Very interesting article I wanted to share:
Moderation may be answer for certain drinkers
03/23/2010 01:00 AM EDT
By Douglas Brown
The Denver Post
Dianne Drake Foss first took to wine because she liked how it tasted and appreciated how it enhanced food.
But over time, the sips with dinner became goblets of cabernet before, during and after the meal. Then Foss started hiding her drinks in glasses not meant for wine.
She knew she had a problem.
One option was abstinence. But she found another: moderation.
?For a lot of people who are problem drinkers, myself included, to think of never drinking wine again, when it?s a big part of what we do, I thought there must be something I can do where I can drink some wine, enjoy it, but not feel bad about it,? Foss said.
Instead of denying herself the pleasures of a good burgundy, Foss joined Moderation Management, a recovery and national support group that teaches members how to drink responsibly and in moderation. The organization holds weekly meetings, during which participants trade tips about how to drink moderately and talk about their triumphs ? and trip-ups ? with imbibing responsibly.
Foss is leader of the Colorado group, which meets in Denver.
Many moderate drinkers never struggle with the bottle. Their spouses don?t fret, their bosses don?t sigh, they don?t wake up on Saturdays feeling like their skull is clamped in a vise.
But plenty who think of themselves as reasonable drinkers do flirt with trouble. They aren?t chronic alcoholics ? people whose attachment to alcohol is soul-deep ? but their drinking sometimes spawns problems.
These drinkers, Foss said, abuse alcohol. Alcoholics are dependent upon it.
Just like chronic drinkers, who can choose from a variety of treatment programs (most of which revolve around abstinence), some experts think many moderate drinkers could use help, too.
?If people are concerned about it, there are resources other than Alcoholics Anonymous. There are treatment resources that aren?t going to wag their finger at them,? said Mark Ilgen, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Michigan. ?The point is that if someone is wondering, ?Hey, should I be doing something to scale back my drinking?? there are treatment options out there.?
To be sure, Alcoholics Anonymous and other abstinence-oriented treatment programs are valuable.
?AA is the best form of recovery we have. Is it the only one? No. But it?s the best way to have a healthy, productive, sober life,? said Frank Lisnow, executive director of The Center for Dependency, Addiction and Rehabilitation at the University of Colorado Hospital.
Lisnow said ?moderate drinker? is the most difficult term to define in the alcohol-treatment lexicon. And for him, drinkers with alcohol-related problems, even if they think of themselves as ?moderate,? are often fooling themselves.
?The definition we use is, ?Has your drinking caused unmanageabilities in your life? Going to jail? Losing your job? ? he said. Your spouse leaving you??
?Those are obvious. But are you a poor father, do you come home and pass out or emotionally abuse your kids? Is your job performance suffering? Often, moderate drinkers are in denial. If you are a moderate drinker and problems are surfacing, then you have a problem. It?s all about what is happening, not about how much you drink.?
But for many people who drink ? sometimes a bit too much ? committing to a lifetime of abstinence is a step too far. And this big step keeps them away from seeking help.
Alcoholics Anonymous? approach is strict. To belong to AA is to cease drinking, to embrace a 12-step program that invokes a ?higher power.? It?s a lifestyle.
Abstinence clearly works. But current research shows that most people whose drinking morphs into a dependence recover on their own, according to findings from the National Epidemiologic Study on Alcohol and Related Conditions. The data was collected between 2001 and 2005.
Drinking problems are ?not like pregnancy? ? either you?re pregnant, or you?re not ? but instead they are ?more like hypertension,? something that can be managed, said Reid Hester, a New Mexico psychologist who has studied moderate drinking for 30 years. Hester sits on the board of Moderation Management.Resources
?Moderation Management, moderation.org. This Web site is full of information about moderate drinking.
?Drinkerscheckup.com, a free service that offers a screening, to see if you need to moderate your drinking, and then a registration and assessment if you do.
?Moderatedrinking.com, affiliated with drinkers checkup.com, contains helpful information.
?Rethinkingdrinking.niaaa.
nih.gov, a Web site sponsored by the federal government that helps people understand moderate drinking and how to achieve it.
Our beloved MWO (unfortunately not listed in the article) but we're so glad it's here!
