Alcohol is terrible for your health in many ways but it is particularly damaging to an insight cycle.
Alcohol suppresses neuroplasticity by increasing GABAergic activity. It reduces REM sleep cycles from around seven per night to two or three. REM sleep is the phase in which the brain consolidates experiential learning.
Alcohol also disrupts dopaminergic signalling, down-regulating receptors and reducing dopamine’s effect on the system.
In addition to this it provides a temporary boost in phasic signalling, reinforcing existing patterns.
It reinforces the pain while retarding your ability to heal.
Buddhism and Islam explicitly discourage or prohibit alcohol, and both traditions demonstrate high efficacy in long-term behavioural and perceptual restructuring.
The purpose of this protocol is to offer a secular framework for self-reprogramming, without reliance on dogma or external authority.
Alcohol will rob you of this.