Which came first, the drinking or the stress? (much like the chicken or the egg debate)

I'm at 21 days now, and I'm wondering is my drinking a product of the stress in my life, or is it an issue that exists solely in and of itself?

I've always like to drink...the fun, the freedom, the release.  I never really worried about it being that much of a problem before my divorce.  I was probably just truly a social drinker.  When I drank socially, sometimes I did drink too much (or at least as much as those around me), but many times I didn't.

I think my slippery slope really started when I got separated about 5 1/2 years ago.  Suddenly I was thrust into a world where I was solely responsible for managing a house, a yard, the bills that go with both and being a heartbroken part-time parent to my then just turned 3 year old daughter.  I learned about the $400 utility bills that come with an 80+ year old house, the rodents that like to make nocturnal visits in the evening to said older homes, leaving their calling cards in drawers and on shelves, and I learned more than I ever care to about maintaining a yard.

This learning coincided with  navigating a newly single social life and the dating that is part and parcel of it.  Many "couple" friendships fell by the wayside, and many friends and family members who I thought would be supportive weren't.   Then there was struggle of being a part-time single parent. The difficulty of doing it on my own, the sadness when separated from my daughter tinged with slight relief at the break but compounded at guilt over feeling relief.

Mix all of this in with a hefty dose of loneliness and you have a perfect recipe for single mom stress and sadness.

Never one to take the easy path, I decided that in order to carve out a better path for myself and my daughter I would get my doctorate.  This added a whole new level of stress.

Reflecting back, this has me wondering if my drinking escalated as a product of my stress/life situation, or if it was always there lurking and would have reared it's ugly head one way or another.  Now this isn't to say that I was feeling sad or stressed every time I drank, but drinking did prove to be an effective, efficient and relatively inexpensive way to have fun and take a vacation from my life (as opposed to let's say a Caribbean vacation).

I'm wondering if I wouldn't have the drinking problem if I control the stress in my life?

I'd love to get any thoughts and feedback!