M…
it’s good to see you back m.
Here are a few options that I know about, listed in order of how effective I think they are. Of course it is just my opinion, but here goes…
#1 alcoholics anonymous.
Http://www.Aa.Org/ also type alcoholics anonymous and your home town in your browser’s search field to find a meeting near you.
It is free, there are meetings all day long seven days a week everywhere. I think that a woman’s meeting might be just the ticket for someone like you. If you have a babe in arms, you will be welcome there. Also it is easier to be honest if it is woman to woman.
#2 rational recovery, secular for sobriety or smart recovery links attached.
Http://www.Rational.Org
http://www.Secularhumanism.Org
http://www.Smartrecovery.Org
i don’t know as much about these groups, and I believe there fees, and study materials that must be purchased in order to complete the course. If I am wrong, someone will correct me on this.
The things all of these programs have in common is they all think that total abstinent is the best answer. We can’t drink safely. Period! And they all to one degree or another do it as a community, we get sober together, we stay drunk all alone. That’s important.
#3 there are a few drugs out there that are designed to help an alcoholic to not drink. I have my own opinion about their efficacy, but here they are, you will get them from a doctor.
Naltrexone is one, camperal (sp?) is another and there is the old standard antibuse. How naltrexone and camperal works is they kills the buzz. That may seem like a solution in the short term, but just like any other drug, it's effects wear off. What happens when the alcoholic no longer has that drug in his system? Maybe in the early days of sobriety they may be of some help, but they don’t fix the obsession to drink, they just take the fun away. Antibuse makes you sick as a dog if you drink.
#4 just quitting based on self will. That works for a day or so, but I have seen that path fail much more often than I have seen it work. All by themselves, most alcoholics stay wet. Try it if you want to, but if you find that it ain’t working, try something else.
And #5 moderation management,
http://www.Moderation.Org/
this one in my opinion, is a bunch of crap. I only add it in the spirit of offering you everything I know. Their basic premise is we can learn to drink safely. I don’t believe that at all. The founder of this program is in prison as we speak for vehicular homicide for killing a couple while driving down the wrong side of the street drunk out of her mind. If you call yourself an alcoholic, you should also accept that you can never drink safely. And once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic.
One last thought, try to keep this in the here and now. Try not to think about not drinking for the rest of your life. It’s too big a deal. Tell yourself you aren’t going to drink just for today. Then do it again tomorrow. Keep it simple.
That’s about it…
richard
