Originally Posted by Briansy

Yes - the whole structural template of the book and many of the "observations" of Annie are directly ripped off from Allen - even down to the very specific observations which are painted by Annie as "asides" in the book. As well as the central philosophy of spontaneous sobriety - that's very much a philosophy that's specific to Carr. She has obviously avoided the whole book being considered as plagiarism, but parts of it absolutely are.

But who cares if it works, right? And I got a lot from Annie just like you - and far less from Allen Carr. I think the main issue I have with both is that Allen Carr has taken the concept from his hugely successful quitting smoking book - that it is a toxic poison and did you ever actually enjoy it?- and applied it to alcohol. The main flaw, as William Porter pointed out in his book is that there was a time for all of us when consuming alcohol was unquestionably enjoyable no matter how much Allen Carr tries to convince us it wasn't.

Just my two cents.

Originally Posted by BackandScared

My two cents too Briansy:

Allen Carr is much closer to Jason Vale's book than Annie Grace is close to Allen Carr's. Jason Vale's approach to drinking is a version of the Allen Carr's approach to quitting smoking. Overall, these authors and many others do not pretend to be scientists.
They don't claim to be bringing an original approach to this. They narrate their personal experience and add several scientific facts. They experience is important because it is personal and therefore relatable. That's the beauty of this forum and others too.

We find people who have been on our same boat. We realise we are not alone. That even if we see ourselves as 'functioning' or 'weak' or 'non-disciplined' or whatever, compared to others, there are many suffering in the same way.

To me, Annie Grace's experience as well as the experience of bloggers such as mummywasacecretdrinker have helped me more than Alen's Carr. Because I don't relate at all with the golf outings and the little bottle of whisky. I do see myselves in women who are questioning how it is possible they stopped drinking when pregnant with zero problems but can't do it now.

I relate to the experience of hiding alcohol even when you are not drinking that much, helping to keep the secret very long because it is still not really normal for a woman to drink alone in most circumstances and places.

You will hardly enter a pub and find 5 or 6 alcoholic women you can spot straight away. The experience is different and I am glad some women are also writing about theirs.

Different appraoches work for different people. I don't think it is necessary to point out the weaknesses of any of them. My least favourite part of Allen Carr, Annie Grace or Jason Vale approach if their need to criticise AA or other methods based on permanent recovery or adding a transcendent element to your journey. Why do they need to do this?

I am following my journey, reading everything I can and taking more of what seems to work and avoiding what doesn't (for instance, reading about relapse seems to get me in a very wrong place).

I am reading the book recommended by Sohard now. So far, I don't relate to the personal experience of the author because it is different (very) from mine. Which means it will be very close for someone else. These are personal accounts of personal journeys, no matter how much drinking too much means many common points of reference.

By the way, I never ever enjoyed drinking per se. It was always a social thing to 'belong'. The minute I started drinking alone I knew I was hooked. I totally get this is not the same for everybody, particularly for persons who have grown up seeing drinking as normal, which was not my case (and a total no-no for a woman)