Thank you all for your replies. This is something that I am very curious about.
Humblestudent - I wonder the same things. What happened? When? How could I have prevented it? etc. But also agree that the most important thing is not drinking and the 'medicine' to help do that is recovery and each of us have our own unique recovery.
My question is geared more toward wondering if there are stages of addiction and a matching set of necessary recovery 'medicines'. For example - the self-loathing I felt when I woke up with a hangover and couldn't believe that I had done that to myself again. I would think that a person who repeated that pattern for six months would have different issues compared to someone who repeated that pattern for 10 years. Yes, there are similarities for example both are choosing to escape reality and both are adding to their problems. But there are also differences in levels of spiritual, mental and physical damage that has resulted. Since there are different issues, different recovery approaches may be needed to best help each of these people.
Another example - The healing approach for someone with Stage 1 cancer is very different when compared to the healing approach for someone with Stage 4. No judgement, no decision that one is better than the other. They are just different and are best treated using different approaches.
Once again, that is my focus. I agree that my only hope for a healthy life is not drinking. I am not and have no desire to. Please hear that I am in no way judging the recoveries of others or studying them or involving myself in them.
I am just wondering if there is a discernible set of measures that be used to understand the impacts of this disease on each INDIVIDUAL and a matching set of individual recovery strategies.
Curious in the great white (actually green now) north.
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