The reason why I cannot drink is given in the Doctor's Opinion in the AA book. It's because my body is physically allergic to alcohol and a reaction is produced in my body which is different from another person. Two things happen when I drink alcohol:
1. After taking the 1st drink, my body craves another drink and another, until I pass into oblivion. There is no control over the amount I take.
2. When I get sober, I become restless, irritated and discontented. I cannot function in normal human relationships, no matter how hard I try.
The reason why I cannot stay stopped is also given in that same chapter. When I am sober, my mind can only think about the ease and comfort that a few drinks can bring, never about the damage I do. After I have thought about this over and over again, my mind has now convinced me that a few drinks would not hurt me this time around.
AA teaches me two things:
1. To remove the obsession for alcohol from my mind.
2. To function in loving human relations, which brings about harmony in my life.
Simple but not easy, a price has to be paid. I paid that price by vigorously working the steps and practising it daily in my life.
Very True...It's a threefold disease...Mental...Physical and Spiritual.
If that be the case, you may be suffering from an illness which only a spiritual experience will conquer.... bb pg 44
and unless this person can experience an entire psychic change there is very little hope of his recovery..... The Doctors Opinion
When the spiritual malady is overcome, we straighten out mentally and physically..... bb pg 64
Continue to speak of alcoholism as an illness, a fatal malady. Talk about the conditions of body and mind which accompany it. Keep his attention focused mainly on your personal experience. Explain that many are doomed who never realize their predicament. Doctors are rightly loath to tell alcoholic patients the whole story unless it will serve some good purpose. But you may talk to him about the hopelessness of alcoholism because you offer a solution. You will soon have your friend admitting he has many, if not all, of the traits of the alcoholic. If his own doctor is willing to tell him that he is alcoholic, so much the better. Even though your protégé may not have entirely admitted his condition, he has become very curious to know how you got well. Let him ask you that question, if he will. Tell him exactly what happened to you. Stress the spiritual feature freely. If the man be agnostic or atheist, make it emphatic that he does not have to agree with your conception of God. He can choose any conception he likes, provided it makes sense to him. The main thing is that he be willing to believe in a Power greater than himself and that he live by spiritual principles.
