Grymt

I've never gotten this thing called AV.

I wish to understand. The way people throw this concept around as if it's something clear and simple. I don't get it.

Can someone please explain.

DesertTraveler

I'm not the best with these acronyms either Grymt, but I gather it is supposed to stand for Addictive Voice, that voice that only you can hear, that speaks to you when you are vulnerable and tells you it is okay to have just one drink. Maybe you had a bad day or a really good day (and you want to reward yourself).

Grymt

Ok. yes I know what it stands for and I've read a lot here of people talking about it. I don't hear any voices.

dwtbd

There are great threads here on SR in the Secular Connections forum on AVRT( Addictive Voice Recognition Technique). AV is any thought of future drinking or drug use, or doubt that permanent abstinence is possible.

DesertTraveler

LOL Not voices in that sense.

AnvilheadII

you've never thought -
damn a drink sounds good right now!
it's been a rough week, I DESERVE a drink.
i'm sure i can have 2 or 3 at the party and then stop.
that b*tch, what THIS!
i'll just drink on vacation, and then stop when i get back, no one will know.

our AV is the very determined rationalizer in our brain.

Grymt

'thought or (of?) future drinking, or doubt that permanent abstinence is possible. ' - ok, that I get. Like what we used to call 'stinking thinking.'

Mattq2

Sort of like your good brain versus your bad brain. Your good brain wants to try and stay sober but your bad brain wants you to drink and fills your head will all the reasons one drink wouldn't really be a big deal. To me it's a constant internal negotiation. I'm might be nuts but I hear the negotiation loud and clear😊

Grymt

dwtbd

Find a quiet place and say/think "I will never drink again, and I will never change my mind." And listen/pay attention to all the thoughts associated with that sentiment, odds are you will definitely hear your AV. The best news is given the Big Plan , the statement in quotes, the AV can raise all the objections and doubt It wants but will always be defeated by the 'logic' of the BP.

Mentium

The concept is based on the notion that your 'AV' is a manifestation of your basic 'reptile' brain - the basic primitive instincts that care only for instant gratification and have no concept or or concern for one's overall wellbeing or for your future. The AV will tell you that you want and need a drink and will override if it can your 'higher' intelligence - the bits of you that plan ahead, think logically and sensibly.

The secular section of the forum has lots of links.

Algorithm

It's not quite the same thing as Stinkin' Thinkin'. The AV acronym comes from AVRT, and stands for Addictive Voice. In the context of AVRT, the AV is the following:

1. Any thinking or feeling that supports or suggests your possible future use of alcohol and other drugs, ever.
   
   
2. Any thinking that contradicts a plan to never drink or use again in any way.
   
   
3. All self-doubt about maintaining permanent lifetime abstinence from alcohol and other drugs.

AV variations #2 and #3 are AV because they fit the main definition of #1 by supporting and suggesting more drinking or using.

People often don't realize that self-doubt is AV initially, due to the prevalence of relapse prevention models of recovery.

BrendaChenowyth

We don't have voices in our heads. That's not alcoholism, that's schizophrenia, I think.

No, it's YOU in any disordered thought pattern that leads you to make bad choices. It's the "I'm no good, what's the point" internal dialogue.

Grymt

Ok, I do get it now. It is active alcoholic thoughts or impulses. I can understand that. Thank you all. I'm glad I asked. It's been bugging me for a while.

Pete6256

Thanks for posting this, I was wondering what AV was also.

Addictive Voice makes a lot of sense now. I guess it's a methaphor for the artificial impulse or instinct we feel to drink in order to alleviate or reward whatever emotional state we happen to be in.

OpenTuning

The reason why AV is so incredibly powerful, is that it's your own voice. It sounds exactly like all your other thoughts. So the RT part of AVRT is to recognise when your thoughts are coming from a different part of your brain. The more primitive part. Some people call those thoughts The Beast, or The Witch, or anything that helps them visualise it as not being the rational part of the brain that knows they cannot drink again. Your AV will do everything it can to trick you into thinking those "it's okay to have one" thoughts are your rational brain talking.

Algorithm

This is true, but I hear my own thought voice when reading your post above, and the thoughts certainly sound like my own, yet I logically recognize them as not my thoughts, but your thoughts. I may then internalize them as my own, or not.

As illustrated by my reading example, it is perfectly possible for people to do this. That is, to hear thoughts in their mind's eye, which sound like their own, but which they do not consider or internalize as their own.

Nonsensical

AV? That's that d-bag I used to argue with in the beer aisle of the grocery store the day after I'd told my wife for the hundredth time I was going to 'throttle back' on the drinking.

If you see him, send him my way. That sumbeach owes me about $250,000 and 25 years of my life back.