[gte910h]

Talk to a medical doctor, not a counselor/AA/group therapy.

There are medicines which greatly treat the desire/need to drink, your doctor can suggest one which can help you change your life in the manner you'd wish to. They are far more effective than group based therapy.

Here are some: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoholism#Medications

Topiramate in particular sounds to be compelling for you (and many others) as you can still drink like a normal person on it, however you feel the need/desire to much less.

Many alcoholics are self medicating depressives or various other things which are solved by medications much less harmful over the longterm than alcohol. The fact you're drinking to avoid something might put you in that category.

Are you an alcoholic? Eh, maybe. Who cares. Are you drinking more than you like? Yes. Go see the doc, get the meds if you and he thinks it a good idea, and reduce that to the level you find acceptable.

[iamanonymous]

I'd love to try something that would take away the desire, but I'm very concerned that something like this would go on my medical record and taint me for life. I don't know where the doctor/patient confidentiality thing starts and ends here in the States. I know if they diagnose you with high blood pressure, that can be a stain for life and impact your insurance premiums, etc. I would fear that talking to them about substance abuse could lead to the same thing.

[gte910h]

Not anymore since the health care law was passed. Pre-existing conditions aren't grounds for jack anything anymore come 2013, and aren't going to lock you out of insurance now. A little high blood pressure? Please that's a totally minor problem anyhow. However years of high blood pressure left untreated can severely damage your body or you might even stroke out!

Go to the doctor for your problems. Medical problems are best solved early. Then you often have non-medical solutions available too.

[nollidge]

The law can still be repealed. Incoming Speaker John Boehner said (yesterday or today) it's a priority of his, and most, if not all, of the new Republican congressmembers promised to repeal the bill or parts of it.

[mcknz]

OT, but I can't help myself. It's a priority of the GOP to bring health care repeal to a vote. That way they all get their Obamacare creds without having to actually fix anything.

If they want to actually repeal health care, they are going to have to wait until they have a Republican president, or a veto-proof majority, which won't happen until 2012 at the earliest. There may not be repeal momentum left at that point.

Slightly more on-topic, having things like this on your medical record is a concern, but I think keeping one's good health should always be more important than insurance details that may or may not make any difference.

[adient]

Have a medical issue? There's a pill for that!

Why not try something natural first like counseling, exercise, meditation, etc? I'm sincerely curious why your immediate response is to use medication to solve the problem.

[gte910h]

Non-medical treatments for alcohol have been around for a long time, and while often better than nothing, often radically change a persons life in sometimes invasive ways, not completely for the better. Their long term effectiveness is relatively low, partially for that reason.

Additionally, all of those take MUCH more time than the trip to the pharmacy once a month. As the person in question would like to have more time to do his entrepreneurial things...time seems to be important.

AA in particular, which is based around abstinence, changes your life a lot, especially friendships involving moderate social drinking.

The medical approaches clearly tell you the side effects up front. The non-medical ones do not. The medical approaches do not change your interaction with your co-workers, friends and other colleges significantly. Non-medical ones often do. Medical approaches are shown to have much higher long term success rates than non-medical approaches.

Exercise and meditation have their own benefits, however neither are things that people often take up in a lifelong manner, it's more likely to take them up for awhile then quit.

However counseling is a hugely mixed bag, especially group therapy.

Additionally, if there is an underlying problem (such as depression), solving that can completely remove the desire to drink at all.