The use of alcohol for pain management can easily become problematic and addictive, resulting in the need for alcohol treatment. Riley and King examined the use of alcohol for pain management among adults with tooth pain, jaw joint or face pain, and arthritis in a South Florida community (2009). The researchers examined race, sex, and age to determine their associations with alcohol use for pain management. After conducting structured telephone interviews, the researchers found that non-Hispanic whites and males were the most likely to use alcohol to cope with pain. Additionally, alcohol use for pain was highest among younger adults. Individuals who self-medicated with alcohol also tended to have greater pain frequency, depression, and higher levels of education, regardless of the pa...

Overall rates of driving under the influence (DUI) arrests have steadily decreased over the past two decades, but this decrease has not occurred uniformly for all groups of DUI offenders. The proportion of female DUI offenders, for instance, has significantly increased. Further, DUI arrest rates remain higher in rural areas. See also: Why You Should Get a Substance Abuse Assessment for a DUI Case A Center on Drug and Alcohol Research study examined indicators of problem severity for female DUI offenders across graduated levels of rurality and found that the problem severity of DUI offenders is greater in rural areas (Webster et. al., 2009). Practitioners who provide alcohol treatment for rural female DUI offenders may face unique challenges. The researchers examined 19,094 substanc...

Daidzin, a compound found in the kudzu vine, interferes with the metabolization of alcohol and produces effects similar to those of the anti-drinking drug Antabuse. Dr. Ting-Kai Li of Duke University and Dr. Ivan Diamond of the University of California in San Francisco believe that they have discovered a synthetic version of daidzin that reduces alcohol cravings by preventing alcohol from increasing dopamine levels in the brain. Daidzin and synthetic daidzin (known as CVT-1-216) may prove useful in alcohol treatment. You may also be interested in: Herbal Remedies and Acupuncture for Addiction Recovery Harvard researchers first discovered the anti-drinking effects of the kudzu extract in 2005. Previous studies had shown that kudzu extracts reduced alcohol drinking in rats and hamsters....

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) and alcohol use disorders (AUD) tend to co-occur at high rates. The National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (Grant et al., 2005) found that 48 percent of participants with a lifetime diagnosis of SAD also met criteria for a lifetime diagnosis of AUD. In instances of alcohol use and comorbid social anxiety disorder, the two disorders may lead to greater impairment than either condition alone. For example, research suggests that patients seeking alcohol treatment who have a lifetime diagnosis of SAD are more likely to have major depressive episodes, severe alcohol dependence, less peer social support, and lower occupational status when compared to AUD patients without SAD (Thevos, Thomas, & Randall, 1999; Thomas et al., 1999). Mot...

Individualized interventions for alcohol treatment plans enable people in alcohol recovery to focus on their physical health as it relates to their alcohol consumption. Individuals who practice unhealthy drinking habits often end up as patients in hospitals – for drinking-related accidents and health problems, among other reasons. This time in the hospital may serve as an eye-opener or “teachable moment” for convincing patients to decrease unhealthy drinking behavior. However, studies of brief hospital-based interventions have shown that such interventions are not always successful. A team of researchers based at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System hypothesized that hospital-based interventions for alcohol treatment might be more successful if they were based on the associations be...

Individualized treatment plans can help young adults see how marijuana use impacts the outcome of their alcohol treatment. Rates of alcohol and marijuana use are highest among young adults, and high rates of marijuana and alcohol use are seen in young adult patients admitted to emergency departments. Hospital admission provides an opportunity for alcohol treatment through brief motivational interventions, and previous research suggests that such interventions demonstrate positive outcomes. Researchers at the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies at Brown University examined how reported marijuana use affected response to brief motivational interviewing for alcohol treatment among young adults treated in an emergency department (Magill et. al., 2009). Participants were 215 young...

When pursuing alcohol treatment, individuals have different options for detoxification, including a home detoxification program or inpatient rehab. However, once detox is completed, implementing a self-empowering approach to recovery will enable individuals to learn to coping mechanisms to deal with cravings. You might also be interested in: Detoxification from Addictive Substances Some alcohol dependent individuals elect for home-based detoxification. Some individuals are more comfortable at home, and inpatient alcohol rehab may be expensive. Evidence suggests that, with family support, home detoxification may be safe and effective. However, many individuals are still exposed to alcohol-related cues in the home. Researchers in the United Kingdom examined whether a brief alcohol t...

The use of Naltrexone and/or acamprosate can be helpful during alcohol treatment, however, to achieve the greatest success, individuals would benefit from incorporating psychological intervention. Evidence-based addiction treatment incorporates cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) which enables individuals to learn ways to cope with cravings and eventually have greater success for alcohol recovery. You might also be interested in: Medication Assisted Treatment Naltrexone is an opioid antagonist that blocks the reward effects of alcohol consumption. The mechanism of acamprosate is less well-defined, but it may reduce unpleasant feelings (such as anxiety and tension) during withdrawal by blocking NMDA receptors. Previous research shows that acamprosate increases the number of individuals wh...

In a non 12 step approach to recovery, a self-empowering addiction treatment plan can be created for an individual who would like specific needs met. A self-empowering approach to recovery, even if it is a brief alcohol treatment intervention, can be utilized by people in treatment and at-risk drinkers, alike. This approach incorporates focusing primarily on underlying issues and finding motivations that are deeper than the addiction. You might also be interested in: What is the Best Alcohol Treatment? It is important to identify at-risk drinking among individuals as early as possible. Serum gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) levels may identify heavy alcohol consumption; brief screenings in general health settings may also be used to identify at-risk drinking. For example, at-ri...

Previous studies suggest the existence of a socially constructed “script” for alcohol problems that is widely known and learned through common social learning processes. The term “script” refers to a functional, learned social cognitive schema. Such a script might affect the results of questionnaires in alcohol treatment programs. Researchers at the University of Strathclyde and the University of Abertay in the United Kingdom examined the extent to which problems reported by alcohol users are derived from social scripts rather than from memory (Davies et. al., 2004). Social Learning and Alcohol Treatment Questionnaires: The Study The researchers recruited problem drinkers and non-problem drinkers to complete a questionnaire about drinking. Each group consisted of 30 male participants....