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Alcoholism: The Myth and the Reality MYTH:
Alcohol is predominantly a sedative or depressant drug. REALITY:
Alcohol's pharmacological effects change with the amount drunk.
In small quantities, alcohol is a stimulant.
In large quantities, alcohol acts as a sedative.
In all amounts, however, alcohol provides a rich and potent source of
calories and energy. MYTH:
Alcohol has the same chemical and physiological effect on everyone who
drinks. REALITY:
Alcohol, like every other food we take into our bodies, affects different
people in different ways. MYTH:
Alcohol is an addictive drug, and anyone who drinks long and hard enough
will become addicted. REALITY:
Alcohol is a selectively addictive drug; it is addictive for only a
minority of its users, namely, alcoholics.
Most people can drink occasionally, daily, even heavily, without becoming
addicted to alcohol. Others (alcoholics) will become addicted no matter how much
they drink. MYTH:
Alcohol is harming and poisonous to the alcoholic. REALITY:
Alcohol is a normalizing agent and the best medicine for the pain it
creates, giving the alcoholic energy, stimulation, and relief from the pain of
withdrawal. Its harmful and
poisonous after effects are most evident when the alcoholic stops drinking. MYTH:
Addiction to alcohol is often psychological. REALITY:
Addiction to alcohol is primarily physiological.
Alcoholics become addicted because their bodies are physiologically
incapable of processing alcohol normally. MYTH:
People become alcoholics because they have psychological or emotional
problems that they try to relieve by drinking. REALITY:
Alcoholics have the same psychological and emotional problems as everyone
else before they start drinking. These
problems are aggravated, however, by their addiction to alcohol.
Alcoholism undermines and weakens the alcoholic's ability to cope with
the normal problems of living. Furthermore,
the alcoholic's emotions become inflamed both when he drinks excessively and
when he stops drinking. Thus, when
he is drinking and when he is abstinent, he will feel angry, fearful, and
depressed in exaggerated degrees. MYTH:
All sorts of social problems -- marriage problems, a death in the family,
job stress -- may cause alcoholism. REALITY:
As with psychological and emotional problems, alcoholics experience all
the social pressures everyone else does, but their ability to cope is undermined
by the disease and the problems get worse. MYTH:
When the alcoholic is drinking, he reveals his true personality. REALITY:
Alcohol's effect on the brain causes severe psychological and emotional
distortions of the normal personality. Sobriety
reveals the alcoholic's true personality. MYTH:
The fact that alcoholics often continue to be depressed, anxious,
irritable, and unhappy after they stop drinking is evidence that their disease
is caused by psychological problems. REALITY:
Alcoholics who continue to be depressed, anxious, irritable, and unhappy
after they stop drinking are actually suffering from a phenomenon called
"the protracted withdrawal syndrome."
The physical damage caused by years of excessive drinking has not been
completely reversed; they are, in fact, still sick and in need of more effective
therapy. MYTH:
If people would only drink responsibly, they would not become alcoholics. REALITY:
Many responsible drinkers become alcoholics.
Then, because it is the mature of the disease (not the person), they
begin to drink irresponsibly. MYTH:
An alcoholic has to want to be helped. REALITY:
Most drinking alcoholics do not want to be helped.
They are sick, unable to think rationally, and incapable of giving up
alcohol by themselves. Most
recovered alcoholics were forces into treatment against their will.
Self-motivation usually occurs during treatment, not before. MYTH:
Some alcoholics can learn to drink normally and can continue to drink
with no ill effects as long as they limit the amount. REALITY:
Alcoholics can never safely return to drinking because drinking in any
amount will sooner or later reactivate their addiction. MYTH:
Psychotherapy can help many alcoholics achieve sobriety through
self-understanding REALITY:
Psychotherapy diverts attention from the physical causes of the disease,
compounds the alcoholic's guilt and shame, and aggravates rather than alleviates
his problems. REALITY:
Foods with high sugar content will increase the alcoholic's depression,
irritability, and tension and intensify his desire for a drink to relieve these
symptoms. MYTH:
If alcoholics eat three balanced meals a day, their nutritional problems
will eventually correct themselves. REALITY:
Alcoholics' nutritional needs are only partially met by a balanced diet.
They also need vitamin and mineral supplements to correct any
deficiencies and to maintain nutritional balances. MYTH:
Tranquilizers and sedatives are sometimes useful in treating alcoholics. REALITY:
Tranquilizers and sedatives are useful only during the acute withdrawal
period. Beyond that, these
substitute drugs are destructive and in many cases, deadly for alcoholics. |