Comments on: Revenge of the Fifth

By: Ilona

Ilona — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:02:16 +0000

I find the more I face problems up close and personal the more it has stripped my prose, until sometimes I feel speechless. I appreciate your ability to give the story of the struggle in words both kind and accurate.

I wish I had answers for those who are between their descent and the ladder of a 12 step program. but all I can do at this juncture is pray. Your post eases the pain of that waiting room.

By: lee edmondson

lee edmondson — Fri, 15 May 2009 13:03:56 +0000

Very interesting read. I am intrugued as to how many follow up comments you may get a month. I have a dental blog which I am now trying to change into a general health blog. My ain is not to be scientific as such in my approach but for my readers to write about there own experiences and perhaps get some answers from people going through the same illnesses. I had my own battle with alcoholism and through the 12 step programme I have been sober for 5 years.

By: Joe

Joe — Mon, 11 May 2009 23:14:32 +0000

The addictive personality, the genetic disposition, the social pressures…whatever it is that results in alcoholism and drug abuse is among the most diabolical afflictions on earth.

Thanks for a good look at alcoholism.

By: John Ballard

John Ballard — Sun, 10 May 2009 12:01:12 +0000

I have yet to meet anyone who, after the “getting to know you” stage, has no first-hand knowledge of addictive behavior, if not in the immediate family, then someone equally close. It may be mankind’s most pervasive behavior problem. Your description is excellent and thankfully resists the irresistible urge to be judgmental.

My layman’s observation is that there may be a personality type tending to addictive behavior but I know of several exceptions. I have puzzled for years whether alcoholics may be attempting to self-medicate against the effects of some inner demon. And I have known some who fall off the wagon after years (in one case decades) of sobriety. I understand how the alcoholic takes the second drink, but it remains a mystery to me why, after years of freedom and memories.of painful consequences, he allows that “next first drink.”

To some extent the problem correlates with income and lifestyle, but not in the way most people imagine. I once lived in a suburban neighborhood where substance abuse victims all happened to be “functional.” They had good jobs, six-figures in some cases, but came home every day and organized their afternoons and evenings around their alcohol intake. They could afford it. They could also afford the resulting health problems and other consequences. Income, in these cases, was part of the enabling. And in the end the consequences were just as devastating as for those with less money.

One final comment… .My post-retirement work in retirement communities and a continuing ed. course in gerontology exposed me to another bit of trivia: Age increases the effect of alcohol. Someone over sixty gets drunk on about half the volume of alcohol required fifteen or twenty years before. The corollary, of course, is that the “social drinker” who doesn’t slow down with age is at risk for becoming an alcoholic later in life.

Thanks for your reminder. In the case of alcoholism, there is no such thing as being reminded too often.