Old 10-02-2007, 01:17 PM
  # 1 (permalink)  
CBrown
Member
 
CBrown's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: "Somewhere in Ohio" ... little joke from past
Posts: 481
"Under the Influence" - Excerpts on "Late Stage"

Chapter 7 - The Alcoholic
The Deteriorative Stage
- pages 111-116

Jack knew that something was seriously wrong. He couldn't sleep, and he was constantly nervous and tense. Any little annoyance or disruption of his routine made him irritable.

He finally agreed to see a doctor, who prescribed tranquilizers for his tension, told him he was working too hard, and advised him to slow down. But the irritability and tension persisted, and in fact, Jack began to feel worse. He stopped taking the pills because they weren't helping anymore. Alcohol worked better and faster. At least when he was drinking, he felt in control again.

He was drinking every day now, and most of the day. His wife threatened to leave him if he didn't quit drinking or get help. Finally, she filed for divorce. Everything fell apart after that. He lost his job and most of his friends. He had recurring thoughts of suicide, but they only intensified his drinking. His wife got the house, and he spent his last months in a cheap rooming house. One evening after drinking a quart of whiskey, Jack passed out with a lighted cigarette in his hand. He died in the fire.


Morning drinks become habit in the final stages of alcoholism. At first the alcoholic starts to drink in the morning to silence the withdrawal symptoms. He cannot hold a pencil without dropping it. The coffee cup shakes in his hand until he spills half the contents on his lap. His heart feels as if it would hammer right out of his chest. He is queasy, nauseated, paranoid, and terrified. He must drink if he is to stop the shakes, and he drinks in the morning before he allowed himself to see anyone; he drinks again in the car on the way to work; and he nips at the bottle in his desk until it is time to go to lunch where he throws down a few more.

Soon enough the alcoholic is not able to keep up this charade, for he too often overdrinks his tolerance and gets drunk. He can no longer choose when or where he drinks; he must drink all the time, wherever he happens to be. The ever-impending withdrawal symptoms have become so excruciating that the alcoholic is compelled to drink just to delay them. He has no choice but to drink, because alcohol is the only cure for his physical and mental torment. Loss of control is complete. The late-stage alcoholic escapes the overwhelming need to drink only when unconscious, but the blessed relief of unconsciousness is only temporary. As the alcohol is eliminated from his body, the withdrawal symptoms build up, and the alcoholic awakens to an overpowering need for a drink.

Soon there is no distinction between morning, noon, and evening; only the time of drinking and the time of unconsciousness or exhausting nausea exist. The cycle continues around the clock. Prolonged binges are now the rule, and the alcoholic drinks continuously for days or weeks until he becomes so sick that he must stop. Hospitalizations, suicide attempts, and arrests for driving while intoxicated or public drunkenness are frequent consequences of these binges.

By this time, the late-stage alcoholic has probably lost his job and is financially dependent on his family or the welfare system. His habit is expensive, but he has no money to pay for it; and so he does anything he must to get alcohol. He panhandles, borrows from his friends, steals from his wife's pocketbook, smashes his children's piggy banks. If the money situation gets too desperate, he may resort to drinking anything that contains alcohol, including vanilla extract, canned heat, shaving lotion, cough syrup, or rubbing alcohol. This practice may also land him in the emergency room or mental ward.

He begins to drink alone or with inferiors in seedy taverns or in the hallways of dilapidated rooming houses. He avoids previous haunts because he is terrified of meeting someone who might recognize him. He cannot even wind his watch or unzip his fly, and his shame locks him inside the four walls of his room, alone with his only remaining friend, alcohol. He is incapable of thinking rationally both when he is drinking and when he is in withdrawal. His attention span is short, he cannot follow a conversation, and he has difficulty speaking clearly.

Paranoia and vague fears begin to haunt the late-stage alcoholic's waking hours. The slightest noise - telephones ringing, the doorbell, a person's voice, a child's scream, a faucet dripping - makes him jump and stare wild-eyed. He is terrified of strangers and may be convinced that people are talking about him or planning to lock him up. His fears are magnified during withdrawal, and the only cure for them is more alcohol. Even alcohol, however, has lost most of its magic. Now it doesn't really make him feel good; it only eases the shakes and the pain. After just a few drinks, he is either drunk or violently ill.

Eventually the reality of what the alcoholic's life has become can no longer be ignored. The rationalizations, denials, and excuses crumble, and the alcoholic is left with the spectacle of his wasted and broken life. He may seek permanent and immediate escape from this crushing knowledge through suicide; he may fear both death and life without alcohol and so continue to drink until death puts an end to his misery; he may experience vague religious or spiritual desires, hoping for a miracle to pull him out of the mess of his life and return his sanity and self-respect; or he may begin to look for help. Tragically, help usually consists of a brief drying out period, after which the alcoholic simply returns to his old lifestyle. He may be given pills or told to report to an out-patient counseling program. With this minimum level of help and support, the late-stage alcoholic has only a slim chance of starting a recovery from his disease.

The alcoholic's addiction is now obvious to even the most casual observer. He is the classic picture of the Skid Road bum. All the family's efforts appear to have ended in failure, and failure breeds fear, frustration, and resentment. The alcoholic's spouse and children may lash back at him; screaming, hysterical battles may rock the household and destroy any remaining hope of an end to the long and bitter tragedy. The family may suddenly stop fighting and simply give up, convinced that they can only provide the alcoholic with a warm place to sleep and food to eat. Or, having lost all hope, they may pack up and leave him to his misery.

Whatever course the family takes, they are usually as emotionally sick as the alcoholic. The wife or husband may feel responsible; he or she also feels worthless, incompetent, useless, and unloved, and suffers crippling guilt and self-pity. The alcoholic's children are also battle scarred. All the solid foundations of love, security, and predictaqbility have been knocked out from underneath them, and they are frightened and torn apart with doubts and fears: "Will he die? Does he hate me? Is it my fault? Why can't I do something?"

The late-stage alcoholic is usually isolated from his friends and relatives. Social contacts have disintegrated. Neighbors lower their eyes. Relatives may be so paralyzed by anger or grief that they, too, stop trying. The alcoholic "problem" is ignored, put out of mind, locked away where it cannot hurt so much. The late-stage alcoholic is not totally alone, however, for he is in frequent contact with the caretakers of our society - the policemen, social workers, doctors, emergency room personnel, and public health nurses. These are the people who will either refer him for effective help or finally pull the sheet over his head.

Help must come fast for the late-stage alcoholic, but it must be the right kind of help. With effective intervention and treatment, even the most advanced, deathly ill alcoholic may recover. The human organism has extrordinary abilities to restore or compensate for damaged tissues. The surviving cells and regenerate, poisons can be flushed out, and the body can begin the slow process of healing itself. Most alcoholics now sober were once considered "hopeless" by the people close to them.

________________
will type excerpts on Chapter 6 (physical symptoms and illnesses of late stage) when I can feel my fingers again!
CBrown is offline