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ALCOHOLISM: THE AOO NIZED CRY FOR LOUE WHAT IS YOUR DOCTOR

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ALCOI{OLISM An Agonized- Plea for Love Five million Americans-many of them once sober, responsible citizens-are today confirmed alcoholics. Why have they sacrificed happiness for the tragic life of a compulsive drinker? Here, in a remarhably frank report, are some reasons that may surprise you.

BY EAR.R.ELL AND \, TLBUR. CR.OSS ttT don’t remember the exact time or was that there was something missing Arthur Johnson tried to do somLthing I place that I finally admitted to if I didn’t start injecting my system in the face of this new crisis. He cried. I o,vr.tt that I was a problem with alcohol.” He made deep resolutions. He decided to drinker, an alcoholic, a drunk. The reali- Johnson soon found that his alcoholic call his wife-not to plead with her to zation just grew and grew until, finally, it hunger was extending over into week- come home again, but to tell her she was overwhelmed me-like a big breaker that days, too. As a sales executive, he had right in leaving. To tell her that he was rolls in relentlessly when you’re swim- many opportunities for taking customers going to straighten o:u:t now, to get a new ming at an ocean beach.” out to lunch. Soon he was doing this ev- job, to give up drinking, to become a Arthur Johnson (all names used in this ery day, along with {requent stop-ofis lor proper husband and father. He started to article are fictitious; the situations are drinks at bars in the late afternoon, after reach for the phone again and again, the real) was thirty-seven. He’d been drink- leaving the office. message composed on his lips. But it was ing ever since college days, like most of ‘oMost of the time, I wouldn’t get home too hard. One drink would help him get his friends, in a social way. Occasionally, until two or three in the morning. My over the shakes. He remembered where he had really “tied one on” and become relationships with my wife and kids got he had part of a pint hidden down in the high, i{ not outright drunk, at a big party pretty rough. I kept making promises. cellar. As he stumbled down the back or a sales convention. Only in the last two And sometimes I’d keep them for several stairs he walked right back into the probyears had the drinking started to Iollow weeks. I found that I could resist that in- Iem, with no end in sight but another a tecognizable parttern. ner compulsion as long as I stayed on blackout, and another. . . . “It got so that I would look forward to the wagon. No drinks at all. But then I’d Jane Byers took the same kind of weekends, not because my wife and I had get annoyed at myself and almost delib- downhill slide, but on a difierent route. anything special planned or because I erately set out to piove to myself I could A housewife, thirty-five, with a six-yearwould be with my two sons, eight and have two drinks-no more.” old daughter and an eight-year-old son, ten, but because there would lte some ex- she had never done any drinking at all cuse for having drinks. .We could always Triggering a Chain Reaction until after the birth of the second child. invite some neighbors in for highballs. Johnson found that it did not work. Then, for two or three years, her drinking Or, if my wi{e didn’t feel sociable, I’d go Once he downed a single drink, some- was extremely light. She disliked the off bowling-just so I could have drinks thing in his system was triggered ofi, and taste o{ liquor, in fact, and was often with the boys afterwards. It wasn’t that I he had to keep right on until he was kidded because she “ruined” good whisky liked whisky or even the glow of warmth drunk. He began having blackouts, wak- by mixing it with fruit juice or orher that most people feel after a cocktail. It ing up with piercing hang-overs, and not concoctions to hide the taste. Photo ba Harcri, Halma being able to remember where he had been the night before. Driven by Domestic Tensions SOCIAL DBINIilNG) m.any author- “It really hit me when my wife packed o’My drinking problem really started ities say, is not necessarily the cause ol up and ]eft with the two boys, I arrived just alter my husband was transferred alcoholism. For many peopl,e, it is a home in an alcoholic haze, long after and we moved to a brand-new commuharmless tneans of relaxation.. It be- dawn one day. I had no idea where I’d nity,” she later recalled. “I had always been. My clothing was all wrinkled and been a very careful housekeeper, ,but now coffLes a, d,anger only wh,en other lactors stinking of whisky. I had a big bruise on I wanted everything just right, to let the as d,eeplrustration, l,a,ck ol looe, my cheekbone. The house was empty. neighbors see us in our best light. It got -such self-d,estructiae impulses-are pr esent. There wasn’t even a note.” so that I was forever screaming at the (continiled,) 47

