Pboy

????

Dee74

Here's links to some of the major ones, including AA.
Don't discount anything pboy - the life you save may be your own

http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...resources.html

D

totfit

The majority of problem drinkers or alcoholics if you prefer to use the term quit on their own without any type of "program". You don't often hear about them, read about them, because they are the unadvertised majority. A JAMA study a couple of years back alluded to the fact that all methods were equally effective. Since you are inquiring it would seem you might be looking for support. You can google alcoholism+recovery+groups or several other combinations and find many groups. Look carefully and find what suits your needs best. The one undercurrent for the most part is that abstinence is the tried and true method. There is a very, very, small minority that can moderate once the line has been crossed. From what I have seen even for that small minority it is more trouble than worth. Abstinence would be much easier. Good luck.

smacked

When I decided AA was not going to be my program of choice, I still knew I needed to do anything I could. I turned to individual counseling with a psychologist who specialized in addiction issues. I saw him often, 2 times a week, for over 6 months. He certainly didn't get or keep me sober, but it was good support to have for the decision and committment towards sobriety that I had already made on my own.

I can't speak for anyone else, I don't honestly care what a majority method might be.. I only know what worked for me

Wolfchild

A.A., as well as many other fellowships of support, cannot get you sober & clean. You have to have that desire within yourself. They, and many others, can help you in your struggles to live a better way of life, but they cannot do it for you. You've got to want it for yourself and make the effort to have daily sobriety become a reality for you. There are those of us here that hope the best for you and many are praying that you will live a sober and clean life. Trust and believe that if you want the absolute best for your life, the help and encouragement will be there waiting for you to accept it.

johnstacey45

I don't know. What ARE other advisable methods??

Dee74

check out the link in post #2 John.

The suggestion about Alateen is a good one for you tho - seriously.
Al-Anon/Alateen
D

Threshold

I have no idea about how others do it, but I can speak of my own experience.

I first came to address my multiple addictions through an unexpected way...a diet book. A VERY different sort of diet book, but a diet book none the less.

It's approach to weight loss was to address the underlying issues of WHY an individual uses food inappropriately, find productive coping mechanisms and thus lead to weight loss and a healthier life. I got the book, and began to work the program (it was a journaling approach and I write, so it really suited me)

By the time I'd picked up that little book I'd actually addressed many of my issues regarding food and was at a healthy weight, so I decided to do the same exercises but address my other addictions. That got me started into serious recovery.

As I did that, other books "came" to me. I'd find them for 25 cents at thrift stores, library book sales, etc. Books on a variety of different subjects that were now interesting to me because I'd begun the process and was feeling real change in my life. These totally unrelated books, and my taking time to truly consider and journal about what they said, propelled me onward.

I keep two different types of journals, one I just write stream of thought into, about my day, about whatever the books bring up, etc. The other is my recovery journal, and it is divided into several sections. When a great thought, insight, etc comes to me, a real nugget of truth or personal conviction, I copy it into the appropriate section of my recovery journal.

There is a pledge section in there, where I write down what I pledge to do to advance my recovery, one of the first pledges is to read my recovery journal regularly. This has been critical, to read MY OWN insights, when the addict in me is screaming louder than the sober person in me is talking...I can read MY OWN insights...and it sort of talks me out of the tree. Because those are not some one else's words or experiences, they are my own.

I date the entries in these journals, a simple way to keep track. And sometimes when I read my journal, I notice that I worded something a particular way and that through growth I see a better, more true way to word it...and I alter it and date that too.

A few things I have scratched out, learning them to be not so helpful, as time went on. It's my journal and my recovery, and I can do that!

Some of the books I have picked up along the way have been AA/NA/OA materials. Some have been psychology, some spirituality, some humor, some diet. I take good solid suggestions no matter what form they come in.

I know for me the only way to tackle my addictions is to come to recognize their role in my life, and find more appropriate coping mechanisms and heal up the wounds where that is possible. Honesty is critical for me, and humility.

People have told me I cannot do this on my own, and I agree. Humans don't live in a vacuum, we NEED people, and our relationships with others are the most important things in our lives. I am not alone,even if I am not attending 12 step meetings, there are other ways to not be alone in the process. We each have to discover the best way for us. Sometimes, and for some people a support group is the best or only way to get the needed fellowship.

but again, honesty and humility are critical.

I am also open to the idea that at another time in my recovery I may need a different method or type of support, but have learned to trust that all the elements of sobriety are available to me. That has been my experience. When I am truly committed, the materials and methods are available to me, I just need to reach out to them and make use of them. when I am not committed, the things are there, but I don't "see" them, or use them. The difference is in ME, my own willingness to make use of the resources.

It appears to me that my own committment, willingness, honesty and humility are the most important factors. The methods I use ALL require those aspects of myself. That does not seem to vary,no matter which method I use, or which suggestions I have followed that have proven helpful to me.

littlefish

I use AA and an outpatient addiction rehab center. Sometimes the two programs are quite diametrically opposed, but I use them both. Essentially, I threw everything into my recovery, including the kitchen sink.
My rehab outpatient service is meds and therapy based: therapy with an addiction therapist, ("think, then do") and the use of antabuse, naltrexone and campral. I've used two of three of those meds during the last 15 months.
My AA program is the total opposite: "do, then think recovery. Both have helped me enormously.
Some people want an all or nothing and one single method for recovery: I am sort of a free spirit and I just used everything.
It is kind of based on your personality and how you like to do things.
You will find on these boards that people often use a wide ranging choice of methods or one single thing, but it boils down to what works best for you and your personal style.

