Awareness of self-change as a pathway to recovery for alcohol abusers: results from five different groups.

Results from several recent studies, particularly general population surveys, reveal that self-change (recovery from alcohol problems without treatment) is a major pathway to recovery from alcohol problems. Results from five different groups of subjects, however, suggest that most people are unaware of this fact. Reasons for this lack of awareness are discussed, and suggestions are made as to the implications of increasing the public's awareness about self-changes as a way of recovering from alcohol problems.