Hi Folks,

Since this forum was started, there have been numerous posts that have talked about the link between anxiety and alcohol. I think the general consensus is that anxiety can give rise to alcohol dependence (as in my case) and vice-versa. Now, we've talked a lot about the use of medications for treating anxiety, most notably benzos and baclofen. My objective in starting this thread is to bring another form of treatment into the melting pot and that is - (psycho)therapy. It is my view that, whilst medications can be helpful in treating anxiety, they do not address the root cause of anxiety. So, whilst The Sinclair Method (TSM) has been shown to reduce alcohol consumption, it may be necessary to pursue the anxiety issue at the same time as engaging in TSM.

So, where does therapy fit into the picture? Well, I am using therapy to deal with the underlying causes of my anxiety disorders, which have their origins in my childhood. My therapist is following an integrated approach, which combines elements of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), Schema Therapy, Trauma Therapy and basic 'talk therapy'. I would be very interested to hear from others who are also using therapy to deal with their anxiety. If you are using therapy, which therapy/therapies are you using? Are you making progress? It may transpire that certain types of therapy are best suited to treating anxiety associated with addictive behaviour - in our case, alcoholism.

All comments welcome.

V.

Virgil , I am a great believer in therapy , and reckon just about everyone in the modern world could benefit from it . I also have had a rather anxious cast of mind from childhood on . Had that compulsive hand washing thing as a child and did a spell in hospital . Father was an alky mum had a breakdown , sister anorexique .
Trying to sort alot of it out I went to group therapy at the Tavistock after uni .
Latter did a few more years psycho therapy . The drinking was always around .
And I used to love the song of the fine Young canibals where he cries " what is wrong with my life that I must get drunk every night " . Because back in the eighties I used to violently binge drink and ended in a 12 step clinic which broke the cycle . To this day I'm not sure if the therapy helped I think it did tangentally , I eased up on very destructive bingeing . Many years later it brought me to be much happier and at home in myself . Yet ..... the drinking did continue but the anxiety eased . It may well result for you in easing up the anxiety . Funnily enough this is part of another thread I was just about to start which you'll no doubt see . I'd like to say more about this there .

I've written fairly often in posts that I find it helps to view our alcohol addiction and our mental health problems as two distinct issues. For many of us, our mental health improves as we get our lives back as the result of taming the alcohhol beast. Of course with many we also need some help with the mental health issues. Eskapa says that if we were under the care of a mental health provider before beginning TSM, of course we should continue that. He also says that Sinclair found a very large decrease in depression in his subjects who were administered the Beck Depression Inventory at starting TSM and again after about three months of TSM (Eskapa at 96).

Many have mentioned Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Studies show it can be very effective when self-administered though a computer software program. Ther are excellent, FREE, such programs online. I like moodgym; I think others have mentioned it here. It's sort of geared stylistically toward the adolescent but I found it very valuableand am trying to get my young adult son to use it. Here's a link: http://moodgym.anu.edu.au/welcome

At least when our alcohol addiction abates we will be able to sort our mental health issues with a more clear eye.

hi virgil
Thanks for starting this thread. I agree with you about the therapy- I wondered have you come across Mindfulness based approaches. There is a growing movement of incorporating mindfulness with other types of therapy. It has had considerable proven success with depression,stress and anxiety. Meditation and other mindfulness practices help with not allowing out thoughts control us. There is a lot of research evidence that regular meditation practice changes our brain chemistry.
While i accept the science involved in TSM i know i am more than a function of my biochemistry!
SBTS

Eskapa refers to brain chemistry as the chief cause of alcoholism -- not the only cause. We did not get addicted to alcohol until we started drinking too much. While of course we must address the chief cause in order to be cured, it certainly can help to address what led us to drink.

Hi SBTS,

Yes, I am aware of Mindfulness-based approaches but that's about as far as it goes at the moment - aware. However, I intend to pursue this further. Schema Therapy has recently been extended to embrace Mindfulness and that's what I intend to explore.

All the best,

V.

I almost skipped this thread (trying to spend less time on site to get work done!), but glad I didn't. Checking out moodgym, and it looks great.

The I Ching Handbook, by Wu Wei (Chris Prentiss) is an amazing tool. It really isn't about I Ching. . .but has succinct, simple lessons/exercises that, if followed, increases awareness and productivity to an amazing level.

I went thru it a couple years back, but need a refresher!

I have been recently trying Wang Chung, especially in the evenings...

Bob

Welll it's the weekend so maybe it's best just to say, Everybody have fun tonight.

Hi virgil
didnt realise that you were this side of the atlantic!
There is a great book with CD on Mindfulness by mindfulness trained CBT practicioners. If you are interested its called 'The Minful Way through Depression- freeing yourself from chronic unhappiness. By Mark williams, John Teasdale, Zindel Segal and Jon Kabat-Zinn. although its theme is depression the exercises on CD are very useful in any mindfulness training.
Also i'm just reading a book called 'Mindful Recovery' by Thomas Bien.
Soulby.