More difficult to achieve controlled drinking than to give up alcohol entirely
Care providers in Sweden have different views on how alcohol problems should be treated. Some suggest that people with alcohol dependence can learn to control their drinking, while others believe these people should practice total abstinence. Previous studies have shown that the crucial factor in treatmen t success is that patients and care providers have the same view, and that the choice of treatment method plays a subordinate role. But how great an influence choice of method has on the final treatment outcome has not been studied previously. The study followed up 201 adult patients 2.5 years after treatment onset. It showed that a shared view between patient and care provider was not decisive for the treatment outcome. "Instead," states Associate Professor Kristina Berglund, who studies dependence at the Department of Psychology, "patients whose goal was total abstinenc e were more successful than those who had chosen to control their drinking." Around 9...