I suffered from alcoholism when I was drinkin. I suffered from alcoholism when I was "not drinkin".
As long as I was aiming at a target that had "not drinkin" as a bulls-eye, I suffered from either the consequences of drinking or the bad feelings, that I drank to be free of.
When I started aiming at a target that had "spiritual fitness" as a bulls-eye, I stopped suffering. (period)
The drinkin stopped when the "not drinkin" stopped feeling like suffering.