per drinking day, the High group had significantly greater reduction than the Moderate (19%) and Low group (20%), while the Moderate group also had significantly greater reduction than the Low group. I’ve grown up in a Christian home my whole life, but there have been times I have struggled with my faith. I started listening to your series, Getting to Know you God.
Considering Your Options
After years of struggling, she decided to get some help. She admitted she was hooked on alcohol and started seeing a counselor. alcohol abstinence vs moderation Alcohol had taken its toll—her job, friends, family and health had all suffered—and she wanted it out of her life.
Unfortunately, the problem of drug/alcohol addiction is not waning, in fact more and more people are being diagnosed every year. Moderation management and harm reduction doesn’t necessarily work for everyone, much like abstinence based treatment doesn’t work for everyone either. Generally speaking, abstinence based treatment is considered more effective for chronic drug users and alcohol abusers.
Who Is Most Likely to Benefit from Moderation-focused Alcohol Treatment?
It combines self-reflection and self-help while participants continue to reflect on their journey towards better health and wellbeing. You have stability in your personal and professional life. There are signs to look for if you want to know if moderation management is right for you.
- Study authors used data from their prior randomized trial that tested two motivational interventions and one comparison condition where individuals were simply encouraged to reduce their drinking taking place over 7 weeks.
- Knowing these statistics, why would any of these people choose to drink again?
- These approaches allow you to work with a mental health professional who can help you address challenges with alcohol.
- Other critics have concerns that the MM program will give abstinent substance abusers the idea that they can return to using and keep it under control.
These influences may include family dynamics, workplace culture, friendships, strained relationships, and lifestyle elements. You don’t have to start your recovery journey alone. Treatment providers are available 24/7 to answer your questions about rehab, whether it’s for you or a loved one. Submit your number and receive a free call today from a treatment provider. In Journalism from the University of Auburn and has over 3 years of professional writing experience. Her passion for writing and educating others led her to a career in journalism with a focus on mental health and social justice topics. Her main mission is to be a platform for all voices and stories, and to provide tangible resources to those seeking recovery for themselves or loved ones.
Which Medications are Best for Individuals That Want to Moderate Their Drinking?
Many people think that abstinence is the only solution for problem drinking. Abstinence means giving up alcohol completely, and it’s the foundation of traditional treatment options like AA and most inpatient rehabs. But alcohol misuse is not a one-size-fits all problem, and neither is its solution. In general, heavy drinkers who are physically addicted to alcohol and/or those who have suffered serious alcohol-related problems are better off not drinking at all, as moderation is less effective. It is also not intended for formerly dependent drinkers (i.e., alcoholics) who have been abstaining.
Because let me tell you this, I know what it’s like to abstain. And it feels nothing like where I am today because I didn’t realize back then that my desire was something that I actually had power to change. You don’t have to change the molecular makeup of alcohol. You don’t have to move to a cabin in the woods where alcohol is not around you and no one is drinking around you. You don’t have to change the fact that alcohol releases dopamine in your brain in order to change your desire for it because that is separate from your thinking. We’re talking about abstinence versus moderation today because I get asked this question all the time. And if you have struggled with your drinking, you too have probably spent a lot of time thinking about which one you need to choose.