Friends and Recovery and addiction

I was reading an article on the internet yesterday, about addiction. In the article, they do not believe that addiction is a disease. They tested mice by giving then alcohol. When the mice were going through withdrawals, they were offered more alcohol, and they would not drink it. The article said though that if you put on low lights and soft music to mice, then they would drink the alcohol. The article went on to say they believed addiction is tied to the reward system in the brain. They also took some heroin addicts away from their environment, and they became clean from heroin. Although when they went back to their old neighborhood and friends, they soon relapsed. That part reminded me of me. All the state hospital drilled in to me was you cannot have your old friends. Right I thought, it’s not their fault, I get into trouble. Then I would remember something my best friend’s mom told me once and I always tried to figure it out. She said “it’s not you, it’s your friends” As you know I was released from the state hospital. While I was there one girl from the neighborhood kept in touch with me. She was supposed to come and see me in Denver. Although we soon lost touch with each other once I was back in Denver. After a few months in a group home, I found an apartment in the old neighborhood. I moved in and soon my old friends started coming by when I was not home. I was home though when my best friend came by. I told him we could not see each other anymore. He told me “you are blaming me for the past.” I told him I was not blaming anybody, which was just the way it had to be. I can watch a stranger drink and not care at all. To watch a friend and remember old times, I would have started drinking again. I had tried to stop on my own before and was soon drinking with old friends. Do you have a substance abuse problem and what would you do if you did?