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Show Many Families Can't Understand The Progression of Alcoholism Last week, a distraught, housewife, consulting with a worker at the alcoholism rehab, re-hab, center about her prob-lem-drinking husband, finally said, "I understand he is sick, that ho has a disease. "But wouldn't you thinK that if he loved his family, he'd quit? We can't afford the doctors and hospitals, the fines and bails, his lost wages his spending. Why doesn't he just stop? CAN'T ACCEPT FACT -The wise counselor replied, 'T have a friend whose husband hus-band had a heart attack and was hospitalized for four weeks and invalided for months. My Friend can't afford it at all. Should she tell her husband that if h'i loved her and his children he would simply not have that heart attack? This in a way, illustrates the inability of non-alcholics to accept the fact that acholics achol-ics are not weak-willed but stricken by a kiler disease. Once this is realized, the road to recovery is simple. One asks for advice and help. Alcoholism can be arrested. Symptoms point the way to identification of the illness. This article, one of a series in the Times - Independent, begins an insight to signes of chronic alcoholism. The chronic stages are al-coholism al-coholism with complication. Few complications accompany accom-pany the pre-alcoholic and acute stages. Chronic alchol-ism alchol-ism is marked by severe and dramatic physical and psychological psy-chological reactions to alcohol. Each drinking experience further breaks down the person's per-son's longcherished hope that someday he can "take it or leave it alone." The failure to alibi and rationalize his drinking patterns, so long a frustration, now are matched by physical and mental de-ternration de-ternration resulting from lontj abuse of mind and body. TAKE TOLL - ALL the months or years of neglecting neglect-ing the diet and the need for rest and exercise begin to take their toll. Transition into the early chronic stages of alcoholism is indicated by a marked and contrasting change in al!i-tude. al!i-tude. Where once the problem drinker was concerned that his drinking could interfer with the necessary functioning function-ing of normal life, now hi becomes increasingly irritated irritat-ed because the realities of life (job and family responsibilities) respon-sibilities) can dis'.urbe hia drinking. Return trorr. 2 binge in the pre-chronic stages always used to mean shame, bewilderment bewild-erment remorse and repent-ence. repent-ence. The alcoholic felt he had to let down family, friends, and employer. Now the heavy drinker feels abandon, in difference dif-ference and unconcern. Ha believes he is on his own. He asks no favors and expects others not to ask any of him. MANY FORGOTTEN -Once the alcoholic carefully picked friends. Now anyone who has a few drinks with him merits being a confident. Old friendships get the boot. Drinking is the most important import-ant thing in life; nothing must be alhved to interfere with the right to drink. Forgotten are church, clubs and fellowships. fellow-ships. Drinking is his sole interest, his major occupation. occupa-tion. The alcoholic's increasing increas-ing disregard for his family creates a tragic backlash. Family members display disinterest dis-interest in his welfare and sometimes even the welfare of one another. The problem drinker's intimates may go their individual ways alone, and find new interests, usually us-ually away from home. Often, the reaction oi family members in a home with an alcoholic is to unite-for unite-for the salvaging of a rich home life without the influence influ-ence of the father and husband. hus-band. Where there is maternal matern-al leadership this is a hopeful hope-ful possibility. BUILDS ANGER - But surely, the capacity of their affection for the head of the house has been dissipated by repeated mutual misunderstanding. misun-derstanding. Disparing of success, the family of the alcoholic stops making an' efforts to help the sick person. per-son. This withdraw! of them naturaly builds his own anger. an-ger. He becomes surer than ever that nobody understands or cares. As he plunges again and again deeper into an alcoholic oblivion he displays an almost unbelieveable increase in-crease in difference about what anybody else may think or feel. All of these are more than danger signs. They are alarms al-arms of tragic proportions. It is close to incredible that sufferers and those who watch the victims suffer do not cry out for assistance. To quickly give that aid is the acoholism rehab, center at 47 n. 1st. E. Price, Utah. Telephone 253-8741 for information. |
