Thoughts on Controlling Alcohol

I am about to read Allen Carr’s ‘Easy Way To Control Alcohol’. I need to read this as many people refer to it when ringing for help and advice. When their drinking has got out of control and it is ruining their life. They mention it in the context of having tried the Allen Carr way and it has not worked.

This does not surprise me as I have been working in the field of alcoholism for a number of years now – and before that i did a lot of research personally. For myself, I tried to control my drinking over many years and for several years i did. I set my own rules and stuck to them. Though I was drinking about 2 bottles of wine a day or the equivalent, it ‘oiled’ my life rather than ruined it.

It caused occasional problems when I got too drunk, said too much, behaved too outrageously etc but these were on the occasions when I drank more than the two bottles, usually at weekends, at parties etc. If I stuck to my two bottle rule, no drinking in the morning. Taking a break between lunchtime and evening drinks etc I was all right. In hindsight, I see how my life then revolved around alcohol – it controlled it – but it did not ruin it.

Progressive – can’t control

Alcoholism, however, is a progressive illness and not surprisingly when I hit a particularly difficult period in my life I broke my own rules. I started drinking in the mornings (just the one to start with to get me going and stop the shakes). I stopped limiting myself rigidly to the two bottles equivalent rule. That was the beginning of the end.

I have seen so many other alcoholics who have managed to stop and then have decided to try the controlled drinking methods. Thinking they must be able to do it now they know so much about the illness and that willpower will do (but in my view – at the moment – they do not know enough as I firmly believe that if you truly are an alcoholic controlled drinking is not for you).

Alcoholism is a Fatal Illness

Carr’s introduction refers to his previous book about ‘quitting’ smoking and I feel comfortable with this. You have to quit not control it. He mentions it is not about willpower – and I am totally in agreement with this. It is about accepting you cannot indulge in the habit not fighting it with will. However, I have just come across the first bit I disagree with and we are only on the first page. He cites Alcoholics Anonymous’s assertion that ‘Alcoholism is a fatal illness for which there is no known medical cure’ and Carr obviously disagrees with this. I do not.

Alcoholism is a fatal illness – i have known many people to die from it and have attended funerals. There is no known cure – if there was, would we not  all be at the doctor’s asking for the cure? It is something we live with every day of the rest of our lives, recovering – ‘in recovery’ – one day at a time. But if we pick up a drink again we will very quickly find out that we are not cured and the illness has been dormant – in remission – whatever you choose to call it.

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