Hi all,

I am curious about whether TSM works better for those who are genetically predisposed or for those who had to "work" at it?

Presumably, we are all some combination of the two but some are more one than the other.

I, for one, had a VERY strong pull towards alcohol with my very first drink at 15. It has been downhill ever since. I'm not sure I've ever been able to drink normally. Nal has allowed me to experience alcohol in a way I never have before. However, much of the literature suggests that TSM will take us back to the place we were before we got addicted. Since I've been addicted from the get go, I'm not sure that would really help

Is TSM about relearning and where does that leave those of us who were hooked from the start?

BTDT

I was hooked from the start, since my first drink at age 18. No learning for me. I knew immediately I wanted to feel that way all the time.

As for if TSM has worked for me, it is only my third day so I can't say definitively, but I'm seeing positive results so far.

Thanks Tambo.

It seems you and I are in the same boat. I hope this boat heads the right direction

That's why I think more studies would help to define who would best benefit from TSM. It will be interesting to see how we respond

And the rest of you?

BTDT

I tend to think it was more learned for me. And I don't have any alcoholism in my family that I know of.

I had my first drink at 14 and did party a lot, but I didn't feel like I had to. Looking back a lot of times I probably drank more than others I was with but there were even more times in my younger days that I knew when to stop and I wasn't a daily drinker. The first time I ever drank to where I was too hungover to go to work was when I was in my late 20's.

I didn't feel like my drinking got fully out of control until I was in my mid-30's, after several years of being married to a heavy drinker who is in all likelihood an alcoholic as well, though he's more in control (his dad is an alcoholic too).

I have always been a high functioning drinker in that it didn't interfere with my work success and those types of things. But I definitely started embarrassing my husband at weddings, xmas parties, etc. when the drinking just went on for too long. I can't pinpoint when I fully became a daily drinker except it was around the time after I had my second child (again in my mid-30's). And then a few years ago it did start to progress further with me finding opportunities to drink alone and during the day, more sneaking one more and one more. That's when I really started to realize that I REALLY had a problem and started looking for a way out. (I'm 43 now).

So I think perhaps I was predisposed in some way, but that I conditioned myself into it by working really hard at it (LOL). So hopefully this conditioning myself out of it will be successful.

Breaking the habits especially with my husband still being a big drinker seems to be my current stumbling block b/c I'm definitely seeing some of the positive effects of TSM.

Illuminae

i think i fall more into the learned camp. before college i didn't like it, pot was cool, alcohol not so much. i got to like al in college when it helped to be more social and uninhibited during parties dancing etc. i blew it out sometimes, but was not always out of hand with it. after that, it helped to unwind after work, and i got into a few a day habit with more on social occasions. it was always an important social "lubricant". over the years the units have increased. living in new orleans for years where there is always a reason to party and it's not illegal to walk around day or night with a beverage in hand probably didn't help
while i do have alcoholism in my family, i think my response is different from say my sister who was off the rails with alcohol by the time she was in high school. i am still not one to have any of those out of control al times. it's more of a necessity to feel ok, be social, and of course numb out all the thought/ feelings that are just too hard... (although now of course, the many many many every day is likely doing just the opposite). i hope this does not bode ill for my eventual success here.
path

ps. i forgot to mention that i definitely have that classic alcoholic ability to consume more than others without feeling the full effects. this has to be a genetic thing i'm thinking.
path

Hmmmm, I am going to be noncommital and say both.

We have a lot of alcohol issues in my family (grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, brothers, etc.), so I definitely think there is a genetic component for me. But, I also grew up in a part of the US and in a social group where heavy drinking was not only socially acceptable, but was expected and even rewarded. It was cool be the girl that could drink as much as the boys, and strange not to drink every day. So there was a heavy social conditioning component as well.

I think that combination led to both a physiological drive and a social habit that has been impossible to change, until now. I see a light at the end of the tunnel with TSM. So far I think TSM has changed the physiological component (genetic part?) for me, now I have to work on the habit (learned part?)