ALCOHOLISM (conriaued)

children or nagging my husband. When- Chairman of the American Medical As- (the pattern ltself is similar and reeogever neighbors stopped by, it was sure to soeiation’s Committee on Alcoholism, “is nizable) that the finger points to the albe at a time when the children had just an dttempt to escape reality by the use ol coholic. But alcoholics do seem to have tracked mud into the hall or had let the a socially accepted, drug,” many tendencies in common. Most audog get hairs all over the new couch, or The word o’escape” is important. We thorities seem to agree that they have in there would be clothes strewn all over all need some form of escape from daily their make-up some deep-seated need the p1ace.” living, from time to time. We take our (such as the “love-hunger”), some com- Jane {ound, however, that there ruas escapes in the forms of vacation, travel, pulsive trait (such as acute perfection- ‘one escape from this burning fear that dining out, music, or sleep-to name a ism), or some deficiency (such as exthe neighbors would get a bad impres- Iew methods. For some people, escape treme sensitivity or shyness). Escape to sion: a big gulp of sherry would calm her becomes compulsive and may end up in the bottle neutralizes the problem for nerves. “Then I found that a second gulp extreme forms, such as gorging on candy, them. at least temporarily. would give me a kind of rosy feeling that taking dope, having incessant sexual Of all the methods of escape from my visitors were very impressed with my cravings. This is what happens to the Ii{e-from problems, hardships, labors, home. It wasn’t long before the ‘sherry problem drinker. “The one trait that po- personality conflicts, environment, pertreatment’ was solving all my problems. tential alcoholics have in common,” says sonal fears and inadequacies-alcohol Within a year or so, I had reached the Dwight Anderson in his book, Other Sid,e ranks among the oldest. It is teferred to stage where I was drunk several days a ol the Bottle, oois a maladjustment to- in various forms in the earliest historical week. I had switched to vodka, so that wards life. Usually they have let one ele- records. Anthropologists have Iound evi my husband would smell no liquor on my ment oI their personality get so out o{ dence that some kind of intoxicating breath. And iI I was too tipsy to get din- hand that it is distorted out o{ all propor- drink was known as {ar back as the ner, I’d just crawl into bed before he tion to reality,” Stone Age. Ancient stills have been found came home and say that I had a terrible in such widely separated lands as Peru, headache. By this time, however, he knew He Drank to Fight Hunger Tibet, Tahiti, and India. Some three thouwhat was going on. I had to hide bottles Arthur Johnson’s maladjustment wad sand years ago, the inhabitants o{ Ceylon all over the house. I was using up all the an incessant, though rnrecognized, hun- were drinking toddy and arrack, and bemoney I could get-part of the food ger for loue. His mother had died when fore that the Chinese were happily esmoney, refunds on clothing I sent back he was quite young; his father had been caping the toils oI life via alcoholic bevto department stores, things I could sell a brilliant, but dispassionate, professor erages known as tchoo and sautchoo. at a iocal secondhand store.” who never evidenced much afiection; he Japanese sake goes {ar back in that By this time, Jane and her husband had disliked his only brother; and when country’s history. Mesop,otamian history were having bitter arguments, night after he married, he selected a girl more be- contains accounts of drunkenness, as night, sometimes until almost dawn. “He cause he was “impressed” with her looks does many a detailed hieroglyphic from wanted me to join AA. But I kept prom’ and background than because he felt any ancient Egypt. ising, pleading, saying that I’d come urgent trove for her. Sociologists William In the United States, the history of alaround and I wasn’t’that far gone’that I and Joan McCord stated, last year, in a cohol is erratic. It was banned by many had to join a group of alcoholics.” report on origins of alcoholism, that “the of the early settlers, but used by others Jane is still on the way down. Not long typical alcoholic is unsure of receiving for tiading with the Indians. The first ago, she almost set fire to the house’ Her love from other people; he may also be real distillery in America was set up husband is afraid to leave her alone with very unsure of how to give love. The