Controlled drinking emerges as accepted treatment for alcoholics

[techs]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livesc...versialalternativetoaa

Can you fight the disease of alcohol addiction and still be a social drinker? Making such a stance was heretical only a generation ago. Yet controlled drinking, as it is called, has emerged as an accepted treatment option for those who find abstinence too daunting.



While there are SOME alcoholics who can do controlled drinking, the number is very, very few.
The whole b.s. about controlled drinking is because alcohlics want to drink, and given the option of controlled drinking, they will almost always report they are doing so successfully in order to keep drinking.

 

[kedlav]

I know one person who was a serious alcoholic that can do with social drinking without binging. What works for some doesn't work for others. That being said, as much as I despise step 2, there's no doubt that AA is the most successful program out there for drunks and should be the first one attempted.

 

[JohnCU]

Originally posted by: kedlav
I know one person who was a serious alcoholic that can do with social drinking without binging. What works for some doesn't work for others. That being said, as much as I despise step 2, there's no doubt that AA is the most successful program out there for drunks and should be the first one attempted.

AA is useless for agnostics/atheists, not a fan of the program.

i've tried the controlled drinking, but the first drink is always the best, which makes you think the 2nd will be even better, then the 3rd...etc. to each his own though.

 

[Linflas]

When I did a research paper on alcoholism in college there was research out at that time that said that if the underlying mental condition that caused an individual to allow themselves to use alcohol as an escape was corrected along with a breaking of the physical dependency then it is entirely possible for that person to be a social drinker sometime in the future.

 

[JohnCU]

Originally posted by: Linflas
When I did a research paper on alcoholism in college there was research out at that time that said that if the underlying mental condition that caused an individual to allow themselves to use alcohol as an escape was corrected along with a breaking of the physical dependency then it is entirely possible for that person to be a social drinker sometime in the future.

i can totally agree with this, except the cycle that usually happens is depression is alleviated (briefly) by alcohol, but the next day the depression is worse (with a hangover), which means more alcohol, etc. it is an extremely difficult cycle to break.

what is really odd is the fact that you are aware of what is causing your depression, but your mind craves that 2 hours~ of normalcy feeling at the end of the day so it can be difficult to overcome.

 

[1sikbITCH]

Originally posted by: JohnCU

Originally posted by: kedlav
I know one person who was a serious alcoholic that can do with social drinking without binging. What works for some doesn't work for others. That being said, as much as I despise step 2, there's no doubt that AA is the most successful program out there for drunks and should be the first one attempted.

AA is useless for agnostics/atheists, not a fan of the program.

i've tried the controlled drinking, but the first drink is always the best, which makes you think the 2nd will be even better, then the 3rd...etc. to each his own though.

I don't believe in any gods, yet I was able to take the necessary tools away from the program to successfully quit. I lived and breathed NA for a year, got a lot of good information, and then never stepped foot back in the rooms again. I just celebrated my 8th year clean.

I was also able to apply those same tools and techniques a couple years later to quit smoking. Been nearly 6 years for that.

So you can use a 12 step program to gain the tools necessary to be successful. Admittedly, I know of no other person who has quit without being fully absorbed into NA or AA. They replace the drugs with the program. Whatever works.

 

[IGBT]

..sounds like institutionalized denial.

 

[Eeezee]

It makes a lot more sense to reduce drinking over time. Go cold turkey on anything and you have very little chance of succeeding. Ween yourself off and you have a much higher chance of breaking the habit.

Rather than have 6 drinks, try having 5 instead. Reduce every week until you're at 1 drink. That seems like a reasonable amount to me; a glass of wine with dinner.

 

[1sikbITCH]

Originally posted by: Eeezee
It makes a lot more sense to reduce drinking over time. Go cold turkey on anything and you have very little chance of succeeding. Ween yourself off and you have a much higher chance of breaking the habit.

Rather than have 6 drinks, try having 5 instead. Reduce every week until you're at 1 drink. That seems like a reasonable amount to me; a glass of wine with dinner.

Yeah... if you can do what you just stated, you are not an alcoholic.

The definition of an addict or alcoholic is someone who is incapable of having any control over how much he drinks. He doesn't stop until something else stops him. Hence the term, "the first beer gets you drunk".