Breaking Addiction: A seven step plan
 

Has anyone read this book? I started it last night, and I am kind of intrigued with the idea of uncovering my underlying triggers for drinking. Right now, I am in a seminar, bored, perusing SR. After reading another thread in another section, I can literally feel my anxiety rise for no apparent reason and bingo, I suddenly have a craving for a glass of wine. Something about that specific thread is a trigger for me, whoa!! It's a thread about lying about your addiction, and I feel unaccountably angry at the poster and sympathetic to the people being lied to -- it's irrational because all of the people involved are complete strangers. Most posts wash over me without eliciting an emotional response. I should add, after writing this note, the craving is gone.

I am not familiar with the book. What are the 7 steps?

Hollie, are you referring to the book by Lance Dodes?

Breaking Addiction: A 7-Step Handbook for Ending Any Addiction: Lance M., M.D. Dodes: 9780061987397: Amazon.com: Books

Yes! Nonsensical, I haven't reached the steps yet, but I do know from what I've read so far is that the premise is based on figuring the core triggers for your addictive behavior. I want to see if I can systematically pin down what triggers me to crave alcohol. And today was my first craving since my last last drink on Friday. Dee's words rings my ears every time I have a glass of wine after swearing I'm done: what are you going to do differently... So I decided to do what I do best, read and research and figure this out.

Hi all, I finished book. I like the premise and would highly recommend it as a quick, insightful read.

In a nutshell, the author identifies addiction as a compulsion that arises from our feelings of helplessness or powerlessness. The trick is to recognize key moments that trigger your own compulsive behavior, identify the underlying fear, then use strategies to derail the compulsion. CBT, right? Good stuff.

I've read Dr. Dodes earlier book, The Heart of Addiction. He laid out the same premise; that addiction (and urges) arises from our feelings of helplessness or powerlessness. However, based on my own experience with my alcohol problems, I'm not sure I buy into his beliefs. Still, I'm keeping an open mind, and I may take another look at his work.

I have a big, empty toolbox and I plan to fill it with everything I can find!! Do you have recommendations for what to read next?

Pure nonsense. You drink because you are hungry. You drink because you are lonely. You drink because daddy wouldn't play catch. You drink because your boss is a jerk and you can't switch jobs because the guidance counselor didn't help the advanced coursework and I had to work odd jobs while all the other kids blah blah blah blah blah. Utter BS.

Holli, some believe as I do that we drink for the simple primary reason of the pleasure it brings. There are always secondary things going on in the background, some call them triggers - HALT for example, but we are incapable of even thinking clearly about those while we are drinking.

I could never develop new strategies while drinking remained even a possibility in my future. That's why I quit drinking. I made it a moral imperative. This freedom and clarity that comes with permanent unconditional sobriety is the necessary condition to begin to address what you now consider to be underlying conditions. I do not believe that they are.

I quit with a thought process similar to AVRT, so that's what I call it now. I no longer drink and I never will again. Addiction is a former state.

I recommend highly the Lifering workbook - "Recovery By Choice" - Google it.

I'm in the middle of "7 steps," already finished "The Sober Truth" by Dodes. I buy his take on addiction completely - and I've read *tons* of recovery literature.

-DrS

I am a big fan of "whatever works"! I'll try that book next, DrS, thanks for the recommendation.

I am a big fan In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, Gabor Mate. It hypothesizes around addiction as environmental through early development.

I haven't been able to finish that. He's a great writer, very expert grasp of the literary reference (very Oliver Sacks) but I don't think I found anything novel about his take on addiction, and his theorizing to me seemed too ambitious and over complex to be that useful to me... Just my 2 cents. Dodes currently is da man with me.

-DrS

Holli,
I second the LifeRing 'Recovery by Choice' suggestion.
Also, Ann Fletcher's 'Sober for Good' has a large variety of personal "stories of recovery" so to speak, showing it' doable and doable in diverse ways.

Hi! I've never posted in the "secular connections" area before, but I read this book and I was surprised to see that it was so un-talked-about on this website, because I thought it was brilliant and true and made so much sense. I've been tracking my cravings all day (I get a couple an hour), and thinking them through, and almost every time, it has indeed been because I felt like I had no other way out of something awful, i.e. I was trapped, as he has said.

Does anybody around now have other thoughts on this? Read it at all?

I had all kinds of justifications to drink, long before I became chemically dependent, and they just got easier to come up with once I needed the drink to function and avoid detox and withdrawal and to feel "normal". I think ultimately what causes addiction is, too much drink too often for too long, and there's no need to invoke helplessness or powerlessness, though those might be triggers for some people (I was triggered by those, and also by feelings of power and self-control, either way). Stop drinking, and after a while your brain returns to normal and you're not an addict anymore. :)

I really got alot out of Kick The Drink.... Easily by Jason Vale

Which brings me to my two step 'method' of recovery.

Step 1: Acknowledge that drinking any alcohol is not good for me, that I can no longer drink.
Step 2: Don't drink any more alcohol.

What's the difference between 100 pennies, 20 nickels, 10 dimes and 1 dollar bill?
If all you care about is having a dollar to spend, there is no difference. If you need to feel a sense of accomplishment by saving up your pennies, nickles and dimes to get that dollar, have at it. I'll just take the dollar and be done with it. Not a lot of jingle-jangle or extra weight in my pocket thank you.

That's why I just don't drink any more.
I only have to worry about 1 thing.

I don't need seven steps, 12 steps a three point plan, a who knows? method. All I know is that I no longer drink - for good reason.
I never said this out loud, but when I here of people say they use the AVRT method I just smile to myself. I guess I don't see it as a "method" per se, but rather a decision. That's my take on it. For the same reason I'd rather have a dollar bill than 10 dimes, I just don't drink. XXX Yes I have said I used the AVRT method myself.XXX

Yes, I understand all about the beast concept and the inner battle with the voice - thoughts - that we sometimes must do battle. But as long as I know that I am not going to drink no matter what, you can throw anything at me and it will not affect my decision to not drink.

Well said, Lbrain. For what it is worth, I agree whole heartedly. The "sober 2-step" is the dance that works for me.

I feel the same way now, don't drink no matter what and it's all good, there will never be a reason or justification to take another drink no matter what life throws at me, and even the wish or desire is long gone. I just don't drink anymore, and I prefer life this way. If I have hangups or issues, fine, I can work on those or not, but that is true of 100% of the rest of the population too, whether they are ex-addicts or not.

But early on, it's harder (much harder for some, depends how far down the hole you went), and there are all kinds of ways people get through the early days. The lizard-brain concept works for many, and most people can relate to it, which helps you feel like you're not alone and the arguments going on in your head are common and normal. Tools are huge too, what can I do right now when I feel like drinking that will make the urge go away and help make it less likely I'll feel like drinking next time. Many people use group support including internet forums, chat rooms, etc.

It's all good if it works. :)