re- around 1640 by one William Kieft, a the children when he goes to work’ He sult might o{ten be hesitation to make af- Dutchman, on Staten Island. New York. talked her into going to a psychiatrist, fectionate overtures to his family.” A rum distillery was established in Bosbut she stubbornly clings to the idea that I7hen this hunger becomes too much ton in the 1650’s. Before this, rum was she isn’t “far enough gone to join AA” to bear, the alcoholic turns, progres- imported from the West Indies. or any other group. For her, as with most sively, to alcohol. When alcoholism has The attitude towards dmnkenness has alcoholics, there is a “rock bottom,” a taken over fully, it completely blocks out always been that it represents outwardly point at which she will give up and admit all other forces-love, sex, success drive, the inward disintegration oI spirit, mordefeat. How far down her own low point desire for {ood, als, and intellect. Around 300 s.c.. Di lies is impossible to predict. Jane Byers, married to a man whom ogenes referred to drunkenness as “an she felt did not understand her, had this expression identical with ruin.” The Old More Than a Social Problem same love hunger, though it was revealed Testament states that “the drunkard and Why should it be that two people like in a different form. At first, Jane was the glutton shall come to poverty.” The Arthur Johnson and Jane Byers, appar- what has been called a ‘odry alcoholic.” pages of literature of all nations are well ently intelligent people, both with good Her form of excess was her perlection- salted with inehriated characters who families and from well-educated back- isnr.. She had to see everything right in represent varying degrees of social and grounds, would seek escdpe through al- its place in her home. When the children mental decay-all the way {rom utter cohol? Their cases are neither new nor were young, this had been easy. But as fools to wicked monsters who tortured uncommon. Of the 75,000,000 people in they became older, she could no longer their wives and beat their children. the United States who are “social drink- confine them to the nursery. They were ers,” some 5,000,000 are alcoholics. Each constantly scratching furniture, moving Danger Noted . . . and Ignored year, about 200,000 more are added tp carelully placed ash trays, rumpling up Few men, however, Iooked with any the growing list of those who cannot the beds, streaking the new carpeting sympathy at all on the drunkard. When handle alcohol in any form: cocktails, with dirt. At that point, Jane began her Edinburgh physician Thomas Trotter highballs, wine, beer-or even cough 1sls s16-“1gst alcoholism.” wrote about alcoholism in 1778, he was medicine. Alcoholism is holding lourth Is the alcoholic then a type? Not ex- way ahead of his time in stating, “In medplace in the list of top health problems in actly. Since the causes of alcoholism are ical language, I consider drunkenness, the country. It ranks only behind mental not fully known, experts do not always stlictly speaking, to be a disease pro’ health, heart disease, and cancer as a de- agree on who is, or is not, a Potential duced by a remote cause. . . A disease stroyer o{ mankind. problem drinker. It is only after the of the mind.” Atrthough Dr. Trotter’s book “Alcoholism,” says Dr. Marvin Block, drinking has started to lollow a pattern received considerable acclaim, its mes- 48

sage did not gain wide public acceptance’ By the middle of the nineteenth century, alcohol itself was becoming the target of various groups, ranging from mild Are You a Potential Alcoholic? dissenters to angry fanatics. One of the most dramatic evidences of the attitude Over the yearE, Alcoholice Anonymout, the National Council towards alcohol in the United States was on Alcoholism, Inc., and other interested groups have prepared the antisaloon war waged by a group oI qnestionnaires to help a person decide whether he or she is a determined women in Ohio in January, problem drinker. Here are some of the most important ques’ 1874. The crusaders paraded through the s.treets, blocked the entrances to saloons tione asked. How do you rate? *8* (which they referred to by such names as l) Is drinking making your home lile unhappy? ‘;Hell’s Half Acte,” “Certain Death,” and “Devil’s Den”), and smashed bottles and 2) Does drinking m.ake you careless about tamily responsibil’ kegs in the gutters. One group corn’ ities? mandeered a locomotive and stationed it A) Do you drinh ro escape lrom worries or trouble? so that the brilliant headlight shone on 4) Do you drinh beca,use you are shy uith other people? a saloon near the tracks, where any pa- 6′) Is itrinking affecting your reputation in the comm’unity? tron who dared to enter was caught