Alcohol Addiction Sinclair Method Step 5

How can I know for sure that I am cured?

One noticeable and distinguishing trait you will experience when cured is a marked reduction in your alcohol cravings.

Overcoming addiction is an integral and automatic response to the naltrexone or nalmefene drinking method; you will become more aware that you have less of a preoccupation with alcohol and that you are even drinking less when progressing through your treatment. Any interest in alcohol you previously had will noticeably wane. You now know that you no longer need it or that you can simply take it or leave it.

To summarise, these are some of the main indicators to gauge success:

• You are not drinking any alcohol or you are drinking within safe limitations.
• Your levels of alcohol craving are highly diminished or even non-existent.
• An elevated mood and feeling better both physically and emotionally.
• No hangovers
• Other people notice a reduction in your drinking.
• Alcohol is no longer a dominant feature in your thoughts – it should not rule your life any longer and any obsessing about your next drink will have subsided.
• You may lose interest in drinking completely or feel like you can take it or leave it.
• Boosts to your confidence and self-esteem.
• Your personal relationships will no longer be suffering as a result of your drinking.
• Boosts in psychological and physical health. For example, any depression has lifted or liver function is starting to improve.

When your brain has restored itself to the condition prior to when your drinking began, you know you are cured. This is due, in part, to the reflexive addictive wired connections in the brain and body being destroyed. Based on the discovery known as pharmacological extinction, treatments have been proven to be the most powerful tool in breaking the cycle against alcoholism. The Sinclair Method presages a new era in treatment, not only for alcohol but for many other substances (such as drugs like amphetamine, cocaine and heroin) as well as non-substance based addictions (such as gambling).

The Sinclair Method works because you CHOOSE your path. Not all alcoholics require expensive, unpleasant and lengthy detoxes or hospitalisations. Nor should they have to experience the shakes or seizures and broken promises to their family or themselves. There should not be any difficulties or painful experiences, new ideologies, religions or strict and regimented treatments. Patients should not experience any unnecessary suffering or feelings of disappointment. Choosing to – or not to – drink once treatment has finished should be your choice and will be done within safe limits. Know that, for the first time in a long time, you should be able to make an easy choice between drinking within these safe levels or not drinking at all.

Once you have successfully completed the full course of pharmacological extinction, your brain will be restored to the state it was before you had your first drink; before the brain learned the craving and the addiction. That little voice in your head that asks for a drink is greatly dulled or simply gone.

The Golden Rule of the Cure

If you are a patient following the Sinclair Method, you have only one absolute rule: Always take naltrexone or nalmefene before you start drinking. You must take the medication for the rest of your life, but only if and when you decide to drink alcohol.

Drinking without taking the medication will undo all of the gains you have strived to make. Skipping your medication when drinking alcohol, even though you are cured since completing the full course of treatment, is highly likely to result in you eventually returning to where you began. On average, it will take you roughly three to six months to reach the original craving and drinking levels thus becoming addicted again if you drink without taking naltrexone or nalmefene.

Certainly, a single session of drinking without medication will not make you an addict again after completion of the Sinclair Method. However, before contemplating the idea of drinking alcohol without either naltrexone or nalmefene, consider first if it is worth taking those first steps back down the road of addiction. Remember, extinguished behaviours can be relearned if made while reinforcement cannot be blocked, and they can be relearned much faster than they were originally learned. Naltrexone or nalmefene should be seen as your insurance policy against relearning the addiction, and against any relapse. Always remember to take your medication before you choose to drink.

‘Recovering’ versus ‘Recovered’

By following the Five-Step Plan completely for a minimum of three or four months, the neurological wiring that controls the cravings and the need to drink inside of the brain will be diminished to the point that restoration of the nervous system will be virtually the same as the original state it was before you ever drank alcohol and learned to crave it.

This is the essential component that can pinpoint that you are cured of alcohol addiction and explains why the Sinclair Method has become one of the most successful breakthroughs in psychological medicine. Throughout months of treatment, the main culprit of the alcoholism – the super-strengthened system – is effectively destroyed. The connections between the neurons inside your brain that were reinforced by a rush of endorphins when you used to drink will now be quiet. No other treatments have ever claimed to remove addiction from the nervous system so that addicts can become cured by fulfilment of the treatment.

In simple terms, once you have successfully completed the extinction treatment, you will be cured. Therefore, you will not, as you would with every other traditional rehab, be in a state of on-going perpetual recovery. You will not be viewed as a recovered alcoholic who is constantly at risk of relapse or slipping back into their old behaviours and instances of drinking heavily.

Once you have successfully completed the Sinclair Method, you will be considered cured. You can hold your head up high and declare yourself a former or recovered alcoholic and will be able to remain as such so long as you continue to follow the one important rule – always take your medication one hour before drinking. If you can keep that up you will remain successful.

Congratulations! You have beaten your addiction to alcohol.