Taking the wrong turn with alcoholism: The biggest demon of all

Alcohol demons are talked about a lot. The biggest demon of all now seems to be the idea that alcoholism can be cured. Before I go off on one, let me introduce myself. My name is snewts and I'm an alcoholic. I haven't had a drink for seven and a half years, but I am still an alcoholic. I will always be an alcoholic, and can never take another drink of alcohol.
  I am increasing frightened and angry at the ideas now being put about by organisations offering help to addicts, and on websites on the internet, that alcoholism can be cured, or in some way controlled. No, it can't. I was many years and active alcoholic, and knew many others like me, both in and out of detox units and rehabs. I never knew one single alcoholic who, after a period of abstinence, thinking he was cured, returned to drinking and drank normally. It does not happen. I did however, sadly, know several who returned to drinking and died.
   The powers that be cannot play with peoples lives like this, changing a system that has worked successfully for more than seventy years, i.e. the twelve step programme of AA, and replace it with an unproven system of cognitive behavioural therapy and counselling in the community, probably because it's cheaper and does not rquire residential rehab.
   There is no way of  a counsellor or therapist knowing how much a client is drinking or not drinking. Alcoholics, by their very nature, lie to everybody. We lie to doctors, therapists, counsellors, and all our family and friends about how much we are drinking. Control would only be possible if the counsellor could be with the addict 24/7 to continually monitor what they were drinking....nothing else would be reliable. Even in rehab, alcoholics sneak out to get booze, so out in the community, they have no chance.
   As for the idea that alcoholism is somehow curable, this is just downright dangerous. It plants the idea in the mind of the addict that at some point in the future, after a period of abstinence, he or she will be able to drink normally again. That's just plain stupid. I feel certain that the experts who have come up with these ideas have absolutely no idea whatsoever about what it's like to be an alcoholic, the cravings, the physical withdrawals and the psychological nightmare that we have to go through to get clean and sober.
    So please, lets have no more of this nonsense. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, and AA and twelve steps works and has done for a very long time. Please don't tell the alcoholic that he can go have a drink if he stays dry for a few months, or a year or two. All you'll do is allow him or her to kill themselves. I think, after much consideration, that the real experts are those of us who have gone through the horror of alcoholic addiction and come out the other side. I don't think you can learn it in a book.
If you have an interest in this subject, because you are an alcoholic, or you know someone who is, please visit my website at http://www.demonsinthedark.com/.