New Study: Prayer Reduces Cravings for Alcohol

By Nancy Flory Published on May 6, 2016

A new study from the NYU Langone Medical Center found that prayers reduce cravings for alcoholics. In the study published May 3, researchers discovered that Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) members who prayed after viewing images of alcohol reported fewer cravings, as opposed to members who viewed the images and read a newspaper.

Researchers sought to understand brain responses to triggers in long-term AA members, said senior author Dr. Marc Galanter. The AA members involved in the study were hooked up to an MRI, which captured the trigger responses to the visual images.

The study found that while all of the participants reported cravings after viewing the images, they suffered fewer cravings after reciting an AA prayer. MRI data showed changes in parts of the brain controlling attention and emotion, which represents how people understand situations.

According to Dr. Galanter, “This finding suggests that 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.”

The longer an AA member is in the program, the fewer cravings he or she experiences, the investigation showed.

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