like a moth in a flame. Another group organ- c) Is ilrinking lowering your efr,ciency in your daily utork? ized forty little girls {rom a private 7) Do you crane a drink at definite tirnes? school into a platoon. Each afternoon, s) Do you u)arlt a d.rinlt, oothe morning after?” the girls were led to selected positions in 9) Hane you eoer lelt remorseful about d,rinlcing? front oI the town’s saloons, where they f O) Do you haue financial problems at home because of drinh’ repeated a shrill and dism’al chorus *hi”h b”g”rr, “Say, Mr. BarkeePer, has ing? {ather been here?” ll) Does d.rinking cause you to hat:e ilifficulty sleeping? The result of this publicity was that I,P) Haoe you eaer had, a complete loss of tnetnory because o! saloonkeepers closed shop and quit by d.rinking? the dozens. Spurred on by these methods, lB) Do you ev)er drinlt alone? and their success, other lvomen rallied to’ gether to form the famed WCTU (Wom- 14) Haoe your ambitions decreased because of d,rinking? en’s Christian Temperance Union) and l5l Do you hu)e to make up exctt’scs about drinking too much? the various Antisaloon Leagues. Many of *** If you have antwerd juet one or two queBtiong yes, watch the women were fanatical to the point where they \,Yere a more disruptive force yourself carefully. If you answered three or more yes (or if than the so-called dtunkards they were you found yourself thinking oowell, solrr l,etitrn,es”), you have attacking. In his book, Other Sid,e ot definite rearon to worry and rnight do well to talk with sorneth.e Bottle, Dwight Anderson wrote that one of the most noted temper’ance leadone who belonge to Alcoholics Anonymous. ers ‘ohad the temperament that would have led inevitably to alcoholism i{ she had drunk ai a11.” “Dry Drunkerrness” tively, of Arthur Johnson and Jane Byers to cover. Mrs. Mann, executive director of lvent through their own personal hells NCA, says that even though alcoholism is This kind of excess (sometimes re’ recognized as the fourth major health ferred to as “dry drunkenness”) is sel’ while trying to find a solution {or the aldo. ,””, today. Many religious faiths coholics they had married. It is the rea- problem in the United States, the funds son why many an alcoholic goes down and devoted to its study and towards edueither disapprove of, or forbid, the drinkdown to absolute rock bot’tom in his oating the public are still less than one ing o{ any {olm of alcoholic beveragedrinking before he can finally {ace his one-hundredth the amount devoted to cannoiably Christian Scientists, Quakers, cer or heart disease. Mo.-un., Seventh-Day Adventis’ts, and problem squarely. Mrs. Marty Mann, whose 1[ezu Primer “One oI our most important jobs,” she Jehovah’s Witnesses. However, they do on Alcoholisrn is one of the most widely say.s, “is orientation-telling people exnot try to force their viewpoint on others’ recognized books on the subject, say’s tha’t actly what alcoholism is, why it should W” t”ldo* see any devastating crusades be accepted as a serious illness rather against liquor like those waged during when the National Council on Alcoholism ,the late nineteenth century’ and again was founded h 1944, it began “in an at- than as an evidence of immorality or mosphere of almost total darkness. The weakness of charactel.” right after World War I, when the era of word ‘alcoholism’ was a taboo word. The NCA and its affiIiates have conducted P*hibition was launched. Bnl, the kind public attitude was compounded of ig- some interesting tests, which prove the of warfare waged against the alcoholic value of educating the public. Though today is more long lasting in its efiect ,ro.urr.”, fear, prejudice, and hostility; and the public attitude included many these are not comprehensive or concluthan any hatchet ever wielded by a memprofessional attitudes as well. The’drunk- sive, they do point up some important ber of the Antisaloon League’ Public opinion and the shocked atti ard’was considered hopeless, and wholly facts. During Alcoholism Information tude of misinformed people sometimes to blame for his condition.” Week, NCA affiliates throughout the That was onlY seventeen Years ago. country interview people-on the street, make it impossible for spouses and families of alooholics to do anything except More advances have taken place since in stores, or wherever {easible-to see try to cover up the drinking problem and then than during the previous one hun’ what a town’s attitude seems to be hide it from the neighbors. It is the rea- dred years, in the study and treatment of about alcoho ism. There are frequent alcoholism, but thete are still vast areas relerences to drinkers as “bums” or’odeson why the wi{e and husband, respee’ I (continued) 49

ALCOHOLISM (continuo.)

