The Addictive Voice

I realized a couple of years ago that drinking had lost it's fun and was having a negative impact on my life.  After a few failed quits One of the first books I read was The Small Book by Jack Trimpey, this is where I was first introduced to the Addictive Voice (AV) concept. The Small Book argues that the Addictive Voice (AV) or The Beast is the primal part of your brain used for survival.  The AV helped us survive by focusing on the pursuit of pleasure, but in modern society the AV can cause problems.

The Rational Website summarizes it as follows

In effect, you have two separate brains within your head — a human brain, which supports consciousness, and an animal/beast brain which supports life itself. The beast brain generates survival appetites which drive the rest of the body toward what it demands, such as oxygen, food, sex, and fluids.

These survival needs are all associated with physical pleasure, i.e., the better something feels, the more necessary it seems for survival. Alcohol and other drugs feel better than anything else, including food, sex, even breathing. Your survival drive has become a death drive in search of physical pleasure.

Your survival appetite is aimed at the wrong stuff, to be sure, but addiction is more a reflection of health than of a mysterious disease. The desire for pleasure fades among sick or diseased people, further suggesting that addiction is a reflection of health rather than a disease process. In RR, some call the human midbrain "the party center," because of the bond between pleasure and addiction. Of course, it is often quite stupid (self-defeating) to act on healthy desires or impulses, as in substance addictions.

Jack Trimpey argues that ANY thought that would lead to drinking is the AV and should be ignored.

For example any of these thoughts would be the AV and can be ignored or disputed.

• I deserve a drink.
• I can not enjoy myself without a drink.
• I can have just one.
• This will be the last time I drink.
• I can moderate.
• I can't stand not drinking.
• I must have a drink.
• It's a holiday, I deserve a drink.
• I will go crazy without a drink.
• I don't have a problem.

By recognizing these thoughts and understanding that they are nothing but a symptom of the Addiction it is easy to either recognize and let them pass or actively dispute them.  A couple of good resources that will help you deal with your Addictive Voice when they occur are.

Resources:

When AA Doesn't Work For You: Rational Steps to Quitting Alcohol
Alcohol: How to Give It Up and Be Glad You Did
The Crash Course on AVRT

Colin Farrell Seven Years Sober

OK Magazine reports that Colin Farrell has seven years of sobriety although he was scared of getting sober and losing his edge.

"I was terrified [of being sober] because, I'm not saying I was a great actor before or a great actor since, but I was terrified that whatever my capacity was as an actor beforehand, however little or large — it would completely dispappear."

Colin Farrell is set to release the remake to Total Recall this year, looks like it will be excellent.

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The Rise and Fall of Pitcher Matt Bush

This is truly a sad story showing the dangers of alcohol abuse.  Matt Bush had all the breaks and a chance for a good life, sadly alcohol got the best of him.

Today, Matt Bush is in jail. He is going to be there for a long time. A Florida judge Monday set his bail at more than $1 million after Bush allegedly stole his spring roommate’s SUV Thursday night, got drunk, climbed on stage at a strip club before bouncers booted him, headed back on the road and hit a 72-year-old motorcyclist named Tony Tufano. Bush reportedly ran over Tufano’s head while peeling away. He drove from the carnage with a .18 blood alcohol level and a septuagenarian lying in the street in critical condition.

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Heavy Drinking Linked to Depression

Most of us who have done heavy drinking know that depressive episodes tend to follow so this study does not tell us anything new but it is good to see it researched.  I would like to see studies on the long term depressive nature of alcohol.

 This study suggests that heavy drinking occasions are risk factors for depressive symptoms independently of the total alcohol consumption. This result indicates that greater emphasis should be placed on the drinking pattern when counselling individuals on alcohol and its health-related consequences. The alcohol use disorders identification test (AUDIT) includes a question of frequency of heavy drinking occasions and that can be used in screening people with unfavourable drinking habits.

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Alcoholism Documentary

A series of videos documenting deadly alcohol addiction.

Kindling in Alcohol Withdrawal Howard C. Becker, Ph.D.

In many alcoholics, the severity of withdrawal symptoms increases after repeated withdrawal
episodes. This exacerbation may be attributable to a kindling process. Kindling is a
phenomenon in which a weak electrical or chemical stimulus, which initially causes no overt
behavioral responses, results in the appearance of behavioral effects, such as seizures, when
it is administered repeatedly. Both clinical and experimental evidence support the existence
of a kindling mechanism during alcohol withdrawal. Withdrawal symptoms, such as seizures,
result from neurochemical imbalances in the brain of alcoholics who suddenly reduce or
cease alcohol consumption. These imbalances may be exacerbated after repeated withdrawal
experiences. The existence of kindling during withdrawal suggests that even patients
experiencing mild withdrawal should be treated aggressively to prevent the increase in
severity of subsequent withdrawal episodes. Kindling also may contribute to a patient’s
relapse risk and to alcohol-related brain damage and cognitive impairment. KEY WORDS: AOD
withdrawal syndrome;

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You Know You Have Drinking Problem When?

You start crap with a table full of guys with Cauliflower Ear.  Ryan Hall handles a drunk guy nicely.

Learn more about it here.

During the brief moments of action that occurred, Hall took the belligerent man down with a double leg take down and mounted him until the man was momentarily pacified. Later, when the man returned to instigate more against Hall and his friends, Hall ended up safely putting the man to sleep to prevent him from doing harm to himself or others in the restaurant. At that point the police arrived and took control of the situation.