All of those games I played to control my drinking were moot. Once the first sip of alcohol registered, the jig was up. Little addicted synapses all over my brain demanded more—no matter how sober I was after just one sip. Here’s a secret: Alcoholism isn’t all Leaving Las Vegas or the slurring mothers of after-school specials and Lifetime movies. I used to think that I wouldn’t be an alcoholic until I woke up with the shakes or couldn’t physically go a day without booze. But those are just the very visible and longer-term effects of the addiction.
