the Beast, and "when to quit"
It seems a frequent question posted on SR is, "am I really an alcoholic?", "do I really have to quit?", or "I'm not that bad, really, compared to others", etc. Before I learned about AVRT, I had these thoughts a lot.
I used to think I had these thoughts because I was a "high-bottom alcoholic" -- nothing really bad had happened to me, objectively, but I just felt I was starting to drink too much. I wondered if maybe I should enjoy drinking a bit longer, and then I could quit later if I had to. I wondered if the decision to quit would be much clearer, if my drinking had progressed further.
Now I think that these thoughts are only the thoughts of the Beast, and they have nothing to do with how far addiction has actually progressed. When I read around on SR, I see the same thoughts expressed from people with varying degrees of consequences ... someone who's been hospitalized with severe withdrawals, or someone who's upset with themselves because they planned on having one drink at a party and instead had three.
I think it makes no difference how mild or severe one's addiction is, the Beast will always think that "it's too soon to quit". It bears no relation to reality -- it's always "too soon" for the Beast. Just the fact that there arose the thought "it's too soon to quit", meant I already had a Beast in my mind ... which meant it's actually time to quit. And that the most radical, life-affirming, joyous, badass move I could make is to declare, "it's time to quit forever, and I'm doing it right now!"