Before the ego arose, the detour into fear, everything was fine. Everything still is fine, but ego creates an appearance of disorder, chaos, unhappiness, loneliness, fear, anger, guilt, and separation.
Ego is essentially a pair of distorting glasses.
Alcohol applies a second pair of distorting glasses, once which removes many of the symptoms of the first pair. A degree of peace and a certain sense of well-being is restored. In one regard, alcohol does restore the truth, or at least a facsimile of the truth: all is well.
There are several problems.
Firstly, the second pair of glasses actually separates the individual even further from the original reality, thus reinforcing the errors of the first pair: superficial reorientation actually belies greater disorientation.
Secondly, the individual has not withdrawn belief in the ego, merely suppressed conscious awareness of its effects, and the colour of the ego world eventually bleeds through.
Thirdly, being a material solution, alcohol wears out: over time, more and more is needed to achieve less and less of an effect.
Thirdly, being a material solution, alcohol wears out: over time, more and more is needed to achieve less and less of an effect.
Fourthly, the material consequences are grave, further reinforcing the fear produced by the ego and encouraging even greater self-reliance and thus separation from Source.
The only solution is to unwind the problem stage by stage: remove the alcohol (the second pair of glasses); remove the ego (the first pair of glasses), and voilà: restoration to Source.