"What are we likely to receive from Step Five? For one thing, we shall
get rid of that terrible sense of isolation we've always had. Almost
without exception, alcoholics are tortured by loneliness. Even before
our drinking got bad and people began to cut us off, nearly all of us
suffered the feeling that we didn't quite belong. Either we were shy,
and dared not draw near others, or we were apt to be noisy good fellows
craving attention and companionship, but never getting it--at least to
our way of thinking. There was always that mysterious barrier we could
neither surmount nor understand. It was as if we were actors on a
stage, suddenly realizing that we did not know a single line of our
parts. That's one reason we loved alcohol too well. It did let us act
extemporaneously. But even Bacchus boomeranged on us; we were finally
struck down and left in terrified loneliness." (Twelve and Twelve, Step
Five, pg. 57)