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  • Title: Antabuse contracts for married alcoholics and their spouses: a method to maintain antabuse ingestion and decrease conflict about drinking.
    Author: O'Farrell TJ, Bayog RD.
    Journal: J Subst Abuse Treat; 1986; 3(1):1-8. PubMed ID: 3735473.
    Abstract:
    Antabuse is widely used in alcoholism treatment as a deterrent to impulsive drinking when the alcoholic encounters some temporary life crisis or other stressful situation. Unfortunately, Antabuse therapy often is not effective because the alcoholic discontinues the drug prematurely. Marital conflicts and arguments, frequently about past drinking or the likelihood of future drinking, are an important stressor that can lead the newly abstinent alcoholic to relapse. The Antabuse Contract procedure is designed to maintain Antabuse ingestion and abstinence from alcohol and to decrease alcohol-related arguments and interactions between the alcoholic and his/her spouse. In the Antabuse contract the alcoholic agrees to take Antabuse each day while the spouse observes. The spouse, in turn, agrees to record the observation of the Antabuse-taking on a calendar provided by the therapist. Finally, the couple agree to refrain from discussions about the alcoholic's past or possible future drinking. This report describes the Antabuse contract procedure in detail, discusses resistances and problems commonly encountered in using the procedure, and presents two case illustrations of successful use of the procedure.
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