A 'real alcoholic'.
This term, is first used in the opening lineofChapter3 of the,'Big Book' andgoes on to give examples of a,'real alcoholic', not a ,'heavy drinker' or someone who is addicted to alcohol. So what is a,'real alcoholic'?
It was explained to me that for a,'real alcoholic', drinking alcohol will, whatever their circumstances, their status or anything else affecting the human condition, happy, sad whatever, instantly make everything aaarrrlllright!. Overiding the fact that an alcoholics digestive system is different than a,'normal social drinker' who digest alcohol at 1oz per hour, for alcoholics this is much slower, causes more damage and mentally sends messages to the brain saying,'Give me more' Setting off the whole vicious cycle all over again.
It therefore follows that, when I said that for a ,'real alcoholic', remember whatever theircircumstances, has to drink or have a,'slip', until they can replace it with a,'physic change' as Dr.Silkworth' said to diminish the craving
found in understanding and practising the 12 Steps and making spiritual progress, for some this is harder than for others, just got to keep aiming for progress.