Boleo

That begs the question - If you can "quit on your own" do you have the ISM of alcohol-ism?

I quit on my own dozens of times without any kind of a program - for a few weeks. My problem started when I stopped drinking. Like having a stone in my shoe, I was uncomfortable in so-called sobriety.

SalParadise1951

I know that I have alcoholism (I'm also a drug addict rather than a drug user). In regards to whether I could have quit without a program, I guess it depends on your definition of a program. If a person can one day decide to set down the bottle or the pipe and never give it a second thought, I'd guess they were never an alcoholic or addict. However, my own recovery involves quite a bit. I read a lot about addiction. I post on here (I recently adopted a new profile to become more anonymous). I take pieces of wisdom from AA, NA, SOS, Rational Recovery, etc and the people that practice their methods. I see a private addictions counselor and attend marriage counseling. I practice my faith and spend a lot of time getting to know myself. I eat right and exercise.

Am I working a program? I'm not working an specific program of recovery that has thus far existed. It may be that I'm working my own program. Did I quit on my own? I didn't quit by myself.

vinepest

I would be very interested to know if there are any scientifically-collected data supporting this claim. I would not be surprised if it is true, but I do require some kind of hard evidence before I can accept it.

I myself fall into that very category. About 1.7 years ago I simply decided that it was time to stop, and never looked back. I abhor AA and all other 12-step programs. I don't really think about it much anymore. It was just a childish thing I used to do, and now I've grown out of it.

This is not to underplay the long and hard road to making the decision final. Like most, I flip-flopped for several years on the issue. Finally I collected enough reasons to make the decision permanent. After that, I had no problem. Oh, every once in a while I wish I could take a special trip, or have some hard cider around the holidays, or something like that. But those moments are few and far between, and pose only the slightest danger to my sobriety when they appear.

In contrast, 12-step programs insist on having a person dwell at great length on their drug/alcohol use. How counter-productive that must be! A person ought to leave that ugly business behind in all haste, and get on with his or her life. Perhaps worse than that, 12-step programs provide drug/alcohol users with tools to deny personal responsibility. We are not powerless over drugs/alcohol. In fact, they have no power whatsoever. Indeed, we are all autonomous actors fully capable of abstinence, if only we recognize the wisdom of it.

Anyway, that's my amateur assessment.

AlwaysGrowing

My friend this is SOOOO misguided but you are intitiled to your own opinion/assessment. I've been in AA for 18 years and 18 years sober. If one day you would like to be more clued in about AA just PM me.

AG

vinepest

In what way am I misguided?

AlwaysGrowing

In reading and following suggestions for one. See my post again. If you want to just argue don't bother PMing me. If you really looking for help I'm here VIA PM.

I will know the different and you will too.

AG

vinepest

I thank you for the offer of assistance, but I have no need. As I said in my initial post, I have had no trouble at all with drugs/alcohol since I decided to abstain from them.

I am curious, however, why you think that I am misguided. Which opinion of mine do you think is in error, and why?

sailorjohn

Yup.

miamifella

I think vinepest you are mixing up the process of a non-addict giving up alcohol or drugs with an addict doing so.

Like you, I was able to quit alcohol on a whim. I just stopped. I sometimes drank heavily, but I was not addicted to alcohol. A therapist told me that because I was a drug addict, I was more likely to become addicted to other substances. On hearing this, I thought it best to give up drinking because I could become an addict.

About six months later I realized how long it had been since I had a drink. I had even forgotten that I quit! It just was not something I ever thought about.

But for the drug I am addicted too....that would be impossible. I do think about it.

vinepest

This seems to be a common sentiment around here---that if a person is "able" to quit on their own, then they are not actually addicted. But is that really a criterion for addiction?

According to wikipedia, the 1957 WHO definition remains in wide use in present medical literature, and reads as follows:
I take issue with the language of (i), and so I am skeptical that anyone meets that criterion. I am unqualified to evaluate myself with respect to (iii), although from what I know of psychology, I strongly suspect I met it at one time. As for (ii) and (iv), I am quite certain I met them.

Regarding (i), what does it mean to say that desire is "overpowering"? That doesn't sound like a standardized term, but perhaps it is. If so, what are its criteria? If not, then it could just be a supplement to "compulsion," which I do think has a standardized definition. Wikipedia describes it thusly:
Surely this vague definition is unlike whatever we should find in the literature. In any case, it is little help. It suggests that compulsion involves a feeling of obligation, but to what end?

I am curious what a specialist would have to say on the matter. For myself, (i) looks very dubious indeed.

sailorjohn

JME, and this is hijacking the original thread as the op asked about 'other methods', while all those addicted to alcohol are probably alcoholics, not all alcoholics become addicted-as you probably know, alcohol, like cocaine, is 'selectively addictive'. In simple english, alcoholism is greater than alcohol addiction.

Again, IME, it's not helpful for alcoholics to compare what are considered stages of the disease, a heavy daily consumer of alcohol vs. someone that simply hasn't started drinking heavily on a daily basis, or drinking essentially around the clock. If you consider yourself a non-alcoholic, sharing your non-experience isn't helpful in this thread about 'alcoholism'.