This is the whole "which came first, the chicken or the egg" thing. I would agree that very possibly the drinking started out as just a symptom. But over time the drinking became an issue too. I still don't know which came first for me: the anxiety or the alcoholism. But they certainly fueled each other. But now for me to go out and try drinking normally again would be like trying to get the toothpaste back in the tube. It just wouldn't happen.