Get a program.

You wouldn't beat cancer with willpower.

You can beat the disease without radiation and chemotherapy.

Alcoholism is a disease that ravages our minds and bodies.

Only when I got into my own head and did some mental housekeeping did I stop being reliant upon the relief of booze. I was always a spectator just watching my life from the stands. Now I'm one of the band and helping write the music. I'm engaged and that is a miracle
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jeff -- Quitting on your own is not the same thing as not going to a doctor for cancer, and it does a disservice to all to imply that it is. More people quit on their own than using a program.

If you are going to go with a cancer/chemo analogy, then a patient not getting chemo would be like an alcoholic not consulting a doctor to see which medical treatments, including Naltrexone, Campral, anti depressants, and stabilizers during detox, should be used during the quitting and maintenance process.

BuriningMan -- lots of reasons, but they sound kind of hollow. I am glad you are exercising -- for me, creating a mind/body connection has been a key part of sobriety (and plain old happy living.) And as you point out, the endorphins help.

You might want to check out a program -or in person support group - AA is the biggest, SMART Recovery is also around (check out their online tools.)

You are starting again, but not from scratch -- you can use was working, and learn from why you decided to "drink yourself stupid" again.

Work was a huge stressor for me and It wasn't until I quit my job that I found peace. Then I started a different job and I found some similar stressors...but on a different level and then I found myself right back where I started. I realized, there was something missing inside me that I couldn't quite put my finger on and I finally figured it out.

I went in business for myself and I have never been happier! I work when I want, I have what I need, I do what I want and I have never been happier!

God Bless!

I simply do not believe that willpower is the number one method for quitting.

I'd love to see data for this, as you make this claim.

But you are right, people should be going to their doctor for alcoholism as well.

Exercise isnt a "cure" for alcoholism. It helps; and its helped me get through all sorts of trauma and drama. However, it didnt keep me sober. the good news is stress didnt get me drunk either. I drank because it became my solution to everything. Happy, sad, stress, bored, life. I needed a complete "physic change" to stay sober. Like you I could sober up --- and get healthy --- and then I'd feel so good I'd get drunk. Alcoholic "reasoning."
For me AA got me connected to my HP and that connection, prayer, meditation, etc is how I've stayed sober a day a time.
That's been my experience so far!

AA isn't a cure for Alcoholism, either. Just as you said about exercise so is true for AA - it's a means to keep people going through difficult times and stressors. They teach you coping mechanisms and if connecting to a HP (as taught to you by AA) does that for you, than that's fantastic:) It didn't for me, though, and I do find exercise and other methods to be more therapeutic for me. It's all personal choice and what works for the individual.

The only CURE for alcoholism to stop ingesting alcohol, plain and simple. How one manages to do that successfully is varied.

Jeff,

From a Psychology today article:

"How do we know that the majority aren't seeking treatment? In 1992, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism conducted one of the largest surveys of substance use ever, sending Census Bureau workers to interview more than 42,000 Americans about their lifetime drug and alcohol use. Of the 4,500-plus respondents who had ever been dependent on alcohol, only 27 percent had gone to treatment of any kind, including Alcoholics Anonymous. In this group, one-third were still abusing alcohol.

"Of those who never had any treatment, only about one-quarter were currently diagnosable as alcohol abusers. This study, known as the National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey, indicates first that treatment is not a cure-all, and second that it is not necessary. The vast majority of Americans who were alcohol dependent, about three-quarters, never underwent treatment. And fewer of them were abusing alcohol than were those who were treated."

Complete article is here...
https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200405/the-surprising-truth-about-addiction-0

There have been additional studies as well supporting this, but I hope this will be sufficient.

1992?

Certainly SAMHSA has more recent stats.

And how man of those that quit were truly alcoholic?

AA absolutely is a cure for me.

AA is treatment, not a cure. The only "cure" for alcoholism is not putting alcohol into your body.
Using your own cancer analogy, chemo is a treatment for cancer but it is not a "cure". Many people have the treatment of chemo but for various and unknown reasons it does not cure everyone from cancer. The same can be said of AA. The program only works if all of the variables are in place FOR it to work.

As much as you could say that AA is a cure for you, I could say that counselling, meditation and exercise are a cure for me. It's all subjective.

Meant to add....
If AA is what cured YOUR alcoholism, that's great. That's the treatment that worked for YOUR alcoholism. AA is not a cure for everyone's alcoholism.

Ah yes -- the "true" alcoholic. Because if you can quit without a program you must not be a "true" or "real" alcoholic. At the time of the study, alcoholism was defined at two levels -- alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence (which is the equivalent of addiction -- physical, emotional, and social dependence.) The study referenced in the article was alcohol dependence.

I am busy with other stuff and don't feel like looking up newer research for you... It is a challenge because there aren't many studies that follow good scientific principles of having a control group and rigor in how data is collected.

I'm glad that AA worked for you!

There is no cure. If I drink I will awaken the cracken.

And the thing that I found was the necessary change of both my mind and body. I needed to learn things I didn't know. I was not going to just be handed this information by the postman. It took some action on my part. Seeking.

Two skills I didn't have were the ability to forgive, both other people and myself. I have made some mistakes and hurt some ppl. I was ashamed and this caused me to seek the relief of booze. I had to learn to forgive also I had to learn to recognize my part in things. I would always blame things that happened on anybody but me. I was the reason I was fired, not my coworkers. I was at fault for my bills, not my wife. It took growing up and getting responsible.

Also I had a lot of fear, still do. But now at least I can recognize it.

but if you just put me on an island without booze I would have killed myself. I had to learn coping skills I just didn't have, hence I was relying on alcohol to cope with the bad and the good. I was addicted to the relief that alcohol offered.

It also was necessary to learn some tolerance. I was raw emotion and the smallest thing would make me slam doors and punch walls. Now if I loose my keys I just take a min and think where they might be. And if I can't find them then I just gave to get the spare at home.

1is2many.

The crux of the matter is that I process alcohol differently. I take one drink and I want more, infinity. If I don't start I don't get drunk and do things I regret and then have to drink to forget. Break the cycle.

I didnt imply that AA is a cure for alcoholism. As far as I know there is no cure. For me exercise, therapy, and self help reading didnt help me effect the changes I needed to get and to stay sober. For me, I needed more structure and more help from people who had been through what I was going through. I'm sure I could have found that help outside AA, I happened to find it in AA.
I didnt use the cancer "cure" analogy; and wouldnt. There is no cure for alcoholism. Not drinking isnt a cure anymore than taking insulin is a cure for diabetes. Not drinking is a must in order to arrest the active stage; but its not a cure.
Anyway; I think we are all mostly saying the same thing.
Do something; and keep doing things; until you (the original poster) find a solution that works.
For me its absolutely a combination of AA, exercise, healthy eating, sleeping and living. I don't know if I could stay sober without all of the afformentioned and since I love all of them; I'm not going to try.