Originally Posted by Sasha1972

I struggle with that too. I get that, to an alcoholic, drinking doesn't feel like a choice, it feels like a compulsion. They think they can't not drink. But stopping drinking seems to be very much a choice. I've never heard any alcoholics say they felt irresistibly compelled to not drink - they talk about it as though this was a decision they were able to make (often with a lot of struggle and turmoil). So how is it that the disease itself is not a matter of will, but the remission of the disease is? Why do some alcoholics make that decision but others never do, even though their lives are falling apart?

I don't know the answer, and I'm sorry if I just threadjacked this discussion. But it's something I wonder about.