Originally Posted by
2muchpain 
IMHO, quitting alcohol is a process. For most people, quitting doesn't happen overnight. The reality is that there are always setbacks to trying anything new. I don't think I've met anybody where their path to sobriety went smoothly, but I'm sure it happens. I also tried the scientific approach to sobriety, but eventually realized that more needed to be done to add on to that knowledge. I also tried asking tons of questions at AA meetings, but soon found out that wasn't going to work either. Finding an approach to sobriety takes time for many of us. Everybody's different, but I always did best on any venture when I got honest but firm advise instead of criticism. The important thing is to believe in yourself, stay focused and never, never give up. John
I highlighted these parts for a reason.
If by setbacks- you mean relapses- I respectfully disagree that they are necessary.
A path to sobriety that goes smoothly? I have had one. MEANING, my life while drinking was anything but smooth, but my life since quitting has been in the sense that my resolve was to never drink again. A smooth process to me doesn't mean easy, without side effects and physical healing, etc- it means a firm trajectory forward. It doesn't mean confidence in myself. That fails. It means a new worldview, and yes, mine is AA and I believe something greater than myself is necessary; for me this is God and my program.
I also don't understand what anyone means when they say "a scientific method to quitting." Huh? Learning about what the body goes through, "researching how much it can take" etc - that's not a method of quitting. It's methodology for drinking.
There is one solution to alcoholism: not drinking. Programs of choice, and help from others (professionals, other alcoholics, friends and family, etc) are the keys to maintaining sobriety when employed every single day.
Bottom line: each of us have to choose sobriety, over everything else, and no matter what. Our minds come up with all the thinking, "knowledge", justification, "mulling over the problem," WHATEVER....and keep us on a path to death.
[Off my soapbox now]