This being the first time I read about this, I wonder if the same idea can be more generally applied to other bad habits.

I was wondering the same thing.

The "neurons that fire together wire together" notion seems to hold in a lot of situations, but I don't know enough about the drug to know if it would be specific to treating alcoholism.

Yeah, I didn't mean the specific drug. I imagine that habits generally work by needing some chemical to act as a reward to reinforce it, maybe different chemicals for different habits. The idea of forming a good habit to preempt a bad habit with something that will block the reward chemical, whatever it is for the bad habit, is interesting, and I wonder how generally it can be applied. Like, I wonder if it would be an effective idea to block dopamine or another chemical to help against bad habits related to computers/internet or food.

I accidentally quit smoking weed when a high dose of some other drug insensitized me to its effects completely.

I've asked people with relevant knowledge a number of times if that is a known effect of that other drug or if they had found a similar case, but apparently I'm just an anecdote, so excuse me if I don't share which drug it was. It could made more harm than good. Since there are ongoing studies on all kind of forbidden substances, it will surface eventually if it has merits beyond a casual interaction.

The experience also made alcohol useless, but I was a heavier user of weed at the time. A year later the buzz for both weed and alcohol returned, but I'd had enough time to ditch them as an habits, so no weed and only low-grad alcohol, always socially.

Overall, I'm very happy with the change. I see weed defended with good reasoning (not as bad as alcohol, creativity-inducing, anxiety relief, etc.) but over a certain threshold dosage, it's a net negative for most people and the nice effects quickly fade in a couple of months of heavy use.

It can.

This literally changed my life

Have heard of the Sinclair Method having pretty overwhelming success, however I haven't seen it in use much in Australia yet.

TL;DR: The method consists of "consumption of alcohol in combination with the prescription medication Naltrexone. ... When you take Naltrexone prior to drinking, it blocks endorphins, the naturally occurring opiates in the brain, from being released when alcohol is consumed [so] there is no “buzz” or rewarding experience, and the alcohol doesn’t make you feel the pleasure that drives you to drink excessively."

I was surprised to read about Naltrexone in relation to alcoholism as it's not commonly prescribed by doctors.

One thing to note for anyone trying this: it requires your active participation and only works if you take the medication before you drink, or if you think you'll have a craving in the near future.

Additionally there are other side-effects which can be unpleasant ranging from mild to moderate, and it induces a sense of dullness that some people don't react well to. It is an opiate antagonist and blocks out all opiate responses including e.g. desire to eat (some people use it off-label for weight loss).

I do think it should be offered by health practitioners, studied, and talked about much more than it is.

Lastly for anyone looking, there's a new health company specifically aimed at Naltrexone for alcohol use: https://www.oarhealth.com/

Highly recommend http://reddit.com/r/Alcoholism_Medication as a way to learn more!