Abstinence Or Moderation: Is There A Correct Choice?

Harm reduction may also be well-suited for people with high-risk drug use and severe, treatment-resistant SUDs (Finney & Moos, 2006; Ivsins, Pauly, Brown, & Evans, 2019). These individuals are considered good candidates for harm reduction interventions because of the severity of substance-related negative consequences, and thus the urgency of reducing these harms. Indeed, this argument has been https://ecosoberhouse.com/ central to advocacy around harm reduction interventions for people who inject drugs, such as SSPs and safe injection facilities (Barry et al., 2019; Kulikowski & Linder, 2018). It has also been used to advocate for managed alcohol and housing first programs, which represent a harm reduction approach to high-risk drinking among people with severe AUD (Collins et al., 2012; Ivsins et al., 2019).

The contents of this website are for educational purposes and are not intended to offer personal medical advice. You should seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. Folate, the B vitamin that helps guide the development of an embryo’s spinal cord, has equally important jobs later in life.

Can an alcoholic ever drink again in moderation?

Drawing from Intrinsic Motivation Theory (Deci, 1975) and the controlled drinking literature, Miller (1985) argued that clients benefit most when offered choices, both for drinking goals and intervention approaches. A key point in Miller’s theory is that motivation for change is “action-specific”; he argues that no one is “unmotivated,” but that https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/total-alcohol-abstinence-vs-moderation/ people are motivated to specific actions or goals (Miller, 2006). AA was established in 1935 as a nonprofessional mutual aid group for people who desire abstinence from alcohol, and its 12 Steps became integrated in SUD treatment programs in the 1940s and 1950s with the emergence of the Minnesota Model of treatment (White & Kurtz, 2008).

• However, moderation doesn’t work for everyone who struggles with alcohol.
• Participants with controlled use goals in this center are typically able to achieve less problematic (38%) or non-problematic (32%) use, while a minority achieve abstinence with (8%) or without (6%) incidental relapse (outcomes were not separately assessed for those with AUD vs. DUD; Schippers & Nelissen, 2006).
• They may have been “problem drinkers,” “heavy drinkers,” or “binge drinkers.”
• Submit your number and receive a free call today from a treatment provider.
• Take the Alcohol Use Disorders Test (AUDIT) developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) online.
• Such was its popularity that SMART Recovery grew from 42 group meetings at the beginning to more than 2000 in North America alone today and now proliferating worldwide in 23 countries and counting.

By Buddy TBuddy T is a writer and founding member of the Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee with decades of experience writing about alcoholism. Because he is a member of a support group that stresses the importance of anonymity at the public level, he does not use his photograph or his real name on this website. Instead of drinking alcohol, plan out the non-alcoholic beverages you can order or make instead. Enjoyable, non-alcoholic alternatives include soda and fresh lime juice, virgin mojitos, soda with fresh fruit, kombucha, or mocktails.

Does Drinking in Moderation Help or Hurt the Long-Term Health of Your Brain?

Over the past few decades, research has demonstrated that complete abstinence isn’t always the most effective approach for treating alcohol abuse. While total abstinence is necessary in some cases, in other cases people are able to reduce their drinking to moderate levels without needing to abstain totally. For people who have not been able to maintain sobriety through Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) or other 12-step programs, they may wish to consider if moderation may be a more effective path for them to take. 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. In order to be included in that original study, an individual had to be diagnosed with an alcohol use disorder, report a minimum average weekly drinking of 16+ drinks for women and 25+ for men, and express interest in a moderation approach to changing their drinking. While the burden to deliver effective treatments falls on health care providers, individual factors can impact how well someone responds to these treatments.

For years, the answer to whether people with alcohol dependence and AUD could ever drink again in moderation was presumed to be a firm “no.” But today, programs like Moderation Management may offer people living with AUD a way to drink moderately or taper off into abstinence. The internet is full of misinformation about the risks of alcohol intake. But here’s what the experts have to say about drinking in moderation — the good, the bad, and the ugly — and your health. Drinking too much alcohol too frequently is unhealthy and can lead to liver disease, weight gain, and alcohol use disorder (AUD). Alcohol consumption may also play a role in certain mental health conditions, like depression and dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease. In the Nurses’ Health Study, the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, and other studies, gallstones [40, 41] and type 2 diabetes [32, 42, 43] were less likely to occur in moderate drinkers than in non-drinkers.

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Your specific health goals, health risks, and medical history may play a role in your choice to either moderate or abstain from alcohol. This is especially true if you suffer from specific health conditions or are cutting back to avoid increased risk of specific health consequences. Total abstinence is not the only option when changing your relationship with alcohol. For some people, drinking in moderation can be a viable pathway to a healthier life. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), the definition of moderate alcohol use differs for men and women. Drinking in moderation can teach individuals better drinking habits without eradicating alcohol from their lives.

• Indeed, 54.0% in the National Recovery Study also sought lifetime assistance for their substance use problem (Kelly et al., 2017) versus 19.8% among those with alcohol use disorder in the NESARC (Grant et al., 2015).
• It’s also important to remember that it’s not a permanent line between “moderate drinkers” and “abstainers.” You can always reevaluate your relationship with alcohol and revisit your goals.
• Alcohol blocks the absorption of folate and inactivates folate in the blood and tissues.
• The effects of alcohol consumption can also differ greatly based on a person’s physical composition, regardless of sex or gender identity.
• We summarize historical factors relevant to non-abstinence treatment development to illuminate reasons these approaches are understudied.