Re: Alcoholism, Alcohol Tolerance, and genetics: the "hangover" gene

Good deal jimmieorb.
If you have found a way to get and stay sober then I and I suppose everyone else reading this is happy for you. We all want the same things. To be happy and free of our addictions.
All roads lead to Rome, or so the saying goes. If it works in a man’s life, then it works.

The only thing I might take exception with is your blanket statement that an alcoholic has a real and effective choice as to if and how much he drinks. The dirty trick is everyone of us can stop. Right on the spot I could stop drinking and laugh at the bottle. It had no power over me, I could take it or leave it alone.

For a while.

But it was like someone was tightening a spring in my gut. Every day without the ease and comfort of a drink or two was a monumental struggle. And after a while, a day, a week, a month, fatigue set in. And I went back to the only thing that gave me any comfort, alcohol.

When I left Viet Nam in 1970, I was strung out on Heroin real bad. I told myself that when I set foot back in the world (U.S.A.) I was done. And I was. It has been 35 years and I am still clean. Never did it again. That’s a good thing. I was never able to do that with alcohol. I don’t know why, I just couldn’t. And I tried harder than when I went cold turkey off smack. I just couldn’t make it stick, I always went back to the booze.

For those reading this, jimmieorb is right, The program of Alcoholics Anonymous did start with two guys that were going to The Oxford Group trying to stay sober. William Buckman, and his organization were very strident about their religious views. That didn’t set all that well with the drunks that were attending the meetings. Too many absolutes for their tastes. So they broke off from the Oxford Group and started their own organization.

A power greater than yourself, you pick it. The only things needed for success are willingness, honesty and open-mindedness. To a bunch of drunks trying to get sober, that seemed doable. And from 1935 to today, no other organization or system, or treatment of any kind has had anything like the positive effect Alcoholics Anonymous has had on this disease. Around the world, there are millions of people who are sober today by, trusting in this power greater than ourselves, (again you pick it) cleaning house, and helping others.

One last thought. There is a sister forum on this site, //www.curezone.org/forums/f.asp?f=406&t=45793 Alternative Alcohol Addiction & Abuse Support Forum, that is specifically for alternatives to AA. If one wishes to read the views of those who disagree with this fellowship, that’s the place to look.

This forum is the Alcoholics Anonymous Support Forum, By it’s very title, it is designed to support those who have chosen this way to get their lives back. I have nothing but respect for jimmieorb, and I hope only for his continued success, but terms like brainwashing, and 12 step dogma are perhaps better suited to the Alternative Alcohol Addiction & Abuse Support Forum.

Your friend on this long strange trip,
Richard
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