I'm not sure, but I believe your friend was trying to say that he is his problem - even the literature tells us that - and I've even shared many times that my disease "lives" between my ears. Although some of us tend to view addiction simplistically as something external (like drugs), I'm willing to bet that if we could control our obsession, compulsion and total self-centeredness (what addiction is), we would've never come to NA in the first place.
Here's something I wrote in another 1st Step thread in this forum:
Originally Posted by
Gmoney 
When I first came to NA and got involved with a sponsor, my primary concern was learning how to stay clean. I’m willing to bet I wasn’t alone in that regard. But, it was around the time I got my 1st Step assignment that I found out that drugs were just a symptom of my disease and that the admissions of powerlessness and unmanageability applied to so many other aspects of my life. Not only was I powerless and unmanageable when it came to drugs, I was the same regarding almost everything else.
The First Step, in the Basic Text, tells us pretty plainly, “We are powerless not only over drugs, but over our addiction as well.” And if we were to take a look at our 1st Step in How It Works, we’ll find, “…when we first come into the program, our drug addiction is how we identify with each other and the program. As we continue in our recovery, we will see how these aspects of our addiction (obsession, compulsion and self-centeredness) can manifest themselves in many areas of our lives.”
Powerlessness does not mean hopelessness, helplessness, or incapability. It simply means that I have limitations, boundaries and restrictions that I must try to stay aware of. Just because my life has gotten better as a result of abstinence from drug use (and certain other behaviors), does not mean I can assume total control of anything.
It is the denial of those limitations, boundaries and restrictions that bring about unmanageability and consequences in my life. If I can’t control my addiction, how can I control my life? Remember that question from Step One? It’s amazing how many of us forget that one. The reality is that there are many powers much greater than myself that directly influence and “control” aspects of my life that I can’t begin to understand. This awareness is humbling.
Although I have the ability to make better choices and decisions today because of staying clean and doing the work set forth in the Steps of NA (“powered-up“, if you will), I don’t fool myself into thinking that I’ve reached a point of being “powerful” or no longer suffering from the disease of addiction. Although it was desperation and drug addiction that brought me to the rooms of NA, it was the honest admission (and acceptance) of being an addict that lead to my initial surrender. The paradox of “surrendering to win” still applies to me, even with years of clean time. I’m still recovering from the disease of addiction, I’m still in need of help because I can’t do it alone, and I’m still powerless.