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Phone App Helps Curb Addiction

Patrick Dulin, the developer of the Step Away smartphone app for recovery.
James Evans
/
University of Alaska Anchorage

People are drinking more as they struggle to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. Tiffany Hall, with Recover Alaska, said that survey statistics indicate that people are using both drugs and alcohol more than they were before the pandemic began.

“Almost a third of people are using alcohol or drugs just to deal with kind of the new normal,” said Hall. “And 33% said they used more alcohol now than before the pandemic.”

Recover Alaska is offering help through an app developed by a professor at UAA. The app is available on iPhones and Androids, and can help people track and reduce their drinking. There are even some studies funded by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism that back up those claims.

“It’s shown to cut down the days people engage in heavy drinking by 60%, and reduce their overall number of drinks by 60%,” said Hall. “So pretty high numbers. Much higher than anything I’ve ever seen for an app before.”

To get the app, go to recoveralaska.org and click on Get Help Now. The app is being offered free by the organization.

Johanna Eurich's vivid broadcast productions have been widely heard on National Public Radio since 1978. She spent her childhood speaking Thai, then learned English as a teenager and was educated at a dance academy, boarding schools and with leading intellectuals at her grandparents' dinner table in Philadelphia.
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