2-3
There are many situations which arise out of the phenomenon of craving which cause men to make the supreme sacrifice rather than continue to fight. The classification of alcoholics seems most difficult, and in much detail is outside the scope of this book. There are, of course, the psychopaths who are emotionally unstable. We are all familiar with this type. They are always "going on the wagon for keeps," They are over-remorseful and make many resolutions, but never a decision.
There is the type fo man who is unwilling to admit that he cannot take a drink. He plans various ways of drinking. He changes his brand or his environment. There is the type who always believes that after being entirely free from alcohol for a period of time he can take a drink without danger. There is the manic-depressive type, who is, perhaps, the least understood by his friends, and about whom a whole chapter could be written.
The hopelessness and self-loathing we feel when we find we can not use self-will to overcome our drinking problem leads many alcoholics to commit suicide.
Though we may not fit exactly into any specific category we may see that we have some similarites with one or more of Dr. Silkworth's classification of alcoholics.
Doctor Silkworth's
Classification of alcoholics
xxviii:4-7 ----------Psychopaths
xxviii:8-10----------Unwilling to admit.
xxviii:11------------Believe that after a time they can drink again
xxviii:12------------Manic depressive
xxviii:13------------Entirely normal except when drinking
All these, and many others, have one sympton in common: they cannot start drinking without developing the phenomenon of craving. This phenomenon, as we have suggested, may be the mainfestation of an allergy which differentiates these people, and sets them apart as a distinct entity.
It has never been, by any treatment with which we are familiar, permanentally eradicated. The only relief we have to suggest is entire abstinence.
This immediately precipitates us into a seething caldron of debate. Much has been written pro and con, but among physicians, the general opinion seems to be that most chronic alcoholics are doomed.
Definitions: Eradicated: removed completely. Removed at the roots.
Abstinence: refraining from alcohol
How or what we drink is not important. One of the most positive ways of determining if we are alcoholic is if we ever experience the phenomenon of craving after we start to drink.
Non-alcoholic drinkers are always able to control how much they drink. We can ask ourselves if we are different from non-alcoholics. Do we have this allergy that results in an overpowering craving for more alcohol once we start to drink?
Have we ever been able to stay abstinent before/ If we cannot control our drinking, cannot quit completely, and there is no treatment that will make us like the non-alcoholic drinker, what hope do we have?
An alcoholic who continues to drink will become chronic. Medical science has no cure and considers us doomed. We cannot drink and live and no human power, ours or our doctors, can enable us to quit. We are seemingly hopeless. Remember this book is authored by more than one hundred men and women who have recoverd from this seemingly hopeless state of mind and body.
Source:
The Annotated AA Handbook
A companion to the Big Book
By Frank D.