Is baclofen the new AA?

[PbarE]

Is baclofen the new AA?

Otter and Lo0p, thanks for that info. I am having bad SE's today, so I can't digest much tonight..

gratitude, I feel the same way about Bill W. - he shouldn't be put on pedestal on the one hand or demonized on the other. He was just a common ordinary drunk.

[konakt]

Is baclofen the new AA?

Amen Nev

I am brand new here and have found nothing but valuable, succinct replies to all my questions/doubts/concerns. I hope we all can leave high school drama behind and keep our eye on the big picture, no matter if we need bifocals to see it......But shit! I forgot, once bac starts working, I'll be starting my new life from right about sophomore year, again. Yikes! do I have to wear braces again?? KT

[PbarE]

Is baclofen the new AA?

Otter;1066449 wrote: Ok,

Here we go:

"It is not widely known that before his death, Wilson was actively investigating the biochemical basis of alcoholism. When he died, his wife, Lois, wrote about his hopes to the researcher-physicians who were to carry on his work: her letter to Bill's psychiatrist friends was published in a pamphlet, The vitamin B-3 Therapy: A 3rd Communication to AA's Physicians.

'Aldous Huxley, a great admirer of A.A., introduced Bill to two psychiatrists who were researching the biochemistry of alcoholism...Bill was convinced of the truth of their findings and realized he could again help his beloved alcoholics by telling them about the physical component of alcoholism.... Bill's great hope was that continued research would find a means whereby those thousands of alcoholics who want to stop drinking but are too ill to grasp the AA Program could be released from their bondage and enabled to join AA.'

[Many alcoholics are] too damaged by alcohol to think clearly. These drinkers are the ones Bill W. worried about. They are too ill to benefit from AA"

Joan Larson, Seven Weeks to Sobriety, pp. 13-15. "The Best Kept Secret"

Essentially, he realized that there was, indeed, a biochemical basis for alcoholism. Ok, so tar and feather me. He realized it did not work for a lot of alcoholics. I would say, the vast majority. And, LSD was used as a treatment for LSD. You can Wikipedia that one as I have already posted it somewhere.

Luv, luv, luv, we want your luv.........................

That was good stuff, Otter. You opened my mind to a few things and I appreciate it. The info from Lo0p was great as well.

I think it is fair to say that Bill W realized AA, in and of itself, was not enough to cure alcoholism/addiction. I don't think he considered AA a failure, and if he did he would have never publically admitted it. He was way too egotistical for that.

For all his well documented shortcomings, I am guessing that Bill really had a sincere desire to help drunks. He would have embraced baclofen (and probably tried to re-patent it).

Once again, thanks for the enlightenment!

[RedThread12]

Is baclofen the new AA?

Just to continue this::H

Maybe baclofen IS the next AA. Bill W., dry, a**hole, life-saving drunk that he was, was checking out LSD as a possible cure for alcoholism by taking it himself. Apparently he didn't think AA was the be-all, end-all, either.

Oh, and just in case your tempted, I tried the LSD thing, too. (Surely, if I could just understand from a cosmic view . . . ). Doesn't work. Baclofen does.

I have a friend I'm helping with baclofen. He's doing AA for the first time, too. Likes them both. Go figure.

[Bruunhilde]

Is baclofen the new AA?

I feel MWO is more like what Bill was trying to build, only there was no internet back then. MWO is a supportive, anonymous environment where we can share our stories and support each other.