Resources: Pertinent links to Sinclair Method Articles

Could This Drug Cure Alcoholism?

Brain Science

How a rarely used medicine helped one Hollywood star finally stop her problem drinking.  Claudia Christian's story from the Daily Beast. 

The Atlantic article presents critique against the dominant AA-method, and presents the Contral Method as a suitable option. 

 A fascinating 35 minute NPR podcast interview with neuroscientist, researcher, professor, and ex-addict-- Judith Grisel.   

 Over the years, author Judith Grisel struggled with alcohol, marijuana and cocaine.  But along the way, she also became interested in the neuroscience of  addiction. 

"I'm always interested in the mechanisms of  things," she says. "And when I heard that I had a disease, I kind of  felt naturally that that would have a biological basis, and I figured  that I could study that biological basis and understand it and then  maybe fix it."

Now it has been 30 years without using drugs or  alcohol for Grisel, a professor of psychology at Bucknell University,  where she studies how addictive drugs work on the brain. Her new book is  Never Enough: The Neuroscience and Experience of Addiction. 

 One Little Pill is a documentary film about the use of generic medications (naltrexone) for treating and curing alcoholics.  The primary focus is on The Sinclair Method,  which pairs these medications with continued drinking.  It was produced  by Zard Productions as a film project for the C Three Foundation .

One Little Pill is a documentary film about The Sinclair Method of treating alcohol abuse. The film follows the lives of several people who have suffered from  alcoholism, and have been helped by the treatment.  Perspectives from  scientists, treatment centers, doctors, and a legal prosecutor are also  presented.  

The trailer can be viewed here:

Actress  Claudia Christian on her failed experiences with AA, and why she  believes the Sinclair Method is the controversial treatment we  really need.

Alcohol is currently the fourth-highest preventable cause of death in  the United States, responsible for prematurely ending the lives of  approximately 62,000 men and 26,000 women each year. Despite this, the most common treatment for alcoholism is  still, essentially, little more than complete abstinence and group  therapy. Surely, there’s a better way?

For some people, there is: Naltrexone. A controversial treatment  because it still allows the patient to drink, it forms the basis of  what’s known as the Sinclair Method, a system for tackling alcoholism developed by addiction specialist David Sinclair.

A sobering expose on  the rehab industry-- the institutional healthcare companies that game the system. 

As drug and alcohol addictions skyrocket, The Business of Recovery examines the untold billions that are being made off of families in  crisis by the predatory and exploitative practices and schemes of the healthcare institutions. With little regulation or science, the addiction treatment  industry has become a cash cow business that continues to grow while the  addiction death rates continue to rise.

Through unique access to internationally recognized  treatment facilities, as well as emotional stories of addicts and their  families, the film reveals how the treatment industry in the United  States preys on addicts with little more than promises of hope and a  huge bill. 

The film challenges us to reconsider our assumptions  about treating addiction and the human cost we will pay by allowing the  industry to continue business as usual.

Evidence about the use of naltrexone and for different ways of using it in the treatment of alcoholism. 

by John David Sinclair

Published  January 1, 2001

Abstract

Eight double-blind placebo-controlled  clinical trials in five countries have demonstrated the safety and  efficacy of naltrexone as an adjunct in alcoholism treatment. The  efficacy depends, however, on how naltrexone is used. Three of the  trials tested naltrexone in two ways: (1) with supportive therapy, i.e.  support of complete abstinence; (2) with therapy tacitly accepting that  relapses may occur and teaching how to cope with them. Although all  found benefits from naltrexone with the coping therapy, none of them  found any significant benefit of naltrexone over placebo when combined  with support for abstinence. These results are consistent with our  pre-clinical studies in which naltrexone, naloxone, and nalmefene were  effective when paired with drinking but ineffective when given during  abstinence. This supported the hypothesis that the primary mechanism  involved is extinction (as had been concluded earlier for the effects of  naltrexone in opiate addiction treatment), because extinction only  weakens responses that are made while reinforcement is blocked. On this  basis, it was proposed that: (1) naltrexone should be administered to  patients who were still currently drinking; (2) the instructions should  be to take naltrexone only when drinking was anticipated; (3) this  treatment should continue indefinitely. Subsequently, clinical trials  have found that naltrexone used in this manner is safe and effective.

AA Beyond Belief Website-   for agnostics, atheists,  freethinkers...  

AA  Beyond Belief is website and podcast, but it’s much more than that. AA  Beyond Belief is a refuge, a home in AA for agnostics, atheists,  freethinkers, and all others who seek a secular path of recovery within  Alcoholics Anonymous. The stories presented here reflect the broad and  varied experience of those who choose to walk the secular path in AA. 

AA Beyond Belief created a quasi-objective comprehensive critique presentation of the Sinclair method on YouTube. 

It's bias-- is only that The Sinclair Method would not be a reasonable and rational course or program for someone in AA who was already abstinent and sober, as the Sinclair Method treatment requires drinking as part of the treatment.

If (or when) an AA follower relapses (or binges), the Sinclair Method would be a consideration as an applicable and useful treatment course, as a relapse ("falling of the wagon") is an eventuality that is almost predictable... considering that the cravings never go away . Such "relapses" are the norm... not the exception (see the companion article), and are a good opportunity for  a sufferer to take an alternative avenue to  extinguish the cravings for alcohol that are the addiction. The Sinclair Method, however, is antithetical to the practices to AA, so a suffer that has relapsed-- would hopefully be amenable to exploring a new credible avenue of treatment.

In  such a scenario-- the AA philosophy of sobriety or abstinence is myth- a temporary status or state of being which is only controlled by the subjects' own willpower or commitment prevailing over the brain's cravings.  

Unfortunately, for the greatest percentage of those in AA depending on it as an answer... ultimately  it simply works... until it doesn't!

 Naltrexone for Alcohol Dependence
When used as a treatment for alcohol dependency, naltrexone blocks  the euphoric effects and feelings of intoxication. This allows people  with alcohol addiction to stop or reduce their drinking behaviors enough  to remain motivated to stay in treatment and avoid relapses. Naltrexone  is not addictive.


Long-term naltrexone therapy extending beyond three months is  considered most effective by researchers, and therapy may also be used  indefinitely. Learn more about alcohol use disorders.

A Pill Could Help Alcoholics, and Let Them Drink in Moderation 

For years, a 12-step program laid out in just 200 words has held a virtual monopoly on the treatment of alcoholism. Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is famous, infamous, global and highly influential, and it's based on giving up booze, completely.

For most people seeking help with alcoholism, abstinence is the only option. That view "is heroic and dangerous, and it doesn't do anything," Wim van den Brink, a spirited Dutch psychiatrist with a flop of white hair and glasses, recently told an audience of researchers in Vancouver, British Columbia. Even in the city that is home to North America's only supervised safe-injection site for heroin addicts, van den Brink's proposal represents a radical departure: He wants to help alcoholics go on drinking, without all the problems.

Cold Turkey Isn't the Only Route

The  cold-turkey approach is deeply rooted in the United States, embraced by  doctors, the multibillion-dollar treatment industry and popular  culture. For nearly 80 years, our approach to drinking problems has been  inspired by the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. 

Developed  in the 1930s by men who were “chronic inebriates,” the A.A. program  offers a single path to recovery: abstinence, surrendering one’s ego and  accepting one’s “powerlessness” over alcohol. 

A spurious "hatchet job" responding to the NY Times article...

In the interest of fairness and balanced presentation of published articles-- here is a negative article written by a person with an alternative viewpoint... that can easily be refuted and/or discredited:

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