![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Dragon Black on October 18, 2007, at 22:46:40
OK. So several weeks ago my brother told me about this friend he had that smoked 3 packs a day, read some book, and immediately quit smoking and averred that he didn't even want them anymore. WTF? Right. So, intrigued, I looked into it, read the reviews on Amazon (which are glowing - book has an average 5 star rating), and then bought and read "The Easy Way to Quit Smoking" by Allen Carr. I must confess, in spite of some flawed logic and incorrect facts, the book is absolutely profound. Statistically, with the possible exception of hypnosis, the system has the highest success rate of any smoking cessation method. the clinics claim 90%, though I don't know that this has been independently verified. according to wiki, an independent group put the success rate for the book following 1 year at 53%. compare this to 2-5% for cold turkey, 10% for NRT (nicotine replacement therapy), 16% for Zyban, and 22% for Chantix. So, I read the book and quit as soon as I finished; it's pretty soon yet, only been a week, but so far (and I've been trying to quit for 6 years) this is the easiest quit ever. completely changed the way I view smoking and basically severed my psychological attachment to cigarrettes.
So, not to lengthen the post, but I went out and bought his quit drinking book, thinking him a guru on quitting and having read the amazon reviews (couldn't find the "control alcohol" version he also wrote. paging dr. freud!). I'm only like 2/3 through it, but I must say, it may be the worst and most inane book I've ever read. And I had such high hopes just having quit smoking due to Allen Carr! Anyone else read this tripe? I can't believe how awful it is. I was hoping that this would reorient how I view alcohol, just like what happened with nicotine. So far this just makes me appreciate alcohol more because his arguments are so ridiculous. Ok. The end.
Posted by Dragon Black on October 25, 2007, at 15:01:46
In reply to Easy Way to Stop Smoking / Drinking (Allen Carr), posted by Dragon Black on October 18, 2007, at 22:46:40
Okay, so earlier I wrote a scathing review of Carr's "Easy Way To Quit Drinking." I persevered and read the rest, which turned out to be much better, and the book has this oddly amazing effect, almost in spite of itself. It's like it brainwashes you, or debrainwashes you from the way you think about alcohol. I haven't had a drink since last Friday, a stretch I haven't achieved in 3.5 years, and I only did it then as self-imposed punishment for a drunken "incident"; and this is coming off basically a two-week binge with no end in sight. It's amazing. Previously I thought of myself as an alcoholic and basically thought that I couldn't control my drinking (at least until I could control my various pathologies and cornucopia of symptoms) but this has really changed my entire perception. Obviously, it's early, and I haven't decided to stop drinking completely, but my mindset is completely different. I feel like someone who doesn't really even care to drink.
Now, be warned, despite the fact that he dedicates the book to the fellowship, the book disputes the basic premises of AA as utterly false (a huge draw for me, as I'm not a fan). But it makes so much sense to me now, and not just the AA-line, but how society views alcoholism. The message is, its a disease, you are powerless over it, admit defeat, etc. etc. And the whole thing drives home the subconscious point that you have to make this huge sacrifice and give up that which is so important to you, the bottle. The book shows you that this is a bunch of brainwashing and teaches you to view things in a wholly different light.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to quit or cut back on their drinking or anyone who previously quit and struggles with cravings, etc.
Posted by ClearSkies on October 25, 2007, at 19:16:08
In reply to Update: this may just work to quit drinking...!!!, posted by Dragon Black on October 25, 2007, at 15:01:46
Well now you've got me intrigued! I too found zero success with the AA model (in fact, found the meetings to be very triggering and used to race from them to the store to pick up a bottle) and beat myself up over and over at how I couldn't "get it". I found success with the Women For Sobriety organization, which is based on recovery though the discovery of self and self esteem.
I will probably take a look at the Carr book too.
Thanks for posting about it,
ClearSkies
Posted by Dragon Black on October 26, 2007, at 13:27:04
In reply to Re: Update: this may just work to quit drinking... » Dragon Black, posted by ClearSkies on October 25, 2007, at 19:16:08
The book was very frustrating for me at first because I disagreed with like most of what he was saying. But it's worth sticking with, overall. It's also very repetitive, which I think is by design, almost a hypnotic effect. The best thing is it forced me to really think about why I drink, what I think I'm getting out of it, etc., and I found myself visualizing myself as a non-drinker at social occasions and having fun, visualizing myself getting back into shape, etc. The main focus of the book is dealing the fear that we will never be able to enjoy social situations (and all the other times we drink/drank) again or as much without alcohol, and basically helps convince you that it is largely an illusion, that if anything you'll enjoy them more. I haven't applied this yet, but I was drinking by myself nightly and so far I've completely stopped this. I also recommend taking a look at the reviews on Amazon; reading them helped me go into it with an open mind and gave me a lot of hope that it would work for me, and even though I knew I had a certain primed-placebo effect expectation going in, I was happy to have it. I didn't want a scientifically valid test, I wanted results.
> Well now you've got me intrigued! I too found zero success with the AA model (in fact, found the meetings to be very triggering and used to race from them to the store to pick up a bottle) and beat myself up over and over at how I couldn't "get it". I found success with the Women For Sobriety organization, which is based on recovery though the discovery of self and self esteem.
>
> I will probably take a look at the Carr book too.
> Thanks for posting about it,
> ClearSkies
Posted by Conrad on May 3, 2009, at 1:50:56
In reply to Update: this may just work to quit drinking...!!!, posted by Dragon Black on October 25, 2007, at 15:01:46
Posted by Conrad on May 3, 2009, at 1:53:19
In reply to Re: Update: this may just work to quit drinking...!!! (nm), posted by Conrad on May 3, 2009, at 1:50:56
Posted by Conrad on May 3, 2009, at 1:55:07
In reply to Re: Update: this may just work to quit drinking...!!! (nm), posted by Conrad on May 3, 2009, at 1:50:56
Dragon Black - Did the book end up working for you? Were you able to quit drinking?
Thanks,
Conrad
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Substance Use | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.