Allen Carr's Easy Way to Control Alcohol (Allen Carr's Easyway Book 9)

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This book broke the alcohol spell. I was then able to make clear choices about what I really wanted for me life. Yes there’s been some tough times when I’ve gone into the old thought pattern- ‘ah I really need a drink’. But because I’m no longer physically and emotionally addicted I can make the rational decision ‘alcohol won’t serve me at this time’. Can you picture the fly alighting on the plant as the teenager sampling their first shandy? Can you visualize the lager lout just about to throw up as the bloated fly before it tries to take off? And when the alcoholic can no longer close his eyes to the fact that his life is being dominated and ruined by drink, doesn’t he try to cut down and control his intake, rather like someone who is grossly overweight attempts to cut down on food. But does dieting make food appear less precious? Quite the contrary. The more you cut down, the more hungry you get, the hungrier you get the more deprived you feel, the more deprived you feel the more precious each morsel becomes. Exactly the same happens when you try to cut down on your drinking. At the times when you won’t allow yourself to drink, you feel miserable because you can’t drink, and when you do allow yourself to drink, you still feel miserable because you can’t drink enough. Aren’t the struggles of the fly similar to the abortive struggles of the alcoholic who is trying to control his intake? Drinking hasn’t become less precious to him. On the contrary, it now dominates his whole life. The more both the fly and the alcoholic struggle to escape, the more imprisoned they become. Are the semi-digested insects not comparable to the down-and-out meths drinkers of skid row, whose entire existence is now confined to begging or stealing the next fix, and trying to find somewhere warm to sleep off the effects? Does the fact that the fly can see the partially digested bodies prevent it from joining them? Who knows?” months ago, before reading The Easy Way to Control Alcohol we read and reviewed Allen Carr’s “Easy Way To Stop Smoking”. We thought, given it was the start of a new year, we’d read and review his alocohol book in case anyone out there was thinking of stopping or cutting down their alcohol consumption as a 2019 New Year’s Resolution. Of course WE didn’t have a problem with alcohol… or so we though. I actually think there is more positive in this book than not. It did help me have a shift in thinking about alcohol as an addictive substance just like all other 'vilified' addictive substances out there (think heroin, nicotine). Best I can explain - I don't use heroin because I have decided at some point in my life that the high is not worth the risk of using it. I'd imagine that it's vilification and it being illegal played a large role in that. The other way I'd conceptualize it is comparing it to smoking cigarettes- i don't smoke bc I've decided that the health risk of cigs are not worth the health effects of smoking cigarettes. Now I understand alcohol in a similar way- addictive and dangerous. Of course I knew these things about alcohol on some level but I do feel like this book made a shift in my mind regarding alcohol. I also agree that for most people there is a psychological addiction to alcohol (what he calls The big monster) and that the physical addiction is for most people minimal. I do believe this to be true but he also bases a large portion of the book on the premise that most people get that restless, antsy, anxious and "I want a drink" feeling because alcohol is leaving their system this they are, on some level, physically addicted (he calls this The little monster). He states that once one stops drinking it will only take days (up to 10) to 'kill the little monster' (i.e. Withdraw) and that any withdrawal symptoms on has are mostly psychological and that even physical symptoms of withdrawal are psychological. This is where I have a MAJOR issue with the book. While I agree that likely most people are not so physically addicted that they will be at rush for 'the shakes' as he calls them (Read potential seizures or DT's) he majorly minimizes this and this could be dangerous and potentially life threatening for a portion of people who are THAT physically addicted. He is irresponsible in not mentioning this. Period. Allen Carr’s Easyway has more than 40 years of experience and 150 centres in over 50 countries across the globe.

Ambulatory detoxification of patients with alcohol dependence (2005) – R Blondell https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15712624/ Surely a miracle is an event that is not beyond the powers or laws of nature, but beyond the comprehension of mankind.When a drinker lost control, it’s blatantly obvious to his friends and relatives, but the one person who can’t see it is himself. This is common to all drug addiction. It isn’t that we can’t see it, it’s that we can’t face up to it. Although Carr detests the word alcoholic, a better definition is of a drinker who has lost control. Perhaps you feel equal stigma to ‘has lost control’… before castigating yourself, pause for a moment and try to decide when you lost control. Don’t confuse it with the moment you thought you had a problem: like the time you smashed your car or lost your job or partner because of alcohol. Nor the time when you drank to help get over a tragedy and you deliberately drowned your sorrows. Remember that ultimately, the decision to seek treatment lies with the individual, and it is essential to respect their autonomy. And the hardest part I think of this whole process is the social aspect of drinking. I still will go to bars about once a month with coworkers or friends and have a coke and I can be in that atmosphere and be ok. But I will always drive separate so that I can leave whenever I want. Familiarize yourself with all the options such as Allen Carr’s Easyway to stop drinking and local treatment centres. National 12 month Clinical Trial finds Allen Carr’s Easyway almost twice as effective as other smoking cessation methods available on Health Service. Keogan, S., Li, S., Clancy L. (2018) Allen Carr’s Easyway to Stop Smoking – A randomised clinical trial. BMJ Tobacco Control, Issue 4 Volume 28

I would define cowardice as: failure to act as my conscience dictates, because of fear of physical injury or ridicule.If you are undecided about this book just do it. For the cost of a bottle wine I’ve been able to completely change how I see my life and feel amazing about being at the steering wheel.

Analytic complexities associated with group therapy in substance abuse treatment research: Problems, recommendations, and future directions (2006) – Morgan-Lopez, A. A., & Fals-Stewart, W. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 14(2), 265–273. https://doi.org/10.1037/1064-1297.14.2.265 The book is the bestselling stop smoking book of all time worldwide – having sold tens of millions of copies in more than 40 languages.

Habits of an alcoholic

What you really enjoy in an alcoholic drink is not the drink itself, but the ending of the irritation of wanting that drink. Non-drinkers enjoy that all the time. There are some really good points and new perspectives in this book that I honestly hadn't considered before. Unfortunately they are shadowed by some equally bad logic and absolutely absurd assertions, which makes it hard to trust the author even on the better content. On the former, I see it every day in my life, my consumption of marketing and entertainment and the area I live in. We are inundated with alcohol related media/advertising, businesses that near or solely exist because of it and the odd social reality that every occasion must involve drinking. When the area you live in proudly opens a new craft brewery every other month, when the plethora of outdoor events and sponsored competitions are always preceded by or concluded with a drink fest - it's not hard to see the heavy and insistent influence and conviction of 'normalcy' in a life filled with alcohol consumption.