Originally Posted by
zerothehero 
... The structure is the key, but it is only a tool. Just like the devil and the angel, the BEAST doesn't really exist, but personifying the AV is an effective strategy. So, we're talking about imagination a separation - we're not possessed.
This is how I look at it, as a truly useful fiction to help us get through the most challenging part of recovery, the early parts. "Normal" people who have never been addicts don't think this way, and I view addiction and it's aftermath as a temporary phase. At some point that is different for different people, I believe we're chemically past that phase and we're no different from everyone else - I don't view it as a permanent affliction or disease.
Except, we can't drink again, because almost invariably that will set us back down the same old path. Fortunately I have zero desire to ever drink again anyways, no more than I yearn to drop acid again after 30+ years.
