Saturday May 19th 2012

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RSS NIDA News

  • Actress Dianne Wiest to raise the curtain in NIDA’s Addiction Performance Project May 3, 2012
    Dianne Wiest leads an impressive cast in the Addiction Performance Project, an innovative continuing medical education (CME) program for doctors and other health providers, on May 9 in Philadelphia, Pa. […]
  • Blending conference translates substance abuse research into practice April 16, 2012
    Experts will share the latest clinical research with addiction treatment professionals, healthcare providers, policy makers, and others during the April 19th Blending Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. The program is supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health, in collaboration with the American Society of […]
  • NIH’s “PEERx” for teens to be showcased at Rx Drug Abuse Summit April 3, 2012
    A unique, new campaign targeting teens will be on exhibit at the first national summit addressing the prescription drug abuse epidemic. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) will showcase “PEERx,” a NIDA initiative that uses interactive videos and other tools to educate teens about the dangers of prescription drug abuse and help them to spread the word […]

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Recovery

A twelve-step program is a set of guiding principles outlining a course of action for recovery from addiction, compulsion, or other behavioral problems. Originally proposed by Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) as a method of recovery from alcoholism, the Twelve Steps were first published in the book, Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered From Alcoholism in 1939. The method was then adapted and became the foundation of other twelve-step programs such as Narcotics Anonymous, Overeaters Anonymous, Co-Dependents Anonymous, Gamblers Anonymous and many others.

As summarized by the American Psychological Association, the process involves the following:

  • admitting that one cannot control one’s addiction or compulsion;
  • recognizing a greater power that can give strength;
  • examining past errors with the help of a sponsor (experienced member);
  • making amends for these errors;
  • learning to live a new life with a new code of behavior;
  • helping others that suffer from the same addictions or compulsions.