It's a belief of some advocacy groups, like AA and such.
In real life, there are lots of drug addicts and alcoholics that managed to recover for the rest of their life just fine, including drinking in moderation for social reasons without relapsing (as opposed the teetotallism stance advocated by said groups).
Not to say it's a bad thing to drink after recovering from alcoholism, but wouldn't that just be managed addiction?
My uncle is an alcoholic, but has managed to drink at a reasonable level (not healthy, but doesn't socially harm him, e.g. drink driving, losing a job) for the past few decades. He'll crack his first beer at 10 AM, but manages to keep a good level of control.
>Not to say it's a bad thing to drink after recovering from alcoholism, but wouldn't that just be managed addiction?
Not any more so than drinking before alcoholism is "managed addiction".
If you can manage it and drink whenever you want after being an alcoholic (e.g. not drink for weeks, then drink at a party and then again not for weeks, and have no withdrawal effects when you don't drink) then you're not addicted anymore.
In real life, there are lots of drug addicts and alcoholics that managed to recover for the rest of their life just fine, including drinking in moderation for social reasons without relapsing (as opposed the teetotallism stance advocated by said groups).