What is this thing called AV?
All is Change
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Australia
Posts: 1,284
What is this thing called AV?
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.
Member
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: USA
Posts: 106
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).
quat
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: terra (mostly)firma
Posts: 4,823
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.
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.
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.
Member
Join Date: Jan 2016
Posts: 1,462
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😊
quat
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: terra (mostly)firma
Posts: 4,823
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.
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.
The secular section of the forum has lots of links.
- Any thinking or feeling that supports or suggests your possible future use of alcohol and other drugs, ever.
- Any thinking that contradicts a plan to never drink or use again in any way.
- 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.
Member
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 2,950
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.
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.
Member
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Toronto, ON
Posts: 140
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
If you see him, send him my way. That sumbeach owes me about $250,000 and 25 years of my life back.
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