:l
Eve11
Moderation may be answer for certain drinkers
03/23/2010 01:00 AM EDT
By Douglas Brown
The Denver Post
Dianne Drake Foss first took to wine because she liked how it tasted and appreciated how it enhanced food.
But over time, the sips with dinner became goblets of cabernet before, during and after the meal. Then Foss started hiding her drinks in glasses not meant for wine.
She knew she had a problem.
One option was abstinence. But she found another: moderation.
?For a lot of people who are problem drinkers, myself included, to think of never drinking wine again, when it?s a big part of what we do, I thought there must be something I can do where I can drink some wine, enjoy it, but not feel bad about it,? Foss said.
Instead of denying herself the pleasures of a good burgundy, Foss joined Moderation Management, a recovery and national support group that teaches members how to drink responsibly and in moderation. The organization holds weekly meetings, during which participants trade tips about how to drink moderately and talk about their triumphs ? and trip-ups ? with imbibing responsibly.
Foss is leader of the Colorado group, which meets in Denver.
Many moderate drinkers never struggle with the bottle. Their spouses don?t fret, their bosses don?t sigh, they don?t wake up on Saturdays feeling like their skull is clamped in a vise.
But plenty who think of themselves as reasonable drinkers do flirt with trouble. They aren?t chronic alcoholics ? people whose attachment to alcohol is soul-deep ? but their drinking sometimes spawns problems.
These drinkers, Foss said, abuse alcohol. Alcoholics are dependent upon it.
Just like chronic drinkers, who can choose from a variety of treatment programs (most of which revolve around abstinence), some experts think many moderate drinkers could use help, too.
?If people are concerned about it, there are resources other than Alcoholics Anonymous. There are treatment resources that aren?t going to wag their finger at them,? said Mark Ilgen, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Michigan. ?The point is that if someone is wondering, ?Hey, should I be doing something to scale back my drinking?? there are treatment options out there.?
To be sure, Alcoholics Anonymous and other abstinence-oriented treatment programs are valuable.
?AA is the best form of recovery we have. Is it the only one? No. But it?s the best way to have a healthy, productive, sober life,? said Frank Lisnow, executive director of The Center for Dependency, Addiction and Rehabilitation at the University of Colorado Hospital.
Lisnow said ?moderate drinker? is the most difficult term to define in the alcohol-treatment lexicon. And for him, drinkers with alcohol-related problems, even if they think of themselves as ?moderate,? are often fooling themselves.
?The definition we use is, ?Has your drinking caused unmanageabilities in your life? Going to jail? Losing your job? ? he said. Your spouse leaving you??
?Those are obvious. But are you a poor father, do you come home and pass out or emotionally abuse your kids? Is your job performance suffering? Often, moderate drinkers are in denial. If you are a moderate drinker and problems are surfacing, then you have a problem. It?s all about what is happening, not about how much you drink.?
But for many people who drink ? sometimes a bit too much ? committing to a lifetime of abstinence is a step too far. And this big step keeps them away from seeking help.
Alcoholics Anonymous? approach is strict. To belong to AA is to cease drinking, to embrace a 12-step program that invokes a ?higher power.? It?s a lifestyle.
Abstinence clearly works. But current research shows that most people whose drinking morphs into a dependence recover on their own, according to findings from the National Epidemiologic Study on Alcohol and Related Conditions. The data was collected between 2001 and 2005.
Drinking problems are ?not like pregnancy? ? either you?re pregnant, or you?re not ? but instead they are ?more like hypertension,? something that can be managed, said Reid Hester, a New Mexico psychologist who has studied moderate drinking for 30 years. Hester sits on the board of Moderation Management.Resources
?Moderation Management, moderation.org. This Web site is full of information about moderate drinking.
?Drinkerscheckup.com, a free service that offers a screening, to see if you need to moderate your drinking, and then a registration and assessment if you do.
?Moderatedrinking.com, affiliated with drinkers checkup.com, contains helpful information.
?Rethinkingdrinking.niaaa.
nih.gov, a Web site sponsored by the federal government that helps people understand moderate drinking and how to achieve it.
Our beloved MWO (unfortunately not listed in the article) but we're so glad it's here!
:l
Eve11
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