JoeRaisin wrote:

> Tim Bruening wrote:
> >
> > Tex wrote:
> >
> >> On Mon, 04 Feb 2008 00:58:41 -0800, Tim Bruening
> >> <tsbrueni@pop.dcn.davis.ca.us> wrote:
> >>
> >>>
> >>> JoeRaisin wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> Tim Bruening wrote:
> >>>>> jimbo wrote:
> >>>>>
> >>>>>> On Feb 2, 7:38 pm, Tim Bruening <tsbru...@pop.dcn.davis.ca.us> wrote:
> >>>>>>> What medications, if any, do you take to reduce your cravings for
> >>>>>>> alcohol?
> >>>>>> I've never taken a medication to reduce craving nor have I ever heard
> >>>>>> of one that works. Her best best would be to consult a physician.
> >>>>>> Jimbo
> >>>>> How then do you resist the urge to drink?
> >>>>>
> >>>> I couldn't - at least not for very long. That was until I began working
> >>>> a program in AA.
> >>>>
> >>>> AA taught me to draw strength from my higher power in order to avoid
> >>>> that first drink. By staying sober for more than a few days to a few
> >>>> weeks at a time I continued working the steps and developed a new
> >>>> perspective on myself - a perspective that meant I could look at myself
> >>>> in the mirror without loathing. Once I became comfortable with who I
> >>>> was, avoiding the first drink became a lot less difficult.
> >>>>
> >>>> I will offer to you a perspective you may not have considered. If your
> >>>> friend's wife is an alcoholic she is not drinking for the same reasons
> >>>> as you or most other social drinkers. Most people drink because they
> >>>> like the way it makes them feel, alcoholics drink because they don't
> >>>> like the way they feel when they are not drinking.
> >>>>
> >>>> Slogans won't change that, nor will medications.
> >>>>
> >>>> If AA isn't her cup of tea, she could try Rational Recovery which
> >>>> utilizes "Addictive Voice Recognition Technique" in order to stave off
> >>>> cravings. The only caveat with RR is to try and avoid the anger that
> >>>> the program is darned near built upon. While reading the small book I
> >>>> get the impression that RR sobriety is more a case of staying sober 'at'
> >>>> AA rather than being sober to better one's life.
> >>>>
> >>>> In the end, however, it boils down to whether or not she 'wants' to quit
> >>>> drinking. If not, nothing you (or even your friend) can do to get her
> >>>> to stop.
> >>> After nearly losing her husband last week, I believe that she now wants to
> >>> quit. The problem is that she gets a strong craving for alcohol after a few
> >>> days. Often, her stepdad shows up and takes her to a bar to drink double
> >>> vodkas. I was hoping to find drugs to reduce that craving so that her will
> >>> power would be enough to resist the reduced craving.
> >> Sounds like she doesn't want to lose her husband which ain't
> >> necessarily the same as wanting to quit.
> >
> > I believe that the threat of losing her husband got her attention and caused her
> > to make up her mind to quit.
> >
>
> Then all she has to do when her step dad shows up is say no.
>
> I can't speak to how an atheist works with the program since I am not
> one, but I can tell you that I know of many atheists who have stayed
> sober using AA.
>
> If she can avoid drinking for one day all she has to do is just string
> together a whole bunch of those days.

I've suggested to her that she say every day "I will not drink TODAY!".