Originally Posted by
Terminally Unique 
Willpower is all an addicted person has! To say "willpower doesn’t work" cripples addicted people who have a suspicion that they will ultimately have to quit for good. The same goes for "swearing off doesn't work," which really means that quitting doesn't work. Should we continue to tell people who are impassioned to get drunk, and who had better knock it off as soon as possible, not to even try to quit?
I didn't say "willpower doesn't work". You're twisting my words, and reading what you want to into them instead of what I actually said.
Addictive chemicals, including alcohol, change the structure of the brain. This is scientific fact. Addictive chemicals, including alcohol, activate the same pleasure centers in our brain responsible for our drive to eat, survive, and procreate. This is scientific fact.
Do you have the willpower necessary to stop eating? Do you have the willpower necessary to stop having sex? And, most importantly, do you think willpower alone is going to be sufficient to see you through the rest of your life going without either (assuming of course you could live without eating)?
I'm not saying willpower doesn't work. It is, of course, of vital importance to achieving any goal, including abstinence. That goes without saying. What I am saying, however, is that the idea that willpower alone is all that's required is a pipe-dream. Most of the people I've met who are addicts have demonstrated extreme amounts of willpower in other areas of their lives. It isn't willpower that's lacking. The issues underlying addiction make willpower a moot point.
Are there miserable people out there who have stopped drinking/drugging by willpower alone? Probably a few. Will they go back eventually? I'd be my left nut on it. Are they happy? Not if they haven't addressed the underlying issues of their addiction. So if they're not, what's the point?
As far as I'm concerned, anyone who says they 'cured' their addiction through willpower alone either wasn't addicted in the first place, or are lying to themselves. They most certainly were pro-active in their recovery - that's a necessity. But it wasn't force-of-will alone that was responsible for their evolution.