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.
Htt
p://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
