Saint Francis

Looking for some comments. Just wish I could be as successful as Laura Bush was. It makes me think there is a good way to go about "getting them sober" (also a name of a good book) or does this just give spouses and "alcoholics" false hope?

This is from an interview with former President Bush about his new book, Decision Points, when he was interviewed on CBS Sunday Morning. This is an excerpt from his interview about the first chapter, "Quitting":

President Bush starts the book with, "When's the last day you can remember not having a drink?" A personal note, with the decision he says made all the others possible - the decision to stop drinking that he made, at his wife's urging. 24 years ago.

"What do you remember about the motivation that you needed to say something to your husband?" Axelrod asked.

"Well, I just thought George was drinking too much," Laura said. "And I knew that he didn't want to live like that. And we had little girls. We were 40 years old. And so I would say things to him - my dad drank a lot, and I didn't really want to have that in my family."

"Were you drinking too much? Or were you an alcoholic?" Axelrod asked.

"I, I probably drinking too much," Mr. Bush said. "As I said in the book, you know, I didn't, my quitting didn't require an extensive program. And therefore, I guess or assume that mine was an addiction, not a genetic predisposition to drink.

"I guess, best way to put it, I had a conflict between my desire to drink and my desire to be a good husband and dad. And it seemed to me alcohol was winning."

Freedom1990

If it was that easy for him, then good for him.

I'm not sure how you are viewing Laura Bush as successful, other than she mentioned he was drinking too much, and he happened to make a decision to quit at that time.

I've read far too many stories here, and with my own personal experience on both sides of the fence, to know codependents aren't that powerful, and quitting isn't that easy for the alcoholics I know, myself included.

Phoenixthebird

Dear Saint Francis you wrote "Just wish I could be as successful as Laura Bush was. It makes me think there is a good way to go about "getting them sober" (also a name of a good book) or does this just give spouses and "alcoholics" false hope?"

Now I believe Laura Bush is definitely a lady of dignity, but I think that even she doesn't have the power to have stopped President George W. Bush from being an alcoholic. I do believe she possesses the power to stop a problem drinker from wanting to drink.

So what is the difference between a heavy drinker and an alcoholic? The answer seems to lie in the dynamics of addiction. Often genetics play a part in this addiction. Studies have shown that genes can and do play a part in whether or not a person is susceptible to alcohol dependence. The tolerance of alcohol increases over time. One of the most useful drinking problem signs is the fact that many people will have to consume more alcohol in order to get the same buzz. Some people who are susceptible notice withdrawal symptoms if they do not consume alcohol within a particular period of time. For most of those affected by this, the time period runs from around 12 hour to 3 days. They may begin to feel a sense of anxiety or their hands may begin to tremble slightly. They often have a sense of feeling restless, and thoughts of having that next beverage become profound.It's a long way from getting soused every Saturday night to skid row, but it is a clear path and a downward spiral, and alcoholism is a progressive illness. Once you are addicted, there is no place to go but down. Addiction, both physical and psychological, is about loss of control.

An alcoholic will answer yes to more than one of the following questions:
1.Have you ever sworn you would not drink and then ended up with a drink in your hand?
2.Have you ever sat down to have just one beer and ended up drunk?
3.Has anyone--either at work or a family member, ever commented negatively on your drinking?
4.Do you assume that everybody drinks and that most people get drunk and that people who don't are no fun to be around?
5.Do you ever try to hide how much you drink( as in do you ever take those trash cans full of empty's to the dump rather than leave them for the regular collection or do you ever buy your booze at more than one liquor store so that the owners won't think you drink too much?)
6.Do you drink: every day, alone, or in the morning?
7.Does the idea of having to live without alcohol seem scary?
8.Do you physically crave a drink at a certain time of day and get irritable if you can't have one?

Just my two cents. Take what you like and leave the rest!

Freedom1990

"Moderate drinkers have little trouble in giving up liquor entirely if they have good reason for it. They can take it or leave it alone.

Then we have a certain type of hard drinker. He may have the habit badly enough to gradually impair him physically and mentally. It may cause him to die a few years before his time. If a sufficiently strong reason-ill health, falling in love, change of environment, or the warning of a doctor-becomes operative, the man can also stop or moderate..."

Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, "There Is A Solution", 1st edition

Note that the two types of drinkers mentioned above are not alcoholics, and can quit if given sufficient reason.

Just some food for thought.

sailorjohn

Read something while he was still president, pointed out that the ex-president acted essentially like an alcoholic.

Probably more like a 'dry drunk'.

Cyranoak

I'm sure this was an accident, but GWB is highly political and polarizing, and in the context of Al-Anon does not belong here as a topic. In my opinion this thread needs to move to another Forum. It does not belong in Friends and Family of alcoholics.

I would submit that posts titled with the name of any political figure are out of bounds regardless of intent, content or context.

I've got some comments alright, and none of them are appropriate.

"Al-Anon is not allied with any sect, denomination, political entity, organization, or institution; does not engage in any controversy; neither endorses nor opposes any cause."
Cyranoak

LaTeeDa

I'll just say that if I was looking for recovery advice, I'd read Melodie Beatty instead of GWB. Like any political autobiography, it's more about self-promotion and image enhancement than truth. Take it with a large lump of salt.

L

hurtandangry

I helped create a woodworking forum a few years back and the primary rules were very simple.

1) No politics
2) No religion
3) No cussing

These three simple things seem to cause more online battles between otherwise sane individuals than anything else.

Just thought I’d throw my $0.02 out there.