A new 
Previous studies had already shown programs like Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous benefit people with substance abuse disorders, but it wasn’t clear if they also helped those with the added burden of a psychiatric disorder.
The new research showed that while dual diagnosis patients had higher relapse rates than those with only a substance abuse disorder, they still fared better if they participated in a 12-step program than if they did not.
The study, which will be published in the February 2014 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, looked at 296 young adults, ages 18-24, who had enrolled in a residential substance abuse treatment program in the upper Midwest.