generates’l or “people with no sense of ings o{ isola,tion, devaluated self-esteem, 15) Resentments and other unrearesponsibility.” a tendency to act impulsively, a repetitive sonable dislikes. Alter a week or so of intensive educa- ‘acting out’ of conflicts, often an extreme 16) Nameless fears and anxieties. tional work with local civic, health, and narcissism and exhibitionism, a tendency 17) Complete collapse of the alibi church groups, interviews are again con- towards self-punitive behavior, sometimes system. No more excuses are possible. ducted. The change in attitude has, in somatic preoccupation and hypochondri- 18) The surrender process-giving most cases, been astonishing. ‘oAlmost asis. In addition, there is usually, con. self over to someone else Ior help. overnight, people in the community come sciously or unconsciously, marked hostil- As the alcoholic progresses, his family to realize,” Mrs. Mann says, “that the ity and rebellion.” trying to halt his downward problem drinkers needed as much sym- Although it would be impossible for -frantically slide-o{ten takes completely wrong pathy and help as a patient with heart an observer to recognize an alcoholic steps. Threats, pleas, pouring drinks trouble or cancer or any one of the other belore his drinking becomes a problem, down the drain are ol no use and {remajor diseases.” there are certain well-marked steps. quently serve to complicate the problem. These have beerr listed by the Yale Cen- Alcoholics need great love and undet- ‘oNo Group Is Imrnune” ter of Alcohol Studies as follows: standing-even though, paradoxically, Because problem drinking has heen their drinking is known as a “strangler veiled for so long in secrecy and shame, DARLY SIAGE: of love.” Wives and husbands of alcocertain myths have developed. One is 1) Abnormal drinking behavior, holics can learn ,best what to do about that some occupations breed inebriates not always in regard to quantity, but their problem by getting in touch with (“He always has three Martinis for typified by attitude or actions. the nearest branch of a group called A1- Iunch-that’s because he’s in advertis- 2) Blackouts-losses of memory Anon, made up of nonalcoholic relatives irrg.”). Another myth is that alcoholism about events of the night before. or friends of problem drinkers. hits certain income groups more heavily 3) Sneaking and gulping drinks. It is usualiy a long, difficult pull. The th.an others, such as rich playboys or 4) Chronic hang-overs, increasingly alcoholic cannot expect recovery until he common laborers. severe and painful. faces one fact: the only cure lor alco- Jack “Stewart,” a long-time member of MII}DLE STAGE: hoLism is to giue up drinking entirely ! Alcoholics Anonymous, who daily comes 5) Loss of control. Unable to “take This represents a complete cure, in into contact with active and recovered it or leave it alone.” the sense that the alcoholic can return alcoholics, told us that alcoholism is no 6) Alibis, with plenty of excuses to a normal life. But it is not a cure in respecter of race, class, or occupational {or why a drink is needed. the sense o{ destroying whatever the ungroup. No gr,oup is immune. “Among the 7) “Eye openers”-drinks in the known element is that causes alcoholism. alcoholics I know,” he said, “are a re- morning as hang-over cures. Periodically, claims are made that some ligious leader, a truck driver, a college B) Changing the patrern-trying new scientific method or drug has been professor, a banker, an old maid, an beer or wine instead of whisky, but not developed that will permit alcoholics to Army officer, a housewife with four chil- for long. become normal, social drinkers. So far, dren, a carpenter, a millionaire-almost 9) Solitary drinking, and orher an- these claims have not been valid. There any kind of person you want to mention.” tisocial behavior. are, it is true, drugs like Antabuse which “Many difierent types .of personalities 10) Loss of job and friends. are used in the treatment of alcoholism. are capable of becoming addicted to al- 1l) Seeking medical aid for drink- But these are only to help a drinker stay cohol,” says Dr. Ruth Fox, Medical Direc- irg. away from alcohol while undergoing