We do not know whether the WIR sample represents the population of individualsin recovery. However, these studies usedcontinued dependence or heavy drinking as reference groups and did not directly compareabstinent to non-abstinent recovery as we did here. Furthermore, the oddsof abstinent recovery increased linearly relative to time in recovery. Sample, the strongest factors related to non-abstinent recovery were fewer DSM alcoholdependence symptoms and younger age. Among individuals in recovery from alcohol problems in the What Is Recovery?
The 10-item social behavior subscale from the PFI included items assessing the prevalence of problem social interactions and behaviors in the past 30 days (e.g., “Demanded others do things your way”); higher scores indicated better psychosocial functioning. The Psychosocial Functioning Inventory (PFI)33 was used to evaluate social functioning. The Drinker Inventory of Consequences (DrInC)32 was utilized to assess negative alcohol-related consequences. Alcohol and drug use were assessed with the Form-9031, a calendar-based tool determining alcohol and drug use in the previous 90 days. Of this subset, 149 provided data at the 10-year follow-up (66.4%) and 146 (64.6%) completed both the 3- and 10-year follow-up and were included in the present study.
Additional analyses were conducted, which were not preregistered, to examine differences in 10-year outcomes among those who were or were not abstinent at the 3-year follow-up. A priori power analyses, using a Monte Carlo simulation, indicated power to detect distal outcome effects (i.e., mean differences in 10-year outcomes) by profile membership at 10 years was greater than 0.63 to detect medium effect sizes and we had power greater than 0.97 to detect large effect sizes. The Purpose in Life (PIL) test38 was used to measure individuals’ sense of meaning or purpose in life, including items assessing life meaning, satisfaction, freedom, fear of death, suicidal ideation, and how worthwhile one’s life is. Summary alcohol use variables included percent drinking days (PDD), percent heavy drinking days (PHDD, i.e., 4+ drinks/day for women, 5+ drinks/day for men), and drinks per drinking day (DDD). Measures were assessed at multiple time points including baseline, three years following treatment (39-months post-baseline), and ten years following treatment.
What Are the Different Types of Drugs?
Many times, taking this path on your own can be dangerous, too, especially in the case of withdrawal symptoms. One thing we always overlook when it comes to alcohol use is the financial impact. Abstinence is crucial to prevent fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, premature birth, and other behavioral disorders among children. Pregnant Persons – Generally speaking, no safe level of alcohol exists during pregnancy. Therefore, abstinence is strongly recommended for adolescents and teenagers However, any kind of alcohol use so early can impair brain development and even lead to irreversible brain damage.
Pros and Cons of Alcohol: Moderation or Abstinence?
Some clinicians and researchers posit that the field’s current emphasis on abstinence-based recovery may fail to engage many individuals with SUD because of perceptions that a goal of abstinence is required to engage with care. Further, people appear to gravitate toward abstinence/lower risk substance use with greater time since problem resolution. Greater knowledge of the prevalence and correlates of non-abstinent AOD problem resolution could inform public health messaging and clinical guidelines, while encouraging substance use goals likely to maximize well-being and reduce risks.
What Is Drinking in Moderation?
Sex was included only in the self-esteem and quality of life/functioning models, and primary substance used was included only in the psychological distress model. Of note, individuals with current substance use may have been abstinent at some point since resolving their problem, which is a possibility not captured by this variable. Prior research has shown greater overall well-being among those who are abstinent or engaged in less frequent and intense substance use (Witkiewitz et al., 2019, Subbaraman and Witbrodt, 2014), as well as greater stability among those in abstinence-based alcohol use disorder remission (Dawson et al., 2007). And 3) What is the association between substance use status and current indices of well-being? At the same time, many individuals in the Project Match sample endorsed continued cannabis and other drug use over the course of follow-up, which may have influenced outcomes in unknown ways.
Additionally, moderation can be a slippery slope for some alcohol drinkers. Alcohol is toxic to our body, and major health authorities such as the World Health Organizations (WHO) hold that no amount of alcohol is safe. The main argument against moderate drinking is that any amount of alcohol can be harmful. For some of us, moderate drinking might be more sustainable and lower our risk of excessive or binge drinking. If we’re transitioning from excessive drinking, moderate drinking can help our body get used to less alcohol in our system, decreasing the severity of alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
Weighted, controlled, regression analyses examined the influence of independent variables on substance use status. How do I make the choice between can you overdose on kratom moderate drinking or abstinence from alcohol? So, whether we choose to quit or cut back on alcohol, we’re taking a step in the right direction towards a healthier, happier life!
Participants and Procedure
Alcohol negatively affects all aspects of our life, including our physical, mental, and social health. Opting for a life without alcohol offers a range of benefits, but it’s important to recognize its unique challenges. While adhering to moderation guidelines at first, our consumption can ramp up, especially given the way alcohol hijacks our brain’s reward system. Moderate drinking also leaves the door open to increasing alcohol consumption.
- The effectiveness of these programmes can greatly vary depending on several factors such as treatment duration, individual factors, and programme challenges.
- Cohen’s d statistics were also calculated comparing abstainers to non-abstainers.
- With these qualifications, the present study adds to evidence that non-abstinent AUD recovery is possible and can be maintained for up to 10 years following treatment.
- Studies generally show that reducing drinking is related to reductions in injuries and likelihood of death over the long-term, but not over the short-term (e.g., less than 1 year).
- And if not, we can still develop a healthier relationship with alcohol.
- Non-abstinent goals can improve quality of life (QOL) among individuals withalcohol use disorders (AUD).
- However, when we abstain from alcohol suddenly or without proper support, we can encounter negative effects.
