The Fantasy: Get sober, and everything will fall neatly into place. The Reality: Get sober, and watch your stress level explode. One of the many paradoxes surrounding recovery is that it can bring out the best and the worst in alcoholics and addicts. This is especially true of those who operate under stressful conditions.

A combination of cognitive behavioural therapy and Buddhist meditation can help people with drink problems turn their backs on alcohol.

If you remain in the mobilizing energy stage for a period of time, your body begins to release stored sugars and fats. You will then feel driven, pressured and tired. You may drink more coffee, smoke more and drink more alcohol. You may also experience anxiety, negative thinking or memory loss, catch a cold or get the flu more often than normal.

A researcher at the University at Buffalo's Research Institute on Addictions (RIA) is initiating a study of "mindfulness-based stress reduction," a technique often used in behavioral medicine for stress reduction but not before as an adjunct in the treatment of alcohol use disorders.

According to various authors in the book The Addictive Behaviors, individuals with compulsive disorders, including alcoholism, gambling, overeating, or smoking, often increase negative behavior, or undergo a relapse, after they have been through a stressful time period.

Most societies have developed methods to passively induce altered states and the relaxation response. For example, in most religions, prayer and/or meditation is common.

Stress is thought to be an important factor in many health problems. Early stress researchers found that regardless of the environmental stressor, a generalized physiological response was activated in the organism called the "fight or flight"...

Studies indicate that many people drink as a means of coping with modern life and its accompanying economic stress, job stress and marital discord.

Excerpts from interview with Joe Dispenza, D.C., author of the book Evolve Your Brain.

Dr Keith Humphreys of Stanford University said that many AA members point to the spiritual component of their 12-step programme as crucial in fighting the urge to drink.