Hey, Chava.... I don't know how to be sad.
I will do virtually anything to avoid the emotion. One of my standbys is anger. I have years and years and years of practicing self control with anger, so it's one of my safer avenues to divert into. Another is pain. Not as safe. Another is medication (much safer than pain, much more productive than anger). Another is drugs/alcohol. Not safe for anyone (myself or those around me). Another is violence (ditto). Another is sex. Another is shutting off all my emotions. Another is disassociation. Another, another, another. I'm sure you get the drift. Damn near anything to avoid being sad. I really, really, cannot handle it. Which may sound silly if that's an emotion you can handle. But I can't. Not yet. It's something I'm going to have to learn. Just not right now :P
Been reading of your struggles with alcohol & anger for awhile now. I don't know if it's hit me before how dang similar it is to my own struggle with sadness. It may have, I may even have said so, my memory is jacked right now. So assuming I haven't...
My recommendation right now is to stop trying to access your anger. Not stop forever, both of us need to learn to deal with the emotion which shall not be named ;) but stop for right now.
I remember you saying you could only access your anger safely while drinking. I get that. If it's like me & sadness, I really get it. Big problems there, though.
For A), You're an alcoholic (anyone new to this, Chava had 20 years sober, this isn't an accusation of alcoholism or judgement, just a statement of fact)... And now you've got that beast with its claws in you, too. ((Again, no guilt or judgement. Big Book very clearly states; if you ever seriously question whether or not you are an alcoholic? Try drinking. It's a very valid thing to do. Especially after several years.)) But that experiment, while it has had clear results (Yep. Alcoholic.) has left you with 2 things to sort out (PTSD & alcoholism + eventually anger), instead of 1.
For B) I could be wrong, but it feels to me that you're using alcohol the same way I use violence or pain. Not as a way to safely access anger, but in a way to try and control it / shut it down before it consumes you. Clearly, that's not working well (there are better ways!!! Ways that don't destroy you, even in a way you're comfortable with). Violence & pain? Those destroy me, too. They're just comfortable deaths that I came to peace with a long time ago. More? They're nowhere near as controlled as anger, but like anger, I've spent a long time learning to control them. They're still pretty damn wild, and dangerous as f*ck, but they're a lot less wild & dangerous than my being sad. They're also fun, unlike anger, and unlike the *safe* methods of dealing with my sadness... So what do I knew-jerk towards? Exactly. Damaging, dangerous, old frenemy. Sound familiar? The devil you know.
Hence why my -very lengthy- 2cents is -if I'm right?- to stop. Not just drinking, but seeking out anger. Your coping mechanism for anger ain't working, and it's creating more problems than it solves. You need better coping mechanisms before tackling this particular problem. Sigh. So do I.
Namaste, Chava.