Physicians with substance abuse problems and their recovery environment: a survey

Given the importance of social support to recovering chemically dependent individuals at risk of relapse and the concerns of treaters that professionals may avoid affiliation with 12-step groups, the authors sought to confirm the results of an earlier study in which a sample of recovering physicians in Atlanta identified 12-step programs as their most important source of support. Because the Atlanta cohort might have self-selected to favor 12-step programs, the authors studied a physician group that was more heterogeneous relative to treatment experience. The questionnaire used in the Atlanta study was sent to recovering physicians in Colorado. Like their Atlanta counterparts, many Colorado physicians identified the 12-step programs as more important to their recoveries than treating professionals and family members. Affiliative feelings toward 12-step program members equalled those toward close nonmembers. The 12-step programs provide some, but not all, chemically dependent physicians a source of social support during recovery.