Originally Posted by
BackToSquareOne 
I always wondered why some are able to give it up very early in the progression while others take it almost to the end of the line and some never stop. Is it just strength and will power or much more than that. Any thoughts?
My mother was one of those people, and at least since Feb 2010 I am not. I will never know what was going on in her head all those years, but I believe those who continue to drink after seriously trying to quit multiple times fear facing the world without the soothing cloak that alcohol has provided for so long.
The world that I thought I lived in was not the kind of place that I wanted to live without an escape hatch. It wasn't until I was alcohol free for several months that I came to understand that it was the alcohol that tainted my perception of the world, and made it so unbearable to face - which of course, drove me to drink again and again. I would never have believed what alcohol was doing to my psyche during my drinking days. I was unable to see that until I had removed it from my system.