Posted by Elizabeth on November 9, 2001, at 21:25:54
In reply to Re: addiction and recovery » Elizabeth, posted by Rosa on November 2, 2001, at 6:16:04
> Alcohol is a drug. There is no cure. If you are an alcoholic, you will always be an alcoholic. If you pick up a drink, you will pick up where you would be if you had never stopped.
According to the 12-steppers, you're back to square one if you slip. It's not written in stone, nor does it qualify as scientific fact: it's *just* the dogma of the *-anonymous groups. Some respectable addiction medicine researchers have found that some alcoholics can learn to drink in moderation.
If a person has been indoctrinated (by AA or some other group) into believing that they can't learn to drink responsibly, then they probably won't be able to -- most likely, they won't even try to learn moderate and responsible drinking habits, and when they do slip they'll be more likely to give up and go back to their former pattern of excessive drinking.
(Same goes for other drugs, of course, not just alcohol.)
-e
poster:Elizabeth
thread:12188
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20011105/msgs/13736.html