There may be a biological 'cause'. An alcohol buzz may feel better to me than to my neighbor.
Also, an environmental cause: the feeling of liberation must be stronger for some of us. (Social inhibitions might be stronger in Iowa than California.)
I have conquered my 'alcoholism', now that I'm 40. This is no thread to get mystic, but I am a Christian now and I think prayer has saved me. Three years ago I got on the wagon and went back to school. I never believed I could stick to it and have discipline. Daily Christian prayer certainly helped.
Well done. May your prayers continue to be answered. Your post is relevant to the following part of the article:
Psychologist Stanton Peele suggests that we may have carried that model too far. < snip > Peele argues that no one has conclusively shown that there is a biological basis to alcoholism or any other addiction. Instead, Peele believes that personal and social expectations torque biological tendencies to such a degree that any study seeking to identify genetic underpinnings is suspect.
Look at what people do, he suggests. Not everyone who is anxious or impulsive is a problem drinker, and many people who are hard-core alcoholics stop drinking without treatment.
There is data to back up that view. In 1992 the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism interviewed 4,542 adults who at some time in their lives had been alcohol dependent according to diagnostic criteria used by the American Psychiatric Association. At the time of the study, 28 percent were still heavy drinkers, but 22 percent had given up alcohol and 50% drank I moderation. Therefore, roughly three-quarters of these people would no longer be considered alcoholics. Interestingly, those who were treated for alcohol abuse didn’t fare any better on average than those who had no treatment.
”Natural remission is overwhelming in its importance,” Peele says. “And yet it is systematically ignored by researchers.” If alcoholism is a disease, how can so many people cure themselves?