[aserdf]

     > I want to reduce/eliminate my alcohol consumption...

same here. each year it just takes more and more out of me physically/mentally, this year really seemed to emphasize that. looking for 6 months here and then will re-evaluate. in the past breaking a sweat when the urge/opportunity arises has been pretty effective.

[AAthrowaway]

I have found AA and the community as a whole welcoming. I’ve spent the last 18 years of my life try to “control” my drinking. Not drinking on work nights, staying sober for months at a time but I always found myself down that slippery slope. The pandemic and work from home made it 1000% times worse. I didn’t have to shower or commute. I’d roll out of bed login, do standup and start drinking. It never affected my work. I’ve always gotten rave reviews. AA has changed my life in regards to family, physical well being and work. YMMV but if you’re interested the AA site has pdf versions and audio versions of the big book. The big book was an interesting read for sure.

[faddypaddy34]

I second this. The AA program is also about way more then not drinking and if followed is life changing.

[cesnja]

I used to drink socially. But every time it turned into a binge episode. And as it turns out, stopping drinking before the first one is the solution that works for me.

Sadly this did cause some social life problems. I had to mostly replace the people I hang out with.

[MissionInfl]

To provide an alternate solution to the one already mentioned, I used a modern medicine approach to alcohol use disorder called The Sinclair Method. The tl;dr is that you continue to drink using an opioid antagonist (usually Naltrexone) which blocks the endorphins rewards from consuming alcohol and eventually you just stop caring about it.

For more information, see https://www.reddit.com/r/Alcoholism_Medication/, or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EghiY_s2ts, or https://www.dropbox.com/s/60fs7gmvbyzs1kk/Cure%20for%20Alcoh... (warning: large pdf)