tor of the National Council on Alcohol- LATE STAGE: treatment. And they should be taken only ism. “When tested after their addiction, 12) Benders-drunks lasting sev- on the advice of a medical doctor. however, they show a surprising similar- eral days. For the past few years, the fight ity of character traits. Some of these are: 13) Shakes and tremors. against alcoholism has received a trean extremely low frustration-tolerance, in- 14) The bottle-hiding stage, protecr- mendous boost from a few large comability to endure anxiety or tension, feel- ing the needed supply. panies which have been willing to stick their necks ,out and say, “We recognize that from 3 to 6 per cent of our employees have serious drinking problems, and we are doing something about it.” A Thorough, Practical Test Recognition by Industry Several notable examples are DuPont, 1f you are really worried about becoming a problem drinker, Allis-Chalmers. General Motors, Eastman I here ie a teat recommencled by the National Council on Kodak, Con Edison, Standard Oil, and Alcoholism, which will all but prove whether or nbt yon are the New York Telephone Company. an alcoholic: For six months, stick to a certain numher of Other companies are reluctant to face drinke a day, not lees than one and not more than three the problem-particularly some in the transportation field, who blanch at the (etandard, one.ounce size). If you are not a rlaily drinker, idea of having the public know that there then confine the teEt to the daye when you do drinh (eueh as could, be such a thing as an alcoholic Friclay, Saturday, and Sunday). Under no conilitions should pilot or railroad engineer or bus driver. you exceed the atated number, regardless of what kinds of (The New York Transit Authority, which d,oes haye such a progr’am, is one of the Epecial occaoion arise. The NCA eays that even a heavy drinker notable excep’tions. ) should have no trouble paaring the test, but that ooThe chances By and large, companies have found are a hundred to one, however, against a true alcoholic’s being that there are three types o{ plans feasieither willing or able to unclertake the test.’, ble for rehabilitating problem drinkers: 1) The community-orientetl plan. The problem dtinker, after reporting to

the company medical department, is referred to the local Alcoholism Informa’ tion Center or clinic’ These facilities are completely separated from-though may be partly supported by-the company. Where You Can Cet Help He then receives counseling and referral to AA, medical or psychiatric tr€atment’ ALCOEOLICS ANONYMOUS. as indicated. There are groups all over the country, moot with telephone 2) The Alcoholics Anonyrnous directory listinge. Look them up or write: AA, Box 459, plan. Here the problem drinker is first New Yorlc 17, New York. referred to the medical department for a complete physical checkup. After hos’ AL.A]\ION. pitalization, if necessary, he is turned If you cannot find a local branch in your community, write: over to a member o{ AA, who urges at- Al-Anon Family Groupe Council, 40 East Fortieth Street, tendance at several meetings. The man’s New York 17, New York. participation is purely voluntary, but since he has his company behind him, he NATIONAL COUNCIL ON ALCOEOLISM (NCA), is more likely to take action than if the 2 East l03rd Street, New Yorh 29, New York; hae eixty’ suggestion came Irom either an outsider reven local affiliates which maintain Alcoholiem Informa’ or a relative whose urgings might strike tttoo close to home.” tiou Centers. Loolc in your phone book, or \,Yrite NCA. 3) The company’integrated Plan, You can obtain information on alcoholiern and how to get This works best with a large organization having many facilities at its dis- help from marry sources n€ar yorrr home: there are 164 posal, not only medical, but recreational, alcoholism clinics and counseling centers throughout the legal, counseling, ties with community country; thirty-eight EtateE have official alcoholiem pro’ hospitals, loan services, rest homes, and grams, many with information gerviceB; your Health Deother resources. Had Arthur Johnson be- p.rrtment rnay have an alcoholism service; your minister, longed to such an