debs

Forgive me if this has been discussed before...

But I'm seriously considering going to a ten day rehab that has a very impressive success rate.... their method being aversion therapy.

I know two people personally that are successful graduates from the program...

Of course they've highly recommended it to me...

But it's a lot of money and a big commitment not to take lightly..

I wondered if any of you had any opinions and/or experience with it?

This is the place I'm looking at. ..PM me for the link please

Mark75

Hi debs... So glad to see you here and still seeking recovery. I briefly read over their site... I am not an expert on aversion therapy.

I am a 12 stepper, AA.... The Big Book that trying to stay sober on recollections of the last horrible bender or spree is not sufficient... So... AA and this place are almost completely opposite... although they claim to work in conjunction with AA and other self help groups.

One thing that gave me pause was this statement...

Think about this statement very carefully... they presented data to advertising departments at television networks to verify their #1 status... WTF... can you say "conflict of interest"? How can anyone who stands to gain financially by endorsing their claims be objective?

I don't know... I don't like anybody who claims to be #1 and then charges a lot of money and gets PAID endorsements... which in effect, IMO, are just that...

Mark

debs

Good point... No idea what I'll end up deciding to do, but it's always helpful to hear other opinions.

suki44883

Isn't that the place that makes you drink a bunch of drinks one after the other until you throw up? I think they used to have a smoking clinic too and they made you smoke one cigarette after another until you threw up. Doesn't sound like anything I'd be interested in. I think I'd give AA a good hard try first, but then, everyone is different.

Good luck to you in whatever endeavor you choose.

Mark75

Suki...

they use emetic therapy (make you vomit) for alcoholism and faradic therapy for stimulant addiction... um, they shock you.

DayWalker

I just looked at the site and under the descrip of "treatment" I found this...

So I think suki44883 might be right as to what they do

debs I'd seriously find out more about that place before you decide anything, because that sounds like a weird way to treat people if that's true. Sounds a bit scary to me.

Steve

Sugah

I'm sorry. I'm not trying to turn this into a joke, but I gotta tell you -- I read that and just about choked on a mouthful of Pringles. I did that every night. Aversion? I was making room for more.

Peace & Love,
Sugah

NoelleR

Aversion therapy......? .......Good? ......or ......Bad? ......Gee, I dunno, BUT.....

The 1971 movie 'A Clockwork Orange' from the Anthony Burgess book of the same name comes to mind.......... (o:


NoelleR

Toronto68

I don't know anything about this "aversion therapy" place, but I agree with Sugah about the "aversion," and I am kind of smirking. I can remember plenty of times that my brain was actually capable of detecting the sensation that I could not stand the taste of what I had been drinking to get drunk. But that was not enough, obviously, since I went on years and years to continue drinking the stuff.

I think it would be an exercise in torture, personally. I am not an expert, but I think if I went through this, my brain would probably find a way to drink, only experience variations of doom in the process.

Mark75

Sugah

That's just creepy, Mark.

Peace & Love,
Sugah

Mark75

I know. Sorry. I couldn't help it.

Debs... I guess I've made no secret of my bias as it comes to aversion therapy. I almost edited out the picture, and maybe the mods will anyway.... HOWEVER...

A Clockwork Orange was an important book/movie in a big way because it was not just a commentary on society and violence, but also on how methods such as these are suspect...

Some people hold the 12 steps in skepticism...

What do you think? Hope you are well today

Mark

cambridge

Sounds terrible to me, this aversion therapy. And Sugah - I thought the exact same thing too. What is a hangover if not aversion, or puking when you drink too much?

I'd look into this very very carefully if I were you debs, and maybe consider other options first - counselling, medical options from your doctor, aa, smart - there are loads of choices out there for recovery.

KenL

Thanks, Mark. I'm gonna be laughing about that pic and this thread all day long.

debs

lol............... so I see yall's opinion is unanimous!...

Actually, if I understand it correctly, it's not that they have you drink until you're sick ... hell, I dun that more times than I've had hot dinners!..

But what they do instead is give you some sort of medication that if you drink while on it, you get violently ill... thereby acting as an aversion to alcohol?

I don't know.. sounds horrible, but nothing's more horrible than what I've been going through ..............

And a good friend of mine drank for 30 plus years.... NOTHING worked for him... but this did.. he swears by it... so I guess that's why I'm looking at it pretty seriously..

Anyway, I woke up sober for the first time in a few weeks today...

Felt pretty feckin awesome.

Tell me, WHY do we do this to ourselves again???

keithj

Because we are powerless not to.

KenL

Cuz we're alcoholics.

CarolD

Any program or treatment center can claim a
high success rate

I know I an a 100% recovered AA alcoholic.
I know countless others too.

I had to want to quit drinking
more than I wanted to drink.

One drink....I became powerless to stop.
My life continued to go downnhill.

I sure hope you get to that point soon Deb..

DayWalker

I think the thing everyone is unanimous about debs is just that they all care about ya and want to make sure your safe and see you have success in stopping drinking. That sounds like "Antabuse" from the sounds of it, and I know we're not supposed to give medical advice here so I wont go into much detail about Antabuse, but I'll just say that's something that you really have to be careful with.

Not making any judgment calls on you so please don't take this that way, but it seems like you want to quit drinking but are trying to look for a "Magic bullet" that will stop you from drinking. And only reason I say that is because that sounds SO familiar to me and how I tried doing things time and time again.

Have you Really tried working a program yet? meaning more than just a meeting here and there, getting a sponsor, working steps, etc etc?

Myself I'm as guilty as the next guy for wanting sobriety without having to do anything to get it, but lately I've found that I have to actually do something to get which has included going to meetings, finally getting a sponsor, and starting to work the steps again. If there was an easy way out where I could just sit back and do nothing and yet stay sober by taking a pill or something simple and yet still not drink at all then believe me I'd be all over that. But I've proved to myself many times that there is no way to do it like that.

If AA doesn't appeal to you for some reason then there's many other methods such as Celebrate Recovery, Life Ring (which I can't say I know anything about LR but thats another) and others out there. Just give one of them a try for a few weeks and give yourself over completely to it for just a couple weeks and see how things go, what's the worst that can happen?

Steve

Toronto68

Debs, that's great that you woke up sober today.

The medication reminds me of Anabus, but could be sundry other things (again, not an expert).

Whatever you opt for, the decision not to drink is the first important step. Although I am not going to meetings and working through Steps, I feel that AA has an impact on me through my reading, including reading people here who are in a program. So I hope you will pick the method that works best for you, and it may be a combo of things.