Dear Danny:

“If I try to abstain from alcohol, yet fail to do so, is that a mistake or a choice?“- my answer: depends if you feel anxious/ distressed or calm at the moment you consider drinking (and being aware that you decided earlier not to drink). If you feel calm, it’s a choice; if you feel anxious, it’s an impulse, an act of desperate need to be calm.

In Law, impulsive illegal acts done when anxious/ distressed are considered choices and therefore punishable by law, but less punishable than illegal acts done when calm.

“Should I beat myself up?“- beating oneself up makes one more anxious/ distressed, and therefore more likely to act out of impulse, and go back on choices made when calm. So.. no.

anita