Physical addiction
It was interesting to read the...um, 'debate" amongst some of you about the physical addicitiveness of alcohol. I've long wondered what the range of experience is or has been among any group of individuals who consider themselves alcoholic with respect to physical addicitin and withdrawal symptoms.
I've often found that when I speak about "the shakes" or "being physically incapacitated" or even about my hospitalization for withdrawal seizures (the day before my sobriety date), many people seem to have little if any idea what I'm talking about.
I kind of marvel at people who are able to walk into any of the meetings I attend today and announce that they have "one day". When I had a five days, I still needed assistance to stand up from a sitting position. One of the most unpleasant memories that stays with me from my early sobriety was the experience of having nearly every one of the 50-odd guys in the rehab facility where I was a patient ask me at one time or another why my hands were shaking.
My understanding of what the AA Book means when it describes the disease as "progressive" has as much to do with the physical addiction as much as anything else. If I remember correctly, the last time I began drinking again after a period of absinence, physical symptoms (e.g., the shakes) began to appear after maybe a week. With the relapse prior to it, maybe a month. Were I to pick up again, the onset of physical addiction would, it seems to me, be virtually instant. Knowing this simple fact is one of my most powerful "tools" in the maintenance of my sobriety.