This Naked Mind with Annie Grace

Old 09-02-2020, 02:55 PM
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This Naked Mind with Annie Grace

Is anyone working with this system? Read the book? Done the 30 day alcohol experiment? I'm interested to hear your experiences.
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Old 09-02-2020, 07:29 PM
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hi Patcha,
i have heard it mentioned in the Alcoholism section by a few people; maybe re-post there, as that section gets more traffic.
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Old 09-03-2020, 02:50 AM
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I've done the experiment...it's what I now recommend to others....after many times on and off the wagon I started the 30 day challenge in December 2018 and haven't had a drink since.....definitely the longest sober time I've had.

From what I remember, the first 30 days is free....lots of lessons to read, videos, and she chats with specialists.....you learn about what the alcohol is doing to our bodies.... I took lots of notes.....after 30 days you have the option of donating as little as $5 (which was what I did) and after that you have unlimited access....then I repeated the experiment to get to 60, 90, etc....

There are also discussion forums similar to this one, where you can interact with other members and support each other.

Actually I need to go back and review the information because there's so much of it!
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Old 09-03-2020, 05:47 AM
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She has a good podcast, too. Short bite-sized topics - hundreds of them.
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Old 09-04-2020, 05:16 PM
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Originally Posted by Purplrks3647 View Post
I've done the experiment...it's what I now recommend to others....after many times on and off the wagon I started the 30 day challenge in December 2018 and haven't had a drink since.....definitely the longest sober time I've had.

From what I remember, the first 30 days is free....lots of lessons to read, videos, and she chats with specialists.....you learn about what the alcohol is doing to our bodies.... I took lots of notes.....after 30 days you have the option of donating as little as $5 (which was what I did) and after that you have unlimited access....then I repeated the experiment to get to 60, 90, etc....

There are also discussion forums similar to this one, where you can interact with other members and support each other.

Actually I need to go back and review the information because there's so much of it!
I plan to keep doing it and maybe some of the longer paid programs too. I'm finding it really helpful.
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Old 09-04-2020, 05:17 PM
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Originally Posted by biminiblue View Post
She has a good podcast, too. Short bite-sized topics - hundreds of them.
The podcast is how I found out about her. I had the book but forgot I had it and ordered it as an audio book which I'm listening to as well as doing the 30 day experiment.
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Old 09-13-2020, 12:23 PM
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I followed the 30 day alcohol experiment. Found it useful in reframing the path to alcohol addiction. Sadly, I was timed out and can no longer read the material, because I failed to pay the minimum contribution at the end of the 30 days. Which is a shame, because I intended to pay the minimum, I've tried to rejoin, in order to review the useful material, and pay the minimum, but it won't allow me back in. Meh!
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Old 09-13-2020, 03:00 PM
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I just checked out the first of several videos on the author’s website. After an introduction, she states “You’re going to learn how the idea of never having another drink can actually keep you stuck.” Then I got lost in talk about a vast array of various free offerings about solving problem drinking. So, I’m not sure how direct their path to recovery is, let alone “reframing the path to alcohol addiction.”

If someone could put it all in a nutshell here, that would be great.




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Old 09-14-2020, 03:01 AM
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GT, the 'reframing the path to alcohol addiction' approach can be summarised in Annie Grace's own words, in a freely available online Q & A article in The Cut:

Why do people like alcohol?
Annie Grace: I think it’s a huge cultural thing. From a very young age, when our parents present it as something that we can’t have ‘til we’re adults, it turns up the allure like 100 thousand percent, and suddenly we absolutely want it. And then we see everybody doing it, because it’s been so ingrained in our society. And then I think it’s really confirmed by our own experience, because alcohol, when you first drink it — alcohol is an interesting substance, in that it’s both a stimulant and a depressant. And so for the first 20 to 30 minutes after we drink it, it acts as a stimulant. It gives us that tipsy, euphoric, kind of high feeling: It artificially stimulates our pleasure systems, and it feels good. That’s pretty quickly countered when our blood alcohol content goes down, at which point it becomes a depressant. Those mood swings don’t feel good, but we don’t necessarily associate them with alcohol, and so we think, “Oh, it was a stressful day” or whatever, and we reach for the next glass.

I think this whole cultural thing is very much confirmed by the neurochemical addictive quality of the substance. Any addictive substance is going to stimulate a pleasure part of your brain and artificially release high levels of dopamine. Dopamine’s a learning molecule, and it says, “Do that thing again.” And it becomes very quickly a habit that’s ingrained.

This was my experience as a young child in the development period, followed by teenagehood with partying and drinking for 'pleasure', followed by adulthood and attendant work stressors. and drinking for 'stress-relief'. But I'd been mentally conditioned to drink, which led to my brain 'pleasure centre' becoming fixated on alcohol as a 'cure-for-all' - addiction. Also, Grace explains in detail the effect that William Porter explained in his book 'Alcohol Explained' and the effect on the brain of drinking, withdrawal, drinking to ease withdrawal, tolerance and ultimately: addiction.

For me, learning about the pathway to addiction, showed me that I was not a hopeless, doomed cause. That the same pathway could be cleared and a new, sober pathway built in my brain., that the thoughts of drinking were chemically induced and would lessen in frequency, as I ignored and didn't act upon the thoughts (AV).

I believe in AVRT, but after I drank again, I needed more knowledge of the action of alcohol (and society) upon the brain. I need to make more sense of 'addiction', which was provided from a variety of sources, to include Annie Grace and William Porter. Hope this helps.


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Old 07-08-2021, 09:56 PM
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I didn't stick with the Annie Grace thing. I found it too intellectual and not helpful for dealing with the emotional pain of cravings. It works for many people though!
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