"Restored to Sanity"

"Restored to Sanity"

What does this mean? I don't chew on my sleeves, and drool, or need a straitjacket.  First you want me to admit powerlessness over a liquid?!  And now you want me to admit that I'm insane??!  Maybe they are referring to a particular type of insanity... The answer according to the big book is "Alcoholic Insanity"

It describes many times in the book what sanity/insanity means in respect to our illness. "Alcoholic Insanity"
  • "Where alcohol has been involved we have been strangely insane"
  • "He had been committed for alcoholic insanity"
  • "...quite rational and well-balanced with respect to other problems. Yet he had no control whatever over alcohol"
  • "...normal in every respect except in the effect alcoholic has upon them"
  • "In Alcoholics the will is amazingly weakened when it comes to combating liquor, though it often remain strong in other respects"
  • "...sane in every aspect except when it comes to alcohol"
Insanity is not the insane things we do when drunk (Anyone would act that way if they consumed as much alcohol as we do.) The insanity PRECEEDS the first drink.  If I know I'm alcoholic and cant drink, If I know I cant stop once I start, then WHY do I start again in the first place?  THAT is the insanity.

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