From the author: website From the point of view of Alcoholics Anonymous, alcoholism is a fatal, incurable and progressive disease. And so it is. At least the experience I have confirms this. If it is alcoholism. There are many definitions of alcoholism - medical, scientific, folk, etc. I like this one the most - Alcoholism is when every use of alcohol leads to a problem. Each. The problem may be small - an alcoholic cannot stop at small doses, irritability, scandals until he drinks a dose that makes him pass out. And the problem can be very big - crashing while driving drunk, a month-long binge, being hospitalized, being fired, losing your family, etc. If at the beginning of an alcoholic career, out of 10 drinks only one led to a problem, then when alcoholism is formed, every alcohol consumption leads to a problem. A computer-program model of alcohol dependence. An alcoholic’s main life program is to provide himself with alcohol in such doses as to achieve oblivion. In general, pass out. And since it is not possible to pass out right away, the alcoholic is not happy all the time. He is angry when he doesn't drink, and angry when he drinks. If an alcoholic is conscious, he is dissatisfied all the time - from irritability during short abstinence, to aggression during use, when they prevent him from achieving oblivion. In the unconscious this program is the most powerful. It is stronger than such programs as food (they don’t eat when they’re drinking), stronger than sexual (not before sex, but if I have sex, then after I’ve had a good drink). The alcohol program is even stronger than the strongest program of a person’s instinct of self-preservation (every danger is ignored, and in the end, life often ends in suicide). Therefore, an alcoholic cannot stop drinking on his own. He does not have internal resources that are stronger than the alcohol program. The alcohol program is stronger than hunger, sexual hunger, and even stronger than the desire to live. Therefore, only powerful external resources (systems) can help escape from the alcoholic nightmare. If you imagine the brain as a computer, then the basic program in the computer is, for example, Windows. When a virus (alcohol) gets into the computer, we reboot the computer. This helps first for three days, then for a day, and then for half an hour. Just like coding for alcoholism. The virus is located in the highest program (or the most basic) - in Windows, and the reboot (treatment) is performed at the level of folders or hard drive - therefore the temporary effect occurs. To achieve a stable effect, you need to erase the infected Windows and install a new one. And install a powerful anti-virus program. The basic (highest) program for a person is the program of spirituality (spirit-spirit-connection with something higher), then identity (Who Am I?). Treatment with one-time methods works at the level of behavior (level of folders) - the value of family, the value of work (don’t drink or you’ll lose your job and your wife and children). Works for a very short time. One-time methods work at most at the level of the hard drive - if you drink after encoding (filing) for three years, you will die. Longer lasting effect. That is, this fear acts like an antivirus program at the disk level. Temporarily. If this program is not constantly updated, then the fear gradually decreases. And this fear program at the Windows level does not work. If it is possible to completely erase the basic program on a computer and write a new one, then you cannot completely erase a person’s old program. Moreover, for an alcoholic, the main one is alcohol. It is lifelong. (See the biochemical model of alcoholism) And this program, like a steam boiler, periodically begins to swell and swells stronger and stronger and the pressure becomes stronger than hunger, sexual desire, etc. And then the fear subsides. Antivirus software is weakening. And the boiler explodes. In a year. Or in three. Why? Why is it that if an alcoholic does not drink for a month and a year and five years or more, alcoholism still awaits and if alcohol gets in, then a breakdown is inevitable and anything can happen».