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New Data on Self-Help Groups
11/26/2008
SAMHSA recently released a
new paper on the prevalence of self-help groups like
Alcoholics Anonymous and
Narcotics Anonymous. Their key findings include:
- Five million people attended a self-help meeting for alcohol or other drug use last year (2% of the total American population over age 12).
- About one-third of people who attended a self-help meeting also received some kind of specialized addiction treatment services in the past year.
- 66 percent of attendees were male.
- 68 percent had a family income under $50,000.
- 68 percent were white.
- 45 percent attended because of their alcohol use alone, 22 percent for their illegal drug use alone, and 33 percent for both alcohol and other drug use.
- 45 percent of people who attended a self-help meeting had abstained from substance use in the month before a meeting, 55 percent had not been abstinent.
- Of people who received specialized addiction treatment services, 76 percent of people who received treatment for both alcohol and illegal drug use attended a self-help meeting, compared to about 65percent of people who received treatment for either alcohol or illegal drug use.