It is hypothesized that the phenomenon of "craving" for alcohol represents a psychological or cognitive correlate of a subclinical conditioned withdrawal syndrome which may be evoked by any state of physiological arousal resembling the syndrome. Relapse is facilitated through the complementary phenomenon of "loss of control," an inherent dysfunction in alcoholics to attend to and rely on internal and external cues surrounding alcohol use.
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Ludwig et al. (1974) studied this question.