Everyone has a view about the nature and remedy of ADDICTION disorders, most likely because so many of these behaviors are visible in the public domain. Moreover they are common, so everyone knows someone who has one. As a result, things done in the name of treatment are sometimes based in science and sometimes they have more to do with folklore.

Background

Many treatments of drinking problems have been presented over the years, some have endured due to the scientific evidence for their efficacy, but many have endured because of their popularity and in spite of the paucity of evidence for their effectiveness. A handbook of treatments shown to be effective, with ratings of their effectiveness from clinical trials as well as clinical descriptions of the method of their delivery was published during the nineties (Miller and Ilester...