Recovery with and without Treatment: a Comparison of Resolutions of Alcohol and Drug Problems

Abstract

An earlier Swedish study compared assisted and unassisted misusers of alcohol, with different long-term drinking outcomes, with regard to drinking patterns, significant life events, and attributions as to what initiated and maintained recovery. It was found that environmental influences had a great, albeit somewhat different impact on the recovery processes in both assisted and unassisted subjects. A subsequent replication of this study, but on drug misusers, produced similar findings. The present paper uses data from both those studies to explore substance-specific characteristics in treated and untreated recovery from addiction problems. Comparisons include background data, substance use and life event data over an extended period surrounding the resolution, and subjects' perceived reasons for the resolution and for being able to maintain an alcohol problem-free or a drug-free lifestyle. The results are discussed from the perspective of differences in the social significance of drinking and drug use and the institutionalised response in Sweden to alcohol- and drug-related problems.

• Alcohol Problems
• Drug Problems
• Recovery
• Treatment
• Self-change