SoberHoopsFan

Anyone else read this book? I'm about halfway through and it might be the most brilliant book on alcohol addiction I have ever read. The type of book that drinkers of all levels should read, and even non-drinkers would find its content rewarding. The way he sees past the lies and identifies the conjob that alcohol has pulled on society (ESPECIALLY on those considered to be "normal" or "social" drinkers) is pretty amazing stuff. This book seriously needs a more widespread publication, but I don't believe it has one because it took several weeks for this to arrive for me after ordering on Amazon. I just think this book will blow a lot of people's minds and change the way they look at the drug (yes, it is a drug, on par with heroin, crack, etc.) called alcohol forever.

MythOfSisyphus

Looks like a good read! Thanks for the heads up.

samseb5351

I must say I am skeptical and I hope to read the book but perhaps someone can give me an idea of what is being discussed. What are the main claims being made by Mr Vale, what credentials or evidence is used to back up the claims? Is this a book about Alcohol and Drugs or about addiction? I would agree the history and human relationship with alcohol is interesting and worth studying but I am not so sure if the Social acceptance of drinking and drinking cultures are the direct cause of addiction.

DoubleDragons

This book is a major factor in my sobriety-10.5 months sober on my first try. The author is British so all of the statistics he talks about are from England, but they are easily translatable to any drinking community.

samseb5351

Can I get you expand on this a little, what did the book say that made it a major factor for you? You mentioned stats, can you expand on a few of the Stats that he has quoted?

DoubleDragons

The book made me look at alcohol in a whole different light. I grew up in a household of alcoholic/heavy drinkers. My extended family and friends have all been drinkers. I honestly never looked at alcohol in any other way, except what was spoon fed to me by lovers of alcohol. And so, even though I probably realized I had a problem from almost when I started drinking in my teens, I believed I was the weird one who couldn't handle it or control it. I never thought to look at it as a serious drug, which it is one. The author shows us that there is no other drug in the world that we suggest people moderate. (just do a little heroin, a little cocaine) It is the only drug in the world that you are made to feel stupid if you don't do it. Yet it causes more deaths, disease and destruction that any of the others mentioned.

I can't remember the stats off of the top of my head, but they essentially the same ones we have all heard, as to the fact that alcohol kills more people per second than many other drugs and diseases, yada, yada. It cost society millions of dollars due to health issues and social issues, etc. Frankly, I don't believe stats or scare tactics get anyone sober because if they did and we addicts all thought rationally, none of us would drink.

What this book did for me was to make me look at drinking, my drinking habits, other people's drinking habits, the money business and governments make keeping booze in business, etc. in a much more rational, logical, factual way than I had ever looked at it before. However, I was in the mindset of wanting to change, of wanting to try sobriety. I think if you aren't there, yet, than perhaps you would still be able to talk yourself out of any point this book makes. We addicts are excellent at denying reality.

martina12

Yep I read it too and it really rings true...very similar thinking to Allen Carr's 'Easy Way to Stop Smoking'. In fact they used to work together and fell out after Allen Carr's book on smoking was published and then Jason Vale did a similar book on alcohol.

I still have both authors books for dipping into when I need to!

cheeto

I found the book inspirational as I had already quit so many times and needed something simple not complicated to just get it and move on. As Jason says that there is nothing to give up as there are no advantages to drinking, the advantages NEVER actually existed. All the things we were conditioned to believe alcohol did for us do not exist. That was what we are hooked on, the illusion. Alcohol is a drug and I have been feeding a disease for years and now I need to starve it.

Soberwolf

Checking it bout as that is the kind of stuff I say like is you wouldn't smoke crack at the Xmas table on Xmas day

Why would u drink ??

Got to check this out

SoberHoopsFan

Whoever said above was right; Vale breaks down all the supposed things that we are brainwashed that alcohol does for us (relaxes, de-stresses, makes us social, calms us, gives us courage, etc.) are actually illusions propigated by a society where most adults are themselves addicted to the drug even if they don't realize it.

He also attacks people's reasons for saying they drink: 1) tastes good 2) quenches thirst 3) makes you feel good, and challenges the reader to see that all of these are factually untrue.

