Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Addiction is a chronic brain disorder and not simply a behavior problem involving alcohol, drugs, gambling or sex, experts contend in a new definition of addiction, one that is not solely related to problematic substance abuse.
The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) just released this new definition of addiction after a four-year process involving more than 80 experts.
Hopefully now evidence based treatments and science can push 1930s solutions aside and help people for real...
It's funny you say this because the 1930s was the hotbed for the spiritual approach to alcohol recovery with the forming of Alcoholics Anonymous... a fellowship named after its own book.
Alcoholics Anonymous is in agreement with these findings as far as the realization that the true alcoholic does NOT have a choice in drink whether drunk or sober. In other words, the alcoholic cannot seem to control the stop once they're started, nor can they control the start once they're stopped. When the alcoholic has ingested alcohol, a sort of craving seems to take over. When they're sober and free of booze, they seem to be hounded by the obsession that they can give it a go once again, but control it this time. They usually attempt control again with no fear of the "humiliation and suffering of even a week ago"... or they are "without defense against the first drink". They are merely trying to achieve that "sense of peace and ease which follows a few drinks".
But they do not call it a disease. Bill W. was never in agreement that this malady should be called a disease. But A.A. of the 30s did not yet know of a cure for the body which would expell the obsession for the dry alcoholic nor the physical craving for the drinking alcoholic. Their program of action, the 12 Steps, focussed on removing the obsession from the "mind".
Now, is the mind the brain? Is it a state of consciousness that encompasses beyond a person's brain? Like perhaps the Spirit? In any case, the 12 Steps when properly taken, merely dispell the need for a drink. It somehow places the person in a position of neutrality and they can go on about their life. An altruistic avocation of helping others along the path is of course encouraged.
The outside observer might see the recovered alcoholic as one who has had a seeming personality change. But make no mistake, it is without a doubt a spiritual approach. Some would call it religious. I call it a place there religion meets action with the tools of spirituality and science within its grasp.
Take a set of steps or take a Baclofen. Your choice.
Hey Dog, good to hear from ya. I used the Steps. They would always talk about coming up with a pill someday and maybe this Baclofen is it. I have heard of a lot of these "cures" over the years but they all failed the test of time and left a lot of dead alcoholics in their wake.
Even if this drug turns out to be the "Miracle Cure" I'm not interested because of the transformation I have experienced from the "Psychic Change" produced by PERFORMING all the Steps.
Agreed. But in the spirit of being open-minded... we should thank our detractors for pointing out our flaws to us... and continue on our way.
I'm not quite ready yet to appologize for all the spiritual growth I've done along the way... and the monetary amends I've left in their wake... "Here, I owe you 800 bucks. Will you take $100.00 now and $100.00 per month till I get you paid off?" No. You take your pill and go and sin no more!
Srsly though... how does this pill work? I take a pill and I can drink 4 or 5 drinks and stop? Then give me 4 pills and I'll see ya in the morning.
Or no wait... I'll take this pill... later. Not now. Heck, it's Friday night! I got some sinnin'... er- socializing to do... I'll take the pill Sunday afternoon and be to work on Tuesday!
And in a week or two, you might see me crushing them pills up, snorting them, smokin' them off of my aluminum foil, and chasing a few pills with my shot of Tennessee bourbon.
- I must give credit to some of the brilliant ideas above to some of my recovered alky/addict compadres...
People have to find their own way but I want to chime in about baclofen.
It's not for problem drinkers who have no desire to quit. It's for the alcoholic that desperately WANTS to quit and can't control the craving. From what I understand from those who have taken it -- it removes the craving for alcohol. I know a couple people who feel the drug saved their lives.
Now getting sober after years of abuse has the side effect of clarity of thought, so lots of old psychological issues come up. The person still has to deal with those issues. The difference is they deal with them sober.
I hear that. I thought I desperately wanted to quit many times.
The desire to do so, the need, the necessity... nothing came to my mind whatsoever to stop me when drink-day came.
How does this med work? Does it make you not want to drink or does it help control the craving and enable you to "drink responsibly?"
Why no commercials of this stuff?
You said- "nothing came to my mind whatsoever to stop me when drink-day came."
Pure CRAVING. It can't be controlled without some kind of massive intervention. That is the crux of alcoholism.
The discovery that baclofen suppresses craving started with a doctor named Oliver Ameisen. His story is profound, and he ended up writing a book about it.
He explains how the drug works in the brain in his book but there are numerous articles on the net about it also-- if you google baclofen and alcohol you will see a lot out there.
Why are there no commercials? Because big pharma can't make money off baclofen. Yet. It's an old drug. It's cheap, safe and none of them can scoop it up and call it "theirs"... it's been around for ages. It's a mild muscle relaxer that stops spasms. MS patients have been taking it for years. Nobody knew it's capacity to stop craving for alcohol (and reportedly cocaine too.... in fact I think that is why Ameisen began to experiment with it).
It's fascinating to read about, especially if you have experience with addiction, namely booze.
I suspect that one day in the not so distant future some big pharma company will find a way to alter baclofen enough to call it a "new" drug for alcoholism. Possibly make it better, sustained release or something to counter a side effect. Then they will be able to justify putting up the money for large scale clinical trials in the US and the FDA will approve it -- Doctors will then prescribe it with frequency. That's when you will see commercials. By the way it's much bigger in France, that is where Ameisen is from although he also practiced extensively in the US. (He's a cardiologist AND an alcoholic).
When I said nothing came to mind to stop me, I was referring to the mental obsession, not the craving.
Craving is an alcoholic with booze in their system. Obsession is me with no booze in my system and I'm sober and content. Obsession hits me when I'm 35,000 feet in the air with no sponsor, no cell phone, no meetings, no bible, and a flight attendant asking me what I'd like to drink.
I'm at a spot now where I do not want the booze. I don't want to drink it, to sip it, to get drunk... and I do not have to choose whether to stay sober or get drunk. I don't even go to the drink by accident anymore nor do I subconsciously sneak away to drink nor arrange my life so it will fall apart and I get the eff-its and go drink.
I think that the reason I am not drinking or getting high is because I've found a way to heal the root cause... and found a sufficient substitute. In order to do so, I had to be at least half as willing to seek recovery as I was willing to get another drink.
"Men and women drink essentially because they like the effects produced by alcohol." I think that any successful recovery for an alcoholic of my description would include entire abstinence. I'm not willing to risk my mental and physical health nor the consequences of my actions brought on by excessive drinking... for the experiment of a pill.
Maybe your doctor was just a hard drinker and the hope of that pill was enough, a sufficiently strong reason to stop drinking altogether or to moderate... two things that a real alcoholic cannot do by definition*.
*Alcoholics Anonymous book-
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
