As per a finding of National Survey on Drug Use and Health-NSDUH, more than 15 million US adult citizens suffered and fought alcohol addiction in 2016. This astounding revelation is further supported by one more finding of the National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence-NCADD that says one adult from every 12 US adults struggles with dependence or alcohol abuse. Most health professionals says that alcoholism is one of the devastating and chronic diseases which can be treated in specialised approaches. The Recovery Place or the sober living homes who trust on the alcoholic anonymous or AA and the usefulness of 12-step approach say that it is the desire to quit the consumption of alcohol or drinking that cures the addiction and not any treatment or institution associated with the approach of AA.
The alcoholic Anonymous or the AA is one of the most popular and useful approaches to alcohol addiction recovery and management across the world which is in practice since 1935 when Bill Wilson along with his physician Dr Bob Smith founded the AA. The AA is a community-based program focussing on self-help strategy and supported by peer recovery. However, the AA originally was more spiritual in nature and encouraged its members to relyon and turn their way of lives over to a higher power. Many people claim that these spiritual characteristics of the AA may not be effective for all particularly the aspect of total abstinence from alcohol and drugs.
Therefore, people have come up with solutions or alternatives for them who may not accept the alcoholic anonymous or the AA as the only solution to tackle the problems in alcoholic addiction recovery. The 5 popular alternatives which are consistently and popularly practised are (1) SMART recovery, (2) life ring, (3) women for sobriety, (4) SOS, and (5) moderation management.
The SMART recovery alternative of AA focus on the sustenance of recovery on individuals whereas the Life Ring approach is more secular and gives secularistic and healthy peer support towards total abstinence from alcohol and drugs. The women for sobriety or popularly known as WFS approach is basically a women-based program and non-profit in nature. In WFS, women serve as peer supporters to women seeking assistance for alcohol and drug addiction recovery. The SOS or the Secular Organizations for Sobriety is non-profit in nature and people with secular recovery understanding has formed the peer groups of SOS. The moderation management or popularly called the MM does not focus on abstinence. On the other hand, the MM focuses on learning the processes of control and moderation of problems drinking behaviours.
