An ongoing process: A qualitative study of how the alcohol-dependent free themselves of addiction through progressive abstinence | BMC Psychiatry BioMed Central Research article An ongoing process A qualitative study of how the alcohol-dependent free themselves of addiction through progressive abstinence Mei-Yu Yeh 1 Hui-Lian Chet2 and Shu-Mei Wu R 3 Open Access Address Department of Nursing Chang Gung Institute of Technology Taoyuan Taiwan 2Department of Geriatric Care and Management Chang Gung Institute of Technology Taoyuan Taiwan and 3Doctoral Student Graduate Institute of Clinical Medical Sciences Chang Gung University Taoyuan Taiwan Email Mei-Yu Yeh - yehdiana@ Hui-Lian Che - dolphin@ Shu-Mei Wu - Corresponding author fEqual contributors Published 24 November 2009 Received 27 May 2009 Accepted 24 November 2009 BMC Psychiatry 2009 9 76 doi 1471-244X-9-76 p This article is available from http 1471-244X 9 76 2009 Yeh et al licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http licenses by which permits unrestricted use distribution and reproduction in any medium provided the original work is properly cited. Abstract Background Most people being treated for alcoholism are unable to successfully quit drinking within their treatment programs. In few cases do we know the full picture of how abstinence is achieved in Taiwan. We tracked processes of abstinence in alcohol-dependency disorders based on study evidence and results. This research explores the process of recovery from the viewpoint of the alcohol-dependent. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted in two different settings using purpose sampling during 2003-2004. The data were analyzed using content analysis. Participants were 32 adults purposefully selected from an Alcoholics Anonymous group and a psychiatric hospital in North Taiwan. Results We found that the abstinence process is an ongoing process in which the alcoholdependent free .