organization, his drink- do”to”, and many service agencies can direct or help you. ing problem would have been recognized earlier; he would then have realized that others had, the same troubles, that it was an illness .that he could not fight alone. tities. Though the alcoholic may be so Above all, remember that there is just He could have been helped more easily. gripped by his illness that his desire for as much need for good taste and eti- The “False Bottom” the bottle has seemingly shoved aside all quette in serving alcoholic drinks to Not all problem drinkers can be re- afiection, responsibility, ambition, re- others as there is with any other social habilitated, but most companies with ac- member tha,t, even more than ever, he activity engaged in. “Don’t {orce your tive programs report success in well over needs the devotion and the help oI his guests to drink,” pleads the ,American 50 per cent. Company plans have one {amily-despite the many injuries and Medical Association. “It is important strong advantage over family efiorts to humiliations and hardships he may have for a host or hostess to realize that a help a drinker. Many alcoholics are not inflicted on them. certain unknown percentage of guests ready to admit ‘their problem until they Alcoholics Anonymous has a PraYer, face the problem of alcoholism, and have hit absolute rock bottom, when they which is appropriate not only for prob’ these people should be able to mingle find themselves in the gutter (literally), Iem drinkers but for the families who ryith other guests, without self-consciousin danger of losing homes and family, have to share the Problems: ness or embarrassment.” or in such poor physical condition that “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Passport to Nowhere the next real bout may kill them. Com’ panies, however, can provide a “false the courage to change the things If you are fortunate enough to be numl611srn”-usually the threat of firing the I can and the wisdom to know the bered among the 70,000,000 or so o’sodrinker from his job. This has proved ef- difierence,” cial drinkers” in the United States who fective in a countless number of cases If you have zo drinking problems what’ have no drinking problems, then alcohol when the alcoholic is de- soever, the agencies that deal with alco- can be a socially acceptable means of -particularly tected early, and when the chances for holics still have some sensible advice esoape from normal tensions. In small his recovery are best’ for you: enjoy your drink-whether it quantities, suih as a daily highball or If you are concerned about Your own be beer, wine, or liquor-in uoderation. cocktail, it is occasionally even recomdrinking habits, check yourself by tak- Recognize that alcoholism is a disease, mended for healthy, nonalcoholic people ing the test which appears on page 49. not a disgrace. by their doctors. If a friend or a member of your family “But you, as a nonalcoholic, have to is a problem drinker, do not wait until Barriers Still to Be Broken remember,” says AA member Jack “Stewthe situation gets out of control. Visit, “Since no problem will ‘be solved until art,” “that we problem drinkers oannot or write to, any one of the agencies listed it is recognized,” says Dr. Selden D. touch the stufi at all. Some of us are above, right. Bacon, one of the country’s outstanding struggling heroically-particularly at the Even the children of an alcoholic authorities on alcoholism, “it is essential very start of abstinence-to avoid taking parent can receive help, particularly to view the barriers of irritation and mis- that first drink. Just one cocktail wi]l through Alateen. a fast-mushrooming or- trust commonly met in introducing the set us ofi again, no matter how many ganization Iounded in 1957 by the teen’ problem. The first barrier is that of tra- years we have been on the wagon. For aged son of an alcoholic. Remember, ditional concepts . . . that alcoholics are you, a d,rink is an escape to a world, above all, however, lhat loue and und,er’ weak-willed, morally disgrace{ul, and where we cdn neDer tollow. For us, it’s standing are needed in generous quan- disgusting characters.” a pdssport to nowhere.” Tno ENp