Disease of the Will model - insanity
 

"Ask half the common drunkards you know why it is that they fall so often a prey to temptation, and they will say that most of the time they cannot tell. It is a sort of vertigo with them. Their nervous centres have become a sluice-way pathologically unlocked by every passing conception of a bottle and a glass. They do not thirst for the beverage; the taste of it may even appear repugnant; and they perfectly foresee the morrow's remorse. But when they think of the liquor or see it, they find themselves preparing to drink, and do not stop themselves: and more than this they cannot say. <...> The hysterical temperament is the playground*par excellence*of this unstable equilibrium. One of these subjects will be filled with what seems the most genuine and settled aversion to a certain line of conduct, and the very next*instant follow the stirring of temptation and plunge in it up to the neck. Professor Ribot well gives the name of 'Le Règne des Caprices' to the chapter in which he describes the hysterical temperament in his interesting little monograph 'The Diseases of the Will.'

[p. 542] Disorderly and impulsive conduct may, on the other hand, come about where the neural tissues preserve their proper inward tone, and where the inhibitory power is normal or even unusually great. In such cases*the strength of the impulsive idea is preternaturally exalted, and what would be for most people the passing suggestion of a possibility becomes a gnawing, craving urgency to act. Works on insanity are full of examples of these morbid insistent ideas, in obstinately struggling against which the unfortunate victim's soul often sweats with agony, ere at last it gets swept away.

The craving for drink in real dipsomaniacs, or for opium or chloral in those subjugated, is of a strength of which normal persons can form no conception. "Were a keg of rum in one corner of a room and were a cannon constantly discharging balls between me and it, I could not refrain from passing before that cannon in order to get the rum;" "If a bottle of brandy stood at one hand and the pit of hell yawned at the other, and I were convinced that I should be pushed in as sure as I took one glass, I could not refrain:" such statements abound in dipsomaniacs' mouths. Dr. Mussey of Cincinnati relates this case:

"A few years ago a trippler was put into an almshouse in this State. Within a few days he had devised various expedients to procure rum, but failed. At length, however, he hit upon one which was successful. He went into the wood-yard of the establishment, placed one hand upon the block, and with an axe in the other, struck it off at a single blow. With the stump raised and streaming he ran into the house and cried, 'Get some rum! get some rum! my hand is off!' In the confusion and bustle of the occasion a bowl of rum was brought, into which he plunged the bleeding member of his body, then raising the bowl to his mouth, drank freely, and exultingly exclaimed, 'Now I am satisfied.' Dr. J. E. Turner tells of a man who, while under treatment for inebriety, during four weeks secretly drank the alcohol from six jars containing morbid specimens. On asking him why he had committed this loathsome act, he replied: 'Sir, it is as impossible for me to control this diseased appetite as it is for me to control the pulsations of my heart.'"[46]

<...the will...>

On page 531, in describing the 'reasonable type' of decision, it was said that it usually came when the right conception of the case was found. Where, however, the right conception is an anti-impulsive one, the whole intellectual ingenuity of the man usually goes to work to crowd it out of sight, and to find names for the moment may sound sanctified, and sloth or passion may reign unchecked. How many excuses does the drunkard find when each new temptation comes! It is a new brand of liquor which the interests of intellectual culture in such matters oblige him to test; moreover it is poured out and it is sin to waste it; or others are drinking and it would be churlishness to refuse; or it is but to enable him to sleep, or just to get through this job of work; or it isn't drinking, it is because he feels so cold; or it is Christmas-day; or it is a means of stimulating him to make a more powerful resolution in favor of abstinence than any he has hitherto made; or it is just this once, and once doesn't count, etc., etc.,*ad libitum*- it is, in fact, anything you like except*being a drunkard.That*is the conception that will not stay before the poor soul's attention. But if he once gets able to pick out that way of conceiving, from all the other possible ways of conceiving, from all the other possible ways of conceiving the various opportunities which occur, if through thick and thin he holds to it that this is being a drunkard and is nothing else, he is not likely to remain one long. The effort by which he succeeds in keeping the right*name*unwaveringly present to his mind proves to be his saving moral act."[65]

http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/James/Principles/prin26.htm

I could see me and/or my mother in all of that.

Thank-you Cairn for sharing this. Very powerful, and describes my alcoholism to a tee, particularly.

"Ask half the common drunkards you know why it is that they fall so often a prey to temptation, and they will say that most of the time they cannot tell. It is a sort of vertigo with them. Their nervous centres have become a sluice-way pathologically unlocked by every passing conception of a bottle and a glass. They do not thirst for the beverage; the taste of it may even appear repugnant; and they perfectly foresee the morrow's remorse. But when they think of the liquor or see it, they find themselves preparing to drink, and do not stop themselves: and more than this they cannot say.

It used to baffle me that I just could not explain it; much less control it. And although I could come up with a rationale as to why - usually attributable to some outside force, circumstance or person - one day it just landed that this applied to so very many circumstances, that there really must instead be something about me, and my responses to the world and how I dealt with well, just being alive really! So many times, with a glass or can in my hand, thinking, I don't even want this. But nothing at the time at my disposal to do anything but drink

"Were a keg of rum in one corner of a room and were a cannon constantly discharging balls between me and it, I could not refrain from passing before that cannon in order to get the rum;" "If a bottle of brandy stood at one hand and the pit of hell yawned at the other, and I were convinced that I should be pushed in as sure as I took one glass, I could not refrain:"

Loved this - no consequence, no barrier or challenge was too great. At any cost, I drank, and always with the delusion that, this time, it would be different. It never was.

What a miracle any one of us gets sober? Whatever way and however that happens, what a miracle.

Very interesting. Thank you.

Remember that was written in 1890. We've learned a great deal about addiction in the past 126 years.

Very interesting read! Never heard it described this way, or this well.

A lot of things were written a long time ago but it does not make them any less true. The Big Book was written 80 years ago and nothing medical science has found is in disagreement with this text

That is not correct, but a topic for some other thread about modern medical and psychological views on addiction and chemical dependency.

The interesting thing about the articles was that they described how I felt, how life was for me, how I struggled with alcohol and powerlessness in a way I could understand. It is kinda like that first time with Bill and Bob where Bob thought "at last, someone who understands!"

It just shows that, in all that time, alcoholism has not changed, and the alcoholic hasn't changed either.

Medical science is always moving, today's theory is always the thing, yesterdays theory already discounted. You only have to look at the trail of failed medical solutions, and you will still look in vain for a complete medical solution for alcoholism as I experienced it. Our leading expert on the subject told me exactly that just recently.

Anyone who believes that addiction can be overcome by anyone via willpower alone should see this video about the disease model. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2emgrRoT2c

Warning! This may challenge your beliefs (unless your "Confirmatory bias" is very strong). It contains medical information presented by an MD.

All this is heady stuff and i can assure all of you that I'm not a genius. But the ONLY way I was able to quit was thru prayer and faith in a higher power. I think sometimes as a group we overlook this important element in our salvation from certain death in dealing with this disease. Science, willpower, support groups, all these are good things. But from my own experience, faith in God got me sober and is keeping me sober. It's that simple.

Very interesting, describes not only my powerlessness over alcohol but this is also completely true for me over food. I have cause myself grave emotional and physical pain, and yet I just don't know how to stop one without the other overcoming it, the feelings, impulses and mechanisms of thought are all the same for me. I cannot rationalize either one way.