Some people have the mistaken belief that if they stay sober for a period of time that they can drink like a normal person. This may happen for a short period of time but sooner than later the alcoholic is drinking as much as they ever did. Black out drinkers are once again blacking out, people are driving while under the influence and home life, if they have a home, becomes quite chaotic. The alcoholic’s behavior is as bad as it ever was, and they may lose their job and relationship.
The physical allergy of alcoholism does not go away. It lies dormant in the brain of a sober alcoholic. Once alcohol added to the person’s system the phenomenon of craving is activated and the drinker cannot stop drinking once again. If we plan to quit drinking for good, we can have no lurking notions or reservations that someday we can drink again. It can be said that this is an all or nothing program.
The tools and Steps to get sober and stay sober are found in the Big Book of Alcoholics. The first step is the only one we take perfectly. It states that “we admitted we were powerless over alcohol and that our lives had become unmanageable.” This powerless was manifested through the craving that develops after ingesting alcohol. We are totally unable to stop drinking until the alcohol is all gone, and we cannot get any more at this time. Usually in this state the alcoholic will finding themselves coming to from a massive black out and with a horrendous hang over. In the warped thinking of a chronic alcoholic their solution is to begin to drink again. They may now be able to drive to the store to replenish their supply.
Upon taking a few drinks the sense of ease and comfort that the alcoholic is seeking starts to manifest itself. Unfortunately for the alcoholic this is a transitory state of being. As they continue to drink, they become closer and closer to being in a black out again. This is usually the desired goal for most alcoholics. I personally tried to control my behavior while drinking. However, I was very unsuccessful at this attempt. Once that allergy got ahold of me, I was doomed once again to drink myself into oblivion. Once this allergy is triggered in the chronic alcoholic there is no stopping them from drinking their entire supply of alcohol. Normal drinkers don’t suffer from this allergy and usually stop drinking when they feel a bit tipsy. The goal of an alcoholic is to feel tipsy and beyond that to oblivion.
So, you see bargaining with your alcoholism to allow you to drink again after a period of sobriety doesn’t work. The thing about taking all of the Steps is that the desire to drink is removed. The mental obsession to drink is taken away through the 12 Step process. So you see that there s a solution rather than drinking ourselves to death.
