Moderation often requires that you take anti-craving medication for an indefinite period of time. Medication makes it easier to put the brakes on after a drink or two, and sticking to moderation is challenging without it. If you want to resolve problem drinking without medication, abstinence may be a better choice for you. When people aiming for abstinence make a mistake, they may feel like quitting is impossible and give up entirely. You can have an occasional drink without feeling defeated and sliding deeper into a relapse.

Analytic Approach

• Moreover, although previous studies have examined treated, non-treated andgeneral population samples, none has focused on individuals who identifythemselves as “in recovery” from alcohol problems.
• As a result, people have started to turn to alcohol moderation management programs for help.
• We do not know whether the WIR sample represents the population of individualsin recovery.
• For individuals with severe alcohol use disorder and possible physical alcohol dependence, quitting cold turkey can cause withdrawal symptoms that may be dangerous or even life-threatening.

These findings were such that participants committed to complete abstinence took longer to slip and longer to relapse, defined as drug use on four or more days in a week. Critically, Hall et al. (1986, 1990) examined participants with an abstinence goal allowing for occasional slips and found that these participants did not fare as well as participants with complete abstinence goals. People suffering from alcoholism typically experience a physical and psychological dependence on alcohol, making it extremely challenging to maintain moderation. This approach underestimates the compulsive nature of addiction and the neurological changes that occur with prolonged alcohol abuse.

Contextual Factors and Broadening Definitions of Recovery to Include Functioning

We grouped different dosages of the same interventions into one node for network meta-analyses. For one study,23 we grouped disulfiram (1 mg/day) with the placebo (riboflavin) group because the author used the disulfiram group as a control and indicated no reaction between disulfiram and ethanol at this low dose. We coded citalopram and escitalopram as the same node in the network meta-analysis because these two drugs are clinically interchangeable; and the dosage and regimen used in studies that investigated these drugs were aligned with clinical practice. This allowed us to incorporate one study that would otherwise have been excluded.24 A variety of control groups were observed among the included studies. Placebo groups followed the conventional definition, suggesting a physical pill without the active ingredient or ingredients. Treatment as usual groups consisted of standard, conventional treatments and 12 step facilitation.

Patients and Methods

Three authors (T.P. and Z.C. and P. Z.) separately assessed the quality of all reports using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized trials (RoB)27 to evaluate study methodological rigor with low, high, or unclear risk of bias (ROB) ratings for each domain. To assess small-study effects, funnel plots for meta-analyses including at least 10 trials of varying sizes were planned (when available). In the present follow-up, the recovery process for clients previously treated for SUD was investigated, focusing on abstinence and CD. All the interviewees had attended treatment programmes following the 12-step philosophy and described abstinence as crucial for their recovery process in the initial interview, five years ago.

Data extraction Outcomes of interest were continuous abstinence from alcohol (effectiveness) and all cause dropouts (as a proxy for acceptability) at least 12 weeks after start of intervention. The negative effects of alcohol abstinence vs moderation your drinking may have turned you off of alcohol entirely, and that’s completely okay. If your reason for choosing abstinence is simply that you want to, that’s a perfectly valid reason to quit alcohol altogether.

Although research indicates that CD may be a possible option for sustained recovery, at least for certain groups and at least later in the recovery process, it seems as if the dominating approach of treatment systems is still abstinence. The 12-step approach is widely adopted by alcohol treatment facilities (Galanter, 2016) endorsing total abstinence as the treatment goal. In the present article, clients treated in 12-step programmes were reinterviewed five years after treatment.

Importantly, the confidence intervals were narrow andextremely similar across models, implying that the effect of age was robust to modelspecification. In regard to help-seeking and problem severity, having attended at leastone 12-step meeting and the number of DSM-IV dependence symptoms were both significantlyrelated to non-abstinence. In the fully saturated models, any twelve-step attendancedecreased odds of non-abstinence by 57–76% (Model 4), while each additional DSMsymptom decreased odds of non-abstinence by 73–89% (Model 4). MM may help some people moderate their drinking, but this program is not the answer for those who are truly alcoholics.

Drinking Goal Item of the Treatment Experiences and Expectations questionnaire

Tailoring treatment approaches to patients’ goals, whether complete or conditional abstinence or controlled drinking may have positive results on treatment outcome. For example, a recent study found that patients stating a preference for abstinence had better treatment outcome than those stating https://ecosoberhouse.com/ a preference for non-abstinence (Adamson, Heather, Morton, & Raistrick, 2010). These effects, however, were seen for percent days abstinent but not for drinking intensity, suggesting that a comparable number of drinks per drinking episode may be achieved regardless of drinking goal.

The full texts of potentially eligible references were obtained and screened independently in duplicate (by HC and one of RGE, LAM, SD, AT, or GJM). Disagreements when screening the title, abstract, and full text were resolved by discussion. Controlled drinking, also known as “moderate drinking” or “drinking in moderation,” is an approach that involves setting limits around alcohol consumption to ensure that drinking remains safe and doesn’t interfere with one’s health, daily life, or responsibilities. Therefore, our programme includes evidence-based therapies such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) or dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT). This multifaceted approach helps you develop coping mechanisms while fostering healthier habits that can sustain long-term recovery.