• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Survey Says Self-Help Groups Have 45% Turnover

Posted on: Tuesday, 25 November 2008, 07:57 CST

A federal study, released on Monday, showed about 5 million Americans attend meetings of self-help groups like Alcoholics Anonymous for alcohol and drug abusers, and nearly half of them reported remaining clean.

Many communities with AA and Narcotics Anonymous groups were examined by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

In meetings like these, people speak to others who are also grappling with the same issues involved in drug and alcohol abuse as well as their experiences with it.  They also offer emotional support to one another as they try to beat their addictions.

The agency said that the findings were based on a survey given to 135,672 people age 12 and older in 2006 and 2007.

According to SAMHSA, 5 million people age 12 and older reported to be attending groups like these for alcohol and drug abuse.  About two-thirds of them were male and 80 percent were over the age of 25.

It was reported that 45 percent of those people were abstaining from drugs and alcohol during the month before responding to the survey.

A third of the surveyed reported to have attended a formal rehabilitation facility in the past year.

About 22 million Americans meet the definition for substance abuse, according to Stephen Wing, the agency's associate administrator for alcohol policy.  He said the agency did not have data on whether attendance was increasing over time.

"The data reinforces the fact that participation in self-help groups is associated with abstinence and recovery," Wing said.

---

On the Net:

• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports

More News in this Category