Inability to cope with stress An alcoholic cannot achieve a truly good state or survive troubles without drinking. Coping mechanisms are detrained, the ability for pure joy is lost. And this is understandable: what is not trained atrophies. And the biochemical apparatus of the brain is disrupted. As a result, internal tension, depression, and dissatisfaction with life arise. The alcoholic attributes these unpleasant experiences to external circumstances: problems at work, a bad wife, bad bosses, and solves them in a completely different space - in the space of illusions, by drinking. You can agree with every claim of an alcoholic to life, but why solve these problems by drinking? Yes, only because there is a craving, and also because this is the usual path, others have long been forgotten. These are the “gains” of an alcoholic on the path of alcoholism. Pathological attraction to alcohol The alcoholic may not be aware of it, but it still gnaws at him from the inside. So that the attraction takes the form of a well-conscious “craving” usually happens in quite late stages of alcoholism. In the earlier phases of alcoholism, the attraction is not particularly conscious, but, nevertheless, the alcoholic is already coming up with reasons for drinking, thoughts like “if don’t drink, why date?” Without drinking, your mood deteriorates, you become bored, and irritation arises. The attraction to alcohol manifests itself in animation when talking about drinking: the eyes sparkle, a specific smile appears on the face. I sometimes ask the patient’s wife if she can foresee a binge, which is almost always “unexpected” for the patient himself. And in more than half of the cases I receive an answer that it can, and within a few days. The patient himself is surprised by such an answer. But this means that binge drinking is not accidental; it means that the body is already attuned to drinking in advance. An alcoholic cannot cope with decisions regarding drinking. He is unable to foresee the consequences of the first drop of alcohol taken. He is unable to take into account the wealth of painful experience, neither his own nor that of others. In this experience there is a hangover, loss, suffering of loved ones, but the brain apparatus of an alcoholic manages to displace all this behind psychological defenses, not to see, not to take into account, and again and again give permission to drink. An alcoholic can conduct an internal dialogue for a long time, and then suddenly, without understanding himself, how, abruptly, how, suddenly giving up on everything, drinking. Narcogenic beliefs “Narcogenic” - leading to addiction. Many beliefs, absorbed from early childhood, have a clearly expressed alcoholic orientation. Well, of course, it’s a holiday, guests gather, alcohol is put on the table as a necessary attribute. Then a youth group, where “normal guys” drink and then tell each other who got drunk with whom and what kind of idiot they were, and it seems very funny... especially if there is nothing else to talk about. Then work, whoever doesn’t drink is not one of them, “you’re not Russian, or something.” This is how the conviction is formed that life without alcohol is flawed, that a “normal” person, a “real man” drinks without fail. The one who drank more is cooler. The most insidious thing is that these beliefs are not recognized as just beliefs that can be one way or another. They seem to be an absolute given, unshakable, they seem to be an immutable fact. The power of the crowd is great. “Am I not like everyone else, or what?” It’s downright tragic to not be “like everyone else.” Cultural influences The problem of beliefs intersects with another problem: cultural (or rather, pseudocultural) influences, tradition. And there is some truth to this: the fewer common interests people have, the more vodka is needed so that they stop feeling like strangers to each other. In order to reject traditions “sanctified” by social errors, you need to have a fairly strong “I” and a fair amount of self-confidence. And an alcoholic very often turns out to be an insecure person, he lacks confidence in his own dignity, the right to be himself, to choose actions not in accordance with.