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Show Progression of Alcoholism Brings Terror to Problem Drinker After 30 years of drinking a man recently found himself unemployed. He no longer could get to work .barely able ab-le to make it to the doctor. He and his wife asked for help through the Alcohol Rehab, Re-hab, center. As a result, he is sober for the first time in decades. He is abtaining. He no longer is retrogressing. His gratefu ivife told a relative, " We know alcohol did this to Bill, but we don't want any of our Jriends to know the awful truth." How sad. Bill is not a moral leper with weak will. He is a . victim of a killer disease as ' are nearly 9.000,000 others among the 80.000,000 drinking drink-ing citizens of the United States. He should let others know his story and his recovery. re-covery. Besides, all of his co-workers already kndv tie was a drunk. LOSING BATTLE - The late chronic state of alcohol-im alcohol-im sees the disease culminate culmin-ate in: 1. Total social isolation isola-tion from normal people and circumstances. 2. Gross physical phy-sical deterioration with marked mark-ed susceptibility to disease. 3. Every-increasing mental confusion. Previous articles have seen the alcoholic making a gallant, gal-lant, but losing battle to regain re-gain control and get back at least a trace of social standing. stand-ing. His addiction makes that . first morning drink vital. He hates being a drunk. He docs not want the affliction. A 'drink, on waking up, removes the problem of facing up to reality. The daily eye-opener makes it impossible to hide his abuse of alcohol and begins be-gins to destroy his ability to hold a job. Standards Slip Because everyone around the alcoholic now knows of his problem. He stops trying to hide it. He may go on prolonged benders ben-ders during which he ignores all responsibility. His ethical standards shimp. He has no regard for the rights, wishc? and feelings of others. His every thought and action is to coddle his own desires. His comfort and convenience come first. Troubled thinking enters. His memory becomes faulty. He cannot reason out the simplest matters. Naturally, Natur-ally, he is greatly embarrassed. embarras-sed. He is ashamed to have his peers note his condition and hence he may be motivated, motivat-ed, to lower his standards. GROWING THIRST - He often turns for companionship to people for below his station sta-tion in life. Anyone who will buy him a drink is an instant buddy no matter how crude, vulgar and uncouth these new menas may De. in tact, na is fast be ceming crude, vulgar vul-gar and uncouth himself. He grows less and less concerned concern-ed about the loss of old and dear friendships. The typical alcoholic in the late chronic stage finds that his chief concern is to get enough liquor to satisfy his ' growing thirst. Life is becoming becom-ing more and more unbearable. unbear-able. Jobs are hard for him to find. When he does go on a payroll, chances are that within a few days the lid will blow off and he is on another drunk. Rugged Stuff Eventually, some sobriety comes when his financial resources are exhausted. At such times, he bums all the drinks he can manage to promote. If he cannot afford anything better, bet-ter, he will consume rubbing alcohol, bay run, mouth washes, hair tonics, canned heat or flavoring extracts. Some of it is pretty rugged Etuff. but it does the job needed causes reality to fade so that the alcoholic escapes es-capes into a ha7y world cf fantasy and pleasant dreams. When the alocholic moves into in-to the stage of deep problem drinking, he discovers a marked increase in tolerance. Suddenly, he must drink a great deal more in order to get the same satisfaction that a smaller amount afforded previously. Then it drops. Fear Comes Usually, he Is in for yet another surprise. He finds that a small amount, "a sissy slug." gives him a powerful jolt. He goes into a stupor after taking what he considers an insignificant amount. Next comes the fear. The daylight hours are the worst, because he feels there are no dark places for hiding. He believes he is naked and transparent . before the world-that world-that his life is an open book for all to read. He is certain that everyone knows about his boozing, his shame and remorse. He knows that the daylight has unmasked him and identified him as a hopeless hope-less drunk. SHADOWS CLOSE - Night is no relief, however. The closing in on him of shadows and darkness is a recognizable recogniza-ble symbol of the way his life has closed in upon him. The alcoholic is sure he has been driven away from friends family, at least in a sense of communication. Gone is fellowship fel-lowship and understanding. Quit naturally, darkness brings home the bitter desolation des-olation of life. Nnght becomes a long string of miserable hours in which one finds only foreboding, anxiety and fear. These symptoms, and all the many pointed up in previous articles in the Time - Independent Inde-pendent are known to counselors coun-selors at the Alcohol Rehab. Center in Price. New Alcohol Information Center in Moab; 59 E Center; Phone 259-6364. |