Originally Posted by djayr

I was reading these forums last night when someone commented "I read all the books including Under the Influence . . .

So I downloaded the book and read about 200 pages into the wee hours of the night.

I really don't know why it's taken me 17 years to get my head around this, but all I can say is this book helped me. I would recommend it to anyone. The author talks about exactly what happens when a person drinks, and how alcoholics are just plain different as far as how alcohol affects them.

A's have this genetic, flawed alcohol processing system that makes them different physiologically than the other 90%+ of us.

He talked about the early stages, the middle stages, and the late stages of alcoholism -- and I felt like I was reading AW's autobiography.

I really came to appreciate what a trap this is for the A's, because they start drinking along with everyone else, and by the time anyone (including them) realizes there's a problem -- they can't stop. It is a nightmare and I'll bet not a single one could have ever imagined this would happen to them.

It also talks about how malnourished A's get and how their cells and blood sugar gets all messed up and basically how next-to-impossible it is for them to withdraw without serious medical help.

I have personally debated in my mind whether alcoholism is a disease and I have been pretty cynical about it. But I'll be darned, I have changed my mind.

My AW is sick. She has a disease. Her father is an alcoholic. The next time I hear an A or loved one of an A talk about "the disease", I'm not going to roll my eyes.

You don't have to agree -- I wouldn't have agreed a week or month or year or 5 years ago -- but for what it's worth, I read Under the Influence and I truly feel it helped me.

All the best...