I thought that meant Starbucks for a sec, but then I saw the other thread. Sorry to hear.
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Thanks. It’s been brewing a long time; I just haven’t shared until now. His addiction is not alcohol so I don’t want to derail the thread too much, but suffice it to say that living with an addict who is not in recovery is extraordinarily difficult.
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AA is better than doing nothing. Do you have other options in mind that you’d like to share?
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Also, if someone is ordered to go to AA against their will on pain of jail time but doesn’t actually embrace the program then I’m not sure it’s fair to count them in the denominator . It’s hard enough when you’re actually trying but impossible when you’re not.
The article primarily mentions the drug naltrexone, which they have used in Finland with success. It reduces cravings. Other drugs they mention are varenicline, topirimate and baclofen.
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I don’t personally have a good alternative to AA, but if I was looking for a program I’d probably start with my doctor for suggestions.
I have no personal experience with AA but from what little I know of the program and what Rastiln has posted on GoA, I’m not sure AA is the best program for him.
Sorry to hear Twig, best of luck with that situation.
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Spouse is now over a year sober? Woohoo!
She never did AA, complained it was too culty (note she actually is religious, unlike everyone else I know). She was on a couple anti-addiction drugs for a while. Had a therapist. Had some kind of group session or group therapy? Talked with friends and the internet.
I asked her what worked for her just now. She told me a few things:
- Profound disgust at herself.
- Support from friends/family.
- Lots of transparency. Telling everyone her decision.
- Quitting a few things that were related to it. Also telling people involved in those things, increasing transparency.
- Certain generally positive ways of thinking from therapy. For example, her therapist explained that statistically speaking, lots of people slip and start drinking again, and she just needs to think of it as a fact about people, and not as a personal failing.
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AA isn’t the only path, smart recovery focuses less on belief in a higher power and more on what’s been shown empirically to work.
I’ve never heard this.
Physical alcohol dependency isn’t based on age but consumption.
How the brain’s reward pathways get wired varies a lot by people and is influenced by number of times consuming which increases with age.
Right, Middle age is when it often happens for someone who started drinking in their teens and never really checked themselves. I’m 42 and my first friends started doing alcoholic type things in our mid 30’s. When my best friend entered rehab was when I quit permanently. My cousin has been an alcoholic for 5 years now and hasn’t responded to any type of treatment at all. I have another friend who is noticing his drinking is causing him problems with his wife and family but doesn’t really want to stop and another who is dealing with bouts of gout but blames it on stuff other than drinking.
Mom and dad both said middle age seemed to be the time when the heaviest drinkers in their life started dealing with the addiction part of it as well.
Pretty sure AA has been shown empirically to be as good or better than other methods of treatment. I’d be interested in any research showing it to be empirically ineffective.
Here are 2 really large studies that show it is quite effective. The NCBI study says inpatient treatment is better but the cost of such treatment is a huge burden for almost all alcoholics.
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See Knoaths post like 5 posts up. AA is great for the people it works for, it’s not the only available path.
What I’ve found is moderation isn’t an option for me.
It’s far easier to say no to any alcohol than to try to thread the line of what’s the right amount.
YMMV
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Moderation wasn’t an option for me either. 1 becomes 4 way too easily for me . Also I found drinking on certain days didn’t work either, like only weekends, only “special” occasions, etc. for me it was just too easy to return to daily drinking. And daily drinking was way to easy to fall into daily drinking too much.
But everyone is different. What’s worked for me is to not have the first one. But I do realize that’s a whole lot easier said than done.
We took my nephew and his fiancé out to dinner last week and he ordered some rye cocktail that smelled oh so good. Was difficult not to order one myself.
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I think middle aged is when it’s no longer socially acceptable to get wasted all the time. Through your early 30s you can just frame it as partying a lot.
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8-12% success rate, not stellar. Your second source only compared AA with counseling, so wouldn’t have included other programs that involve social interaction but don’t rely so heavily on belief in a higher power.
“Addiction specialists cite success rates slightly higher, between 8% and 12%.”
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1 and 5 are a bit contradictory.
The self flagellation of 1 leads some people to relapse, so is worth taking with a grain of salt.
Separating out the urge to drink as its own voice cam be helpful to see you’re more than just that urge.
It’s both, honestly. I had a two-week streak of telling them I wasn’t drinking liquor after they asked that I drink less but beer/wine were okay, when I was drinking liquor and more, even though she was much more fine with other alcohol. So I was lying on top of a lie.
However I have wanted to commit to it for some time. I’ve discussed it with my therapist more than once, and yeah, it’s catching up with my health both physically and mentally. I’ve had a couple of hallucinogenic episodes by misjudging the combo of antidepressants and alcohol, and phew boy.
The God thing is annoying but the people I met just my first meeting were all excellent. One older man shared a story that tracked alarming closely to me at his younger side and a trajectory I see myself on.
I’m going to detox for 5 days, which that part is mostly to appease my partner, who I scared with an episode.
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If AA has good alternatives in my town I’ll explore them. I already have a therapist.
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