Alcoholism- "Merely a symptom"?
Occasionally I have heard folks say, "You know, I'm not really an alcoholic. My drinking is merely a symptom. I'm really suffering from depression". Or "I'm really bi-polar and my doctors are still working on getting my prescriptions right." Or maybe, "I was a victim of child abuse. I'm having therapy to deal with that and when that succeeds I won't have to worry about drinking any more."
I'm not a doctor but I do know how to read. Often, very often, it seems, there is a label on those prescription bottles. I know because for years I took antidepressants. The label says, "Do not drink alcohol along with this medication." I have also been told that alcohol is a very effective depressant. Yet a I often drank when I was taking antidepressants and "surprise!" sometimes the antidpressants didn't work! I suspect that the same may be true for bi-polar medications. Of course I didn't tell my doctor that I was still drinking. And I don't recall his giving me a urine test to make sure I was telling the truth.
As for the "I was a victim of child abuse (and my drinking is merely a symptom of that)!" although I can't recall taking that line, I do remember saying something about a "toxic parent" (after a book title by that name) and saying, "You know, I think I drink because I can't forget all those suicides in the family, etc. etc." And the psychiatrist would buy into that (actually it was I who was on the "buying" end of his services) and would give me prolonged psychiatric therapy so that when my "underlying issues" were resolved, I would "no longer have the urge to drink." This went on for twenty years.
Because, you see, I wasn't "really" an alcoholic! My alcoholism was "merely a symptom"!
How often have I heard this in the rooms! How often do I still hear it today. "He's not really an alcoholic, you know! The doctors are still trying to get his meds straightened out. When they do he won't be drinking."
Isn't a reality check sometimes in order both for the patients and for their doctors? For the patients to read that little label on the prescription bottle, "Do not drink when taking this medication" (or it probably won't work). For the doctors "Better give that patient a urine test to make sure that he or she is leveling with you!"
And maybe, after the "underlying issues" are resolved (if that ever happens) perhaps (surprise!) a person may discover that, despite the "issues", he or she is still an alcoholic and needs some sort of a program to get into recovery. After all, isn't it possible that, since alcoholics sometimes get heart trouble, even cancer, they still may be alcoholics despite all that?
Wpainterw ,
Last edited by wpainterw; 10-01-2010 at 04:17 AM.
Reason: typo