Nothing much to report.

Still not drinking and the memory of my last beer with no nal will keep it that way I think.

I do miss having a high though. It won't be alcohol.

GREAT news Sideeffect - really good to read that you have nothing to report !! One day I will be doing the same thing !!

hugs, Maggie x

Glad to hear it side effect, and thank you so much for coming back to report to us. It really helps!! XOXO Newlife

Sounds like it's working out well for you sideeffect2. I like it when my weekly posts are simply put, 'Nothing much to report.' If you have reached the depths of alcoholism like most of us probably have here then always remember that the desire to miss that high is never ever worth your memories of chasing it.

I just want to say something about that TED article too. I don't like it and I think the journalist author presents a dangerous interpretation of what addiction is. He writes as if this is the only viable answer to the problem. I think the Rat Park experiment is very interesting, has been peer reviewed and repeated, but only represents a piece in the complex puzzle that is addiction. It goes against Dr. Sinclair's work which any of us here who either consider themselves cured or at least healthier because of TSM are living proof that there is more to addiction then how well one is adapted to a society or socially condition to live within communities. Sinclair's work is rigorously tested and time and time again comes to the same conclusion that alcohol addiction has nothing to do with the way one is brought up, your moral compass, your child hood, and so on but instead has to do with learned behaviors that in time cause a physiological addiction as these behaviors through reinforcement actually physically build neural networks in the brain that need to be physically destroyed in order to overcome addiction. I can pretty much guarantee you that for example if you took a bad alcoholic and got him committed to an abstinence program and had him live in a Psychologists dream world of what the perfect Nirvana of a society is and this alcoholic lived here for ten years before he was given a bottle of wine and told to drink he'd be a full on hard core alcoholic in a few days if not a week or two. It's plain and simply the way it is.

Dr.Alexander's Rat Park experiment goes back to the age old adage of addiction that it has to do with moral weekness or childhood trauma or this and that and so on. Sinclair shows us that there is a biological reason for addiction and his work clearly shows this to be highly probably especially since the method he designed to combat it based on those principals is so highly successful.

I also have to consider myself as living proof of this argument. I am involved in many social circles. Too many really. I play in a rock band, race bicycles, member of a sailing club, spelunking organization, and generally stay connected and busy in my community all the time. It just so happens to be that I always drank through the whole experience and somehow managed to get away with it up to this point.

So it seems to me that the Rat Park experiment does show some very interesting aspects for addiction and in fact may very well address some of the roughly 20 percent of the folks who fail doing TSM. Some of that 20% is no doubt due to misunderstanding in how to take the medication, a participants willingness to continue and other factors but there is a small percentage that seem to have no luck. It's quite possible that these people do not have the physiological predisposition to alcoholism, the family history, and so on and that these people become addicted to the drug in a manor that Dr. Alexander's work shows in Rat park and that these people would absolutely benefit from living and functioning in a thriving and active community.

Reality of course is that a healthy community is best for all of us but I think anyone who has lived through alcohol addiction and in general has what most people would consider a good life don't fall into the Rat Park scheme of things. Which brings up another point in that bothe Alexandr's and Sinclair's work could really compliment each other such that it is the lack of the Rat Park that gets an individual to start drinking in the first place (the psychological reasoning) and then it's the learned behavior and reinforcement that rewires the brain (the physical part) that enhances the overall addiction.

I don't know but I guess my point is that the TED talk article made it sound like you can just go ahead and trow out all the other ideas of addiction because this is now the only one kind of vibe to it.

I think they are both answers. Maybe two pieces of a whole lot of answers. I am an outlier with regards to TSM. Not many of us have had an under 10 pill success story. I did however, on my own (you can go back to my earlier posts) address some of these issues that were brought up in the TED talk. Sounds like you are an outlier in regards to activities; however some of those activities are commonly associated with alcohol (ok, not caving, but who knows what hhappens in a hole in the ground...)

Those promoting ideas often do so with single minded gusto, that is accepted (at least by me), but i wont throw out the baby with the bathwater.

The longer term statistics in regards to TSM are not as rosy. 20% sounds great, but look.at the one and three year numbers. Clearly TSM is not the whole of the story.

I know that TSM advocates for a lack of concious control, but there is a place for personal responsibility also. That may irritate people, but I dont think.it makes it any less true.

Something must be wrong with me. I still can get drunk on nal, and enjoy the taste of the alcohol. Sure hope the book is correct for some of us, because otherwise, I'm hopeless.

And I'm very happy for all of you that are having such great success.

Hugs.

2 years since I started. Nothing much to report.

I guess Im in the 20%.

I hope everyone is well.

Had a half glass of champagne on new years eve. No nal.

I have a mild craving every now and then, but in my head Im now someone who doesnt drink, so it's easy to overcome.

I hope this finds everyone well.

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Bravery or stupidity. Or I just don't care.

I really dislike the buzz now. It has gone from pleasant inebriation to harsh and unpleasant.

Haven't had any alcohol since my last checkup here. Received some bad health news recently, would have liked to get drunk but I know I don't like it anymore. At any rate it could explain my not caring lately. Hopefully everything ends well.

Would be nice to have a substitute, guess I'll have to meditate and learn better coping strategies. Ugh.

Hope everyone is well.