>>>>>>>From now on, whenever you go out, on the way to wherever, buy no liquor, and then on the way home, do the same again. If you happen to actually be going to a store that sells liquor, do the same when you're in between going and returning.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>I'm no expert, but if you stick to those rules, it should work out. ;)
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Do you really think it is so easy?
>>>>>
>>>>>No it's not easy. You missed my 'wink' at the end. But having said that it's not easy, I know it works with nicotine; should work with liquor.
>>>>
>>>>Not easy - just not complicated.
>>>
>>>So you say.
>>
>>What I meant was, it is difficult to do what must be done, but what must be done is clear - don't drink - ever. It's not easy, but the solution is quite simple. The reason programs like AA are successful is that they focus on behavior modification over insight. When you are trying to stop any kind of addiction it may be interesting or even useful to know "why" but nothing is ever solved or resolved unless behavior changes, so that is where the focus has to be.
>>
>>If you don't drink - ever - your life will be better. If you do, it won't. Everything else is obfuscation.
>
>OK, that's obviously true -- if you don't drink, ever, your life will be better. But undoing the habits of many years, especially if there is a chemical cause, is complicated.
>
>This is probably just an esoteric debate point. The key is to change behavior, as you say. I just bristle a little when I hear how easy it is. I know it isn't.

Nobody is saying that doing what needs to be done is easy, but understanding what needs to be done is not rocket science. It's so clear and obvious that it can be stated in two words (not worrying about contractions) - "don't drink". That's clear. It's the doing (or the not doing depending on your semantics) that's hard.

As Edward pointed out to me, quitting nicotine dependency is not quite the same, but it is a dependency. I tried to quit smoking a couple of times and failed miserably. It wasn't until I had an epiphany and realised (and I mean grokked to the core) that the only way I was going to stop smoking was to not smoke any more, that I was able to quit, and in fact, at that point, I found it became quite easy - probably because I knew (and I don't just mean 'thought') that there was no second best choice. The truth is that it's hard to explain how I quit because I don't fully understand it, but this is about as close as I think I can come.

As I said, I've never had a drinking problem, so I can't really know what it's like, but I honestly believe that once you grok it, you can do it.