Wednesday February 22nd 2012

RSS NIDA News

  • New NIDA resource helps families navigate addiction treatment options January 17, 2012
    A new resource, Seeking Drug Abuse Treatment: Know What to Ask, will help individuals and families struggling with addiction ask the right questions before choosing a drug treatment program.  It was developed by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health, and is available to the public free online or in hard copy t […]
  • Cigarette and alcohol use at historic low among teens December 14, 2011
    Cigarette and alcohol use by eighth, 10th and 12th-graders are at their lowest point since the Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey began polling teenagers in 1975, according to this year's survey results. However, this positive news is tempered by a slowing rate of decline in teen smoking as well as continued high rates of abuse of other tobacco products […]
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse to Announce Results of 2011 Monitoring the Future Survey December 9, 2011
    The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) will hold a press conference on Wednesday, December 14, to announce the results of its 2011 Monitoring the Future survey. The survey, funded by NIDA—part of the National Institutes of Health—tracks annual drug abuse trends of 8th, 10th, and 12th-grade students, including attitudes and perceived risk of specific ill […]

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12 Step Meetings

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.