Quality of life / Functioning
However, the NESARC QOL analyses examined transitions across AUD statusesover a three-year period, and thus inherently excluded individuals with more than threeyears of recovery. Donovan and colleagues(2005) reviewed 36 studies involving various aspects of QOL in relation to AUDand concluded that heavy episodic drinkers had worse QOL than other drinkers, that reduceddrinking was related to improved QOL among harmful drinkers, and that abstainers hadimproved QOL in treated samples (Donovan et al.2005). Traditional alcohol use disorder (AUD) treatment programs most often prescribeabstinence as clients’ ultimate goal. Non-abstainers are younger with less time in recovery and less problem severitybut worse QOL than abstainers.
- We also did not measure physical health, or medical outcomes at year 10, and we were not able to evaluate whether individuals who continued drinking heavily were at increased risk for physical health-related diseases6,49.
- It depends on individual factors and our specific situation — and the counsel of our healthcare provider.
- We believe in the power of personalised therapy, where our experts tailor a recovery plan suited to your needs and circumstances.
- As we increase our awareness about our drinking habits and alcohol’s detrimental effects on our overall health, mindful drinking can progress to abstinence.
- Third, all measures included in the study were self-reported, and collateral information from providers or family were not available.
- Moderate drinking can be a form of mindful drinking, as we’re setting limits on how much we’re choosing to drink.
Moderate drinking (also known as “controlled drinking”) consists of limiting our alcohol intake, thereby limiting alcohol’s negative effects on our health and well-being. Let’s take a deeper dive into the pros and cons of Alcoholism Myths drinking in moderation versus abstinence to see how they stack up against each other. Future research that expands the scope of outcome indicators to include measures of biopsychosocial functioning and AUD diagnostic criteria50 is important for advancing understanding of the multiple pathways to recovery from AUD. For instance, rates of abstinence at year 10 for profiles 1, 2, 3, and 4 were 62.5%, 39.1%, 19.0%, and 50.0%, respectively. Abstinence three years following treatment did not predict better functioning ten years following treatment. Supplementary Figures 1 and 2 illustrate the differences in mean outcomes (with standard errors indicated by error bars) and Cohen’s d standardized mean differences between abstainers and drinkers.
Our study replicates and extends these findings to the broader population of individuals who have resolved an AOD problem, regardless of treatment seeking status, primary substance used, and recovery duration/identity. The association between greater time since problem resolution and lower risk substance use status possibly reflects an aging out of substance use (Heyman, 2010), or some individuals struggling to moderate their use and eventually gravitating toward abstinence. To date, research examining associations among abstinent and non-abstinent substance use status and well-being, has focused primarily on treatment-seeking individuals with alcohol use disorder. First, the current study examined profiles of recovery and long-term outcomes among an outpatient sample collected at one site over a decade ago, and findings may not generalize to inpatient or more contemporary samples. While individuals who achieved both high functioning and abstinence/non-heavy drinking (profile 4) at three years had optimal long-term outcomes as a whole, individuals who have a combination of high functioning and more frequent heavy drinking (profile 3) also showed favorable long-term outcomes in psychosocial functioning.
For people suffering from alcohol use disorders, trying to moderate drinking isn’t advised and total abstinence is always recommended. Some strategies and guidelines to consider if you’re aiming cyclobenzaprine interactions with alcohol to practice controlled drinking include setting limits, eating before drinking, choosing drinks with lower alcohol content, alternatives with non-alcoholic beverages and having abstinent days. Regular physical activity can act as a healthy coping mechanism when dealing with cravings or anxiety related to your efforts towards alcohol moderation management. Controlled drinking, often advocated as a moderation approach for people with alcohol use disorders, can be highly problematic and unsuitable for those who truly suffer from alcohol addiction. Even moderate drinking can lead to long-term health problems such as liver disease, heart disease, and increased risk of certain cancers. It’s important to acknowledge any emotional ties you might have to alcohol as these could make both moderation and complete abstinence more challenging.
In the same 16-year follow-up, for those abstinent in the year before the follow-up assessment, only 18% were hospitalized compared with 43% who were non-abstinent. Studies generally show that reducing drinking is related to reductions in injuries and likelihood of death over the long-term, but not over the short-term (e.g., less than 1 year). What happens to people’s lives when they reduce drinking and does it have as great an impact as if they quit entirely?
It could also be that chronic use of AOD begins to culminate in greater incidence of medical problems (e.g., through toxicity-related impacts) and continued use may exacerbate these medical issues or interfere with effective treatment for them (Eddie et al., 2019), again, promoting motivation to abstain or reduce use. The large proportion of those reporting resolving an AOD problem despite continuing with some degree of AOD use is perhaps surprising given the cultural embeddedness of abstinence as the sine qua non ingredient of successful AOD problem resolution. Adjusted models include pertinent demographic variables in addition to substance use and psychiatric diagnosis related variables. Based on this, for the fully adjusted models controlling for demographic and individual factors pertaining to substance use history and clinical severity, race/ethnicity, number of years since AOD problem resolution, and number of psychiatric diagnoses were included in all models. Survey weights were used throughout the analyses to statistically account for any under-representation in the KnowledgePanel sample, as well as differential responding to the National Recovery Study screening question. Participants were asked, “Approximately how many serious attempts did you make to resolve your alcohol/drug problem before you overcame it?
However, sobriety is a spectrum and may not always mean abstinence. Abstinence from alcohol means avoiding it completely. For example, 12 oz of beer has an alcohol by volume (ABV) of 5% while 1.5 oz of distilled liquor is 40% ABV. Different types of alcohol have different amounts of alcohol in them.