With the book “12 steps”, Julien Gangnet talks about the method that got him out of addiction
HEALTH – To overcome addiction there are several options, medications or consultations with psychologists and addictologists among others. For Julien Gangnet, what particularly helped him recover from heroin addiction was a support group that uses the twelve-step method. The program he presents and explains in detail in his book 12 stepswhich comes out this Thursday, November 24 at Goutte d’or editions.
As you can see in the video at the top of the article, he describes this method as “a set of spiritual and practical principles. » He invented it Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) in the 1930s, an association with more than two million members. These twelve stages are also available for different addictions – drugsvideo games, sex or Gambling.
Addicted to drugs since the age of 14, Julien Gangnet joined a support group at the age of 25 and began his therapy. During the first stage, we must recognize our helplessness in the face of addiction. This is “entry point that allows us to possibly get help”, according to the author. Then comes the fourth step where you have to do some kind of introspection, “his moral inventory”. Then the eighth step where you have to make amends with the people you wronged… And so on.
Recognize the existence of a higher power
Throughout the program, the twelve steps require recognition of a higher power. Everyone is free to determine their own and develop their own spirituality, without necessarily having to believe in God. “My first concept of a higher power was a group. Those twenty people with their collective intelligence knew better than me,” testifies the author, who considers himself an atheist.
The method has also been studied Cochrane Institute for Medical Research, a non-profit organization with a branch in France, which cooperates with the Ministry of Health. By comparing 27 studies involving 10,565 participants, researchers found that twelve-step programs for alcoholics “generally led to higher rates of sustained abstinence than other established treatments studied.”
Although the program does not work for everyone, the book 12 steps wants to be a guide to anyone who needs it. In a way, the author applies the principle of the twelfth and last step, which encourages the transmission of the message. He himself admits that it is his a book intends to “reach out to people who seem to be suffering and offer them a solution to stop doing things on their own”.
See also on Le HuffPost:
