Originally Posted by
alchy 
Has everyone found their reason for what drove them to be an alcoholic? I always hear that there was something in your life that you were hiding from that always drives someone to alcoholism. And that that thing will come to haunt them when they stop and they will have to deal with it head on.
I'm still pretty fresh in my recovery(12 days) but I feel great and have had no epiphanies about what drove me to keep drinking more and more over the years.
I long ago stopped trying to find any underlying causes.
After a certain point, an addiction will feed on itself, and any original reasons for starting are not so relevant anymore, in that solving those reasons will not necessarily solve the addiction.
It is better to quit first, and to subsequently deal with any issues that may arise with a clear head, than it is to try and solve issues in order to quit. There is no guarantee that solving issues will lead to abstinence.
To quote an overused, though rather accurate Japanese Proverb:
"First the man takes a drink. Then the drink takes a drink. Then the drink takes the man.”