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Earlier this week, Brad Pitt admitted that he’s been drinking again after seven years of sobriety.

The news came as a surprise to many, as Pitt quit drinking more than a decade ago after being accused of abusive behavior toward Angelina Jolie and at least one of the former couple’s children.

Insiders say Pitt has learned to drink with “discipline,” a feat that many experts believe is simply not possible for alcoholics.

But there are others who note that addiction is not a one-size-fits-all affliction, and it’s possible that through therapy and self-reflection, Brad may have reached a place in his life where he’s able to drink responsibly.

Whatever the case, the Oscar-winner’s confession has prompted a new round of discourse, and several of the nation’s most prominent addiction specialists spoke with the New York Times this week.

“People with an alcohol disorder show a variety of different paths through which they resolve that alcohol use disorder,” said Christopher W. Kahler, director of the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies at the Brown University School of Public Health, adding:

“Some of those involve being completely abstinent, and some of them don’t.”

“We do recommend that people stop drinking entirely and probably continue to stop drinking once they have an alcohol use disorder,” added Dr. Melissa Weimer, an associate professor who specializes in addiction medicine at the Yale School of Medicine.

“But everybody’s different, and they have to make their own personal choices.”

Dr. Alta DeRoo, the chief medical officer of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, took things a step further, telling the Times that she rejects the idea of “a single correct route” to recovery.

DeRoo notes that pushing abstinence as the only path might drive away people who are trying to cut back for purposes of harm reduction.

Yes, the Alcoholics Anonymous abstinence-only approach dominated the conversation for decades, but experts now believe that there are other paths to recovery.

None of that changes the fact that this is just one of several current PR headaches for Team Brad.

All of Pitt’s kids have now dropped his last name, and there are rumors that they may soon come forward with new details of their tumultuous relationship with their megastar dad.

Brad’s PR team is clearly top-notch, but they can only do so much.