Just heard something from Annie that is useful, " not drinking is subversive, and bad ass." For me that rocks. I have always had a punk mentality, and that fits. So nothing more punk than being straight edge.
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Sat through 50 minutes of one of her webinar. Luckily didnāt get the sales pitch, but couldāve read it back to her, from just listening to the first 4 podcasts. I am guessing the only way to get anything really useful information for daily life is to read the book and find what tools you can actually apply.
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I know I am late to this group, but I searched for it as just wondered what other people thought.
I agree about the decision that you CHOOSE not to drink. This one is key for me. Adjusting to social situations is interesting. It makes me realise how alcohol is everywhere!
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Did you read the book, or just do the podcast? Actually reading the words really sinks the message in.
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Both. Read the book now listening to the podcast. Thanks! Any other reading I should do?
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Join this months book club (-:
I would be interested in a review of Annieās new book āThe Alcohol Experimentā. Honestly just read and devour any and all information that interests you, whether it is psychological, addiction, self help our historical thriller
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Is it plagiarized too? Lol. Iāve been listening to Allen Carrās book and itās the exact same thing but better written and doesnāt suggest you attempt to drink moderatelyā¦
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He is cited often by her.
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Is anyone interested in picking this topic up again?
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Sure, she was my first sobriety read, so I really got a lot of information from it. Other books say similar things, I think it depends which one u pick up first.
Well this is my first book aimed at stopping drinking/reducing alcohol intake, so it has really made an impression on me. Some parts resonate more than others, but overall Iām loving it.
It has made me see just how pervasive alcohol is in our culture. Of course, I knew that before, but I didnāt really think about it.
I had some āwokeā friends as a younger man who referred to alcohol as a drug, which I didnāt really take seriously until now.
Iām sure this makes me look a bit stupid, but I feel like I have just woken up, aged 50, and seen the world for the first time.
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@Singtone
I think it is very good at illuminating the deception of alcohol and pointing out we use it when we donāt even like it. However, I described it to a friend who is struggling and he said. āAll very well, but what if you are drinking to escape life?āā¦ Fair point. It depends I think where you are with managing life and what the underlying reasons are for drinking/using. In the case of the author it was social/peer pressure or work norms that led her down a path to addiction and the book is most relevant for that.
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I am very much into analogies, so the bee in the Picher (Sp?) plant and the frog in the boiling water really chimed with me. I understand that no book is going to be perfect but I generally look for the positives in most things, so I can take the positives and turn a blind eye to the not so great stuff.
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Yes, Iām sure it depends very much on your starting point.
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The pitcher plant analogy really resonated with me too. My relapses were exactly like that, thinking I was ok, it wasnāt that bad, and when I realised I wasnāt ok, it was bad, I was so far gone it felt unescapable. I liked her critical points (or whatever they were called) where she turns the addict logic on its head. Like you think āI drink to be socialā but u hide to drink and lose friends or āI drink for confidenceā but ur antics bring u shame and less confidence.
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But alcohol helps create a life u want to escape. Sober u can build a life u can bear.
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I think like ducks imprinting on the first thing they see, the first sobriety book / program we meet really makes an impression.
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I agree. I like all of that. Iāve actually just gone back and read this thread. (Maybe I should have done that before). A few people seem to be unhappy about the shonky science - but that hasnāt really troubled me too much so far.
I really liked the part where she bigged up the human body and all of its systems, and then discussed how pouring poison into that messes with it all.
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And the idea that ethanol is sold in garages in Brazil. We were basically drinking petrol with sugar in it.
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