“Al-Anon teaches me that the drinker knows no more about his compulsion than I do.” (ODAT, 27 February)
It’s helpful to remember that with any addiction, any compulsion, whether we’re talking the first drink or the subsequent avalanche of drinks, the individual is acting under compulsion.
When compulsion is operative in human affairs, one does not ask the person compelled why the action is taken. From their point of view, it is taking place because they are under compulsion. One would have to ask the person exercising the compulsion.
In this case, one cannot ask the brain sub-routine responsible for the compulsion. It’s a senseless, mindless mechanism. It is not the mind. It is a malfunction in the brain. The malfunction has no useful purpose, no trigger, no sense. Anyone who has watched alcoholics or addicts over the years (or who has been one) will know there is no particular circumstance that always causes relapse and no particular circumstance that confers safety. It’s senseless and unfathomable.
‘Why’ is not a helpful question.
Rather, what I need to do is face facts and work around them.