Study Says Alcoholics Have a Prayer

May 13, 2016 – Research by a team at New York University has found that prayer does help alcoholics minimize the effect of alcohol triggers.  The subjects of the study were a group of long-term members of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Study leader Marc Galanter, Director of the Division of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse at the university, said the experience of going to AA had left some people with an “innate ability” to use prayer to minimize the effect of alcohol triggers.

“Craving is diminished in long-term AA members compared to patients who have stopped drinking for some period of time but are more vulnerable to relapse,” he continued.

Participants in the study were shown images to encourage their desire to have a drink.  They were then questioned about their cravings before and after prayer.  The researchers found cravings were considerably weaker among those who prayed.  MRI scans revealed that prayer increased activity in the regions of the brain controlling attention and emotion.

“This finding suggests there appears to be an emotional response to alcohol triggers, but that it’s experienced and understood differently when someone has the protection of the AA experience”, Dr Galanter said.  “Our current findings open up a new field of inquiry into physiologic changes that may accompany spiritual awakening and perspective changes in AA members and others.”