--- title: Naltrexone for Alcoholism: Making the Case for an Underused Treatment description: There's a drug treatment for alcoholism, but few are taking advantage of it. Naltrexone, which has been used for years to help alcoholics avoid relapsing,... canonical: https://time.com/101047/the-best-help-for-alcoholics-is-one-were-not-using/ author: Alice Park article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-05-15T15:50:20.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T08:52:48.249Z article:section: Health og:title: The Best Help for Alcoholics Is One We're Not Using og:description: There's a drug treatment for alcoholism, but few are taking advantage of it. Naltrexone, which has been used for years to help alcoholics avoid relapsing,... og:url: https://time.com/101047/the-best-help-for-alcoholics-is-one-were-not-using/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt54cef0b70d88fb42/69868fa13617604d1190c08b/ap130505050_1280.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1280 og:image:height: 720 og:image:alt: AP130505050_1280 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Best Help for Alcoholics Is One We're Not Using twitter:description: There's a drug treatment for alcoholism, but few are taking advantage of it. Naltrexone, which has been used for years to help alcoholics avoid relapsing,... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt54cef0b70d88fb42/69868fa13617604d1190c08b/ap130505050_1280.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Best Help for Alcoholics Is One We're Not Using > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME Newsletters: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME publishes seven free email newsletters, written and edited by TIME journalists, reaching more than 1.1 million engaged readers. TIME has reported on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world since 1923, and its newsletters bring that same authority directly to the inbox. 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There's a drug treatment for alcoholism, but few are taking advantage of it._  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent May 15, 2014 3:50 PM UTC There's a drug treatment for alcoholism, but few are taking advantage of it.  by [Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Senior Correspondent May 15, 2014 3:50 PM UTC There’s a drug treatment for alcoholism, but few are taking advantage of it. Naltrexone, which has been used for years to help alcoholics avoid relapsing, isn’t as widely used as it should be, say some addiction experts. The reason? Many of the studies that show it can be effective in helping alcoholics to avoid returning to drinking have been conducted with those who were also getting behavior therapy and counseling. So it’s hard to know how much the drug is helping to keep these patients sober. But a growing number of doctors are looking at naltrexone not as a cure for alcoholism, but as an ally in helping alcoholics to calm their cravings so behavior therapy and counseling, which equip patients with skills to manage their addictions over the long term, can be more effective. ## Transcript [00:00] There's a drug that can effectively treat alcoholism. So [00:03] why aren't more people taking advantage of it? [00:07] Naltrexone is a drug that can reduce the pleasure [00:09] feelings in the brain that comes from drinking alcohol, [00:12] so it's been used for years to help alcoholics ween [00:15] themselves off of drinking by making each drink less [00:18] and less pleasurable. In the latest study appearing in [00:22] the journal of the American Medical Association, [00:24] there's even more evidence that Naltrexone can be an [00:27] effective way to help alcoholics from relapsing. It [00:31] wasn't a cure but it did help a significant number from [00:34] returning to heavy drinking but few doctors are [00:37] prescribing it. Perhaps, because the studies aren't [00:41] exactly the rigorous ones that scientists usually like to [00:44] see. In this particular case, for example, the [00:47] researchers looked at 122 studies, involving more than [00:51] 22, 000 patients but all of those who are taking [00:55] Naltrexone were also in behavior therapy or [00:57] counseling. So it's hard to say how much of their [01:00] success in avoiding relapse was due to the drug or due [01:05] to the support they got through the counseling. Still, [01:09] Naltrexone has an important advantage over the other [01:11] commonly used drug for alcoholism known as [01:14] Antabuse. That drugs works by blocking the body's [01:17] ability to breakdown alcohol, so alcoholics who use it, [01:21] tend to feel sick every time they take a drink. So, not [01:24] surprisingly, most of them simply stop taking it [01:28] and there's another reason that Naltrexone may get a [01:31] little more attention in the field of alcoholism [01:34] treatment. Recently, the Food and Drug Administration [01:37] approved an over the counter version of Naloxone, a [01:41] faster acting version of Naltrexone for treating [01:44] overdoses from heroin and other narcotics such as [01:47] pain killers. In those cases, the drug works by sitting [01:51] on the same cells that heroin and narcotics like pain [01:54] killers do but without the dangerous effects of [01:57] dropping breathing and heart rates that can often be [02:01] fatal. There are no simple answers to treat something [02:04] as complicated as alcoholism but there's growing [02:07] evidence that medications can, at least, help some [02:10] people to control their cravings, so that behavior [02:13] therapies and counseling can be more effective. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/101047/the-best-help-for-alcoholics-is-one-were-not-using/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/101047/the-best-help-for-alcoholics-is-one-were-not-using/"},"headline":"The Best Help for Alcoholics Is One We're Not Using","datePublished":"2014-05-15T15:50:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-01T08:52:48.249Z","description":"There's a drug treatment for alcoholism, but few are taking advantage of it. 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