At one point he compares being hooked on alcohol to being like Jim Carrey in The Truamn Show before he realizes that his entire world is fake. And maybe the most salient point he makes is that people are unable to wake up from this (as Jim Carrey does in the movie) because the majority of adults in society are addicted to this drug, except the only people who realize their addiction are people like us who have so many problems that we want to quit it. "Normal" or "social" drinkers are addicted to alcohol, but have no idea that they are. Therefore, quitting drinking completely is actually freedom rather than "giving up something" or "a horrible thing to endure."

His views won't fly in normal recovery circles or standardized recovery thinking. But if you have an open mind, it's damn brilliant the way he has freed himself and lives his life.

Nocturnal

Thank you i'll check it out.

jaynie04

I haven't read the book but the word freedom is really important to me. I feel like I have thrown off shackles, a lead weight I had been carrying around. Sobriety is freedom, it is hard to see that when we are still drinking. But once we make the decision to move over to the other side the clarity of how prudent this final decision is continues to grow daily.

Thanks SHF, I will check it out.

anattaboy

So this guy is our new bellwether? Seriously, this sounds intriguing. Lately I have been questioning how really independent and self-aware I am (not). Of course it also smells a little conspiratorial so I have to bite (the sound of Pavlov makes me hungry). Thanks for the tip!

SoberHoopsFan

His views on alcohol have made me see things in a whole new light. One thing I'll say is I think this book will speak better to us with some sober time under our belt rather than as a way for someone in the midst of a bad alcohol addiction to get past the first few weeks. I'm not sure his method gets you to day 30 when you're caught in an awful cycle. But I know that his method has almost reduced my desire to drink to zero. I've rarely had even the slightest of urges to drink since reading it. It's like my AV just disappeared completely. It doesn't even bother anymore.

The biggest key is the shift in thinking from: "I'm making a sacrifice and giving up one of life's true pleasures" by quitting drinking to "I'm gaining freedom from a horribly addictive drug that most of society is still hooked on." None of us have to ever sacrifice anything again, whether finances, health, relationships, emotional stability, willpower, self-control, sleep, etc., for alcohol. It is those that continue to drink, including the alleged "normal" or "social" drinkers in addition to the drunks, who will be making ALL of the sacrifices to keep alcohol in their lives. That shift in thinking has done wonders for me.

Like he says, sobriety is freedom, we are Jim Carrey finally stepping out of the dome...

DeannaM77

I am waiting for it to come in the mail any day now. Have had numerous recommendations on it. Cannot wait to begin reading it.

DarkDays

This is the book that got me on my way , I have recommended it to many

Croissant

I think all of us respond to different messages as we move through our journey.

Thank you for sharing, and I can tell you are really passionate about this book and it's unlocked a healthy way of thinking for you and others. That's really great!

I've bought a heap of books lately, so will definitely put this on my next budget to buy.

SoberHoopsFan

Yeah, this one resonated with me. I had a couple months of sobriety already before reading it and was very comfortable with my sobriety already (and had many mechanisms in place for dealing with urges, tough times, etc.). I think before I read it I was comfortable with never drinking again but felt there would be difficult times and that certain things I may miss out on (but the benefits of sobriety outweighed them). Now I'm comfortable with never drinking again, but I feel I won't be missing anything, and feel more free than I ever have. You seem to be very open-minded about recovery, I'm sure you will get a lot out of this. Let us know what you think after you get through it.

dwtbd

it sounds like an interesting read, especially if it touches on or would not be held in high esteem in the 'traditional recovery circles'. But if it lumps normal and social drinkers in with drunks, that could turn me off. 'Drunks' to me is like the *-word, only those who would ascribe it to themselves should use it. If he in his writing leans that way, he sounds more traditional than not.

SoberHoopsFan

He doesn't use that word or any negative label at all for heavier drinkers, he considers all of society that drinks (almost regardless of level) to be pretty much the same. I think the first or second chapter is titled "There is No Such Thing as an Alcoholic"

His views would be heavily contested by traditional recovery programs and medical professionals