The Cause and the Cure of Alcoholism

WHAT causes persons to become virtual slaves of alcohol, even to the point of ruining their lives and the lives of their families?

Alcohol itself is not the problem. Unlike tobacco or heroin, it is not inherently addictive. The difficulty lies with the users. The factors involved are multiple. Yet they all point to a basic lack or need, and this, in turn, points to the real remedy.

Research shows that children whose parents are heavy drinkers are far more likely to be drawn into the same habit. On the other hand, a report from the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare shows that alcoholism is low where there is “early exposure to small, diluted quantities of alcoholic beverages within a strong family or religious group,” and where alcoholic beverages are considered mainly as foods and consumed with meals.

Many persons who did not have the benefit of sound parental training regarding alcoholic beverages may get into danger owing to lack of knowledge. They may not realize that different beverages have different strengths as to alcohol content. Beer, for example, contains about 5 percent alcohol, most table wines from 10 to 14 percent, while fortified wines such as sherry and port contain from 16 to 20 percent. Distilled drinks (such as rum, gin, whiskey) contain from 40 to 50 percent alcohol. Even if individuals know this they may not realize that they take just as much alcohol into their system by drinking a sixteen-ounce bottle of beer as if they drank one and a half ounces of whiskey.

A person’s body size also generally has its effect—the larger one is, the greater the quantity of blood and number of cells and hence the more diffused the alcohol is on absorption. Yet, even though of the same build, individuals may differ tremendously, one being made dizzy by only a small quantity of alcohol while another feels little effect with double the amount. An empty stomach will allow the alcohol to be absorbed into the blood rapidly, whereas food slows down the process. And, since the body is able to eliminate alcohol at the rate of only about one third of an ounce per hour, the time between drinks also is a vital factor.

Associations play a strong role. If heavy drinking is viewed as proof of being a “real man” or as “smart” and sophisticated, there is pressure to conform. Young men and women often are initiated into heavy drinking in this way and fall into a pattern of “telescoped” drinking—periodically getting “high” at parties or Saturday-night drinking bouts. Gradually the drinking may spread over into more and more days of the week. The process may be deceitfully slow. Studies show that the making of an alcoholic takes an average of sixteen years in men, only eight in women.

In later life, personal circumstances become a principal factor. Family problems, marital difficulties, heavy debts, illness, disappointments, failures and the resulting mental depression—these are often the things that initiate the dependence on alcohol. Men in executive positions, or other work that involves stress and pressure, may become reliant on alcohol for a measure of relief from tension. Persons involved in selling and buying often use it to “oil” the wheels of their business associations. Men with monotonous jobs may spend their free time in seeking the synthetic fellowship to be found with workmates in a bar.

The modern increase in alcoholism is especially strong among women. In the United States about half the women alcoholics have experienced broken marriages and a third are married to alcoholics. Some have well-paying jobs but have found life less than satisfying, lacking in meaning. Those who have the role of homemaker may experience boredom or find the responsibilities of caring for small children burdensome. A housewife’s greater privacy from public attention may enable her to develop and conceal a drinking habit for some time. Hormonal changes accompanying the menstrual cycle may be all that is needed to trigger a spell of very heavy drinking.

WHERE THE SOLUTION IS TO BE FOUND

All these things point in a principal direction: people who become compulsive drinkers (unable to control their drinking habits) rely on alcohol to supply an emotional need. True, in time the cells of their body may become so adjusted to high concentrations of alcohol that cessation of drinking produces a violent reaction, and thus there is also a physical enslavement. The physical-enslavement point, however, would doubtless never be reached if emotional dependence had not come first. Yet alcohol solves no emotional problems; it only creates more serious ones. It is a false source of comfort, courage, fellowship, or escape from life’s problems. Only if persons recognize this can they find the real solution to their dependence on alcohol.

This brings us to the most difficult problem in effecting a cure for alcoholism. What is that? Getting the person to recognize that he or she really does have the problem. Yes, strangely enough, the alcoholic is often the last one to face up to the fact of his or her dependence on alcohol. A man may take a small drink in the morning, two or three at noon, another during the afternoon, another on arriving at home, and two more during the evening and still tell himself he is not an alcoholic. Only if for some reason he is deprived of his drinks and then undergoes the terrible reaction associated with delirium tremens may he be jolted into a recognition of his true situation.

The first step, then, in solving the problem is for the person to recognize his or her enslavement to alcohol. The Bible associates truth with freedom, and lies with slavery. (John 8:32; 2 Pet. 2:18, 19) The clerk who keeps a bottle in the bottom drawer of his desk, and the housewife who secretly works her way through a series of drinks each day, and yet who deny they have a problem, will never find the way to become free.

Then, instead of using alcohol as a personality “crutch” or emotional medicine, the person must look to the right source for satisfying the emotional needs he or she has. Companionship and fellowship should be sought with those who have a healthful outlook on life and a right attitude toward drinking. True, previous associates may mock you when you “do not continue running with them in this course [of ‘excesses with wine’ and ‘drinking matches’] to the same low sink of debauchery,” but whatever unpleasantness that brings you is well worth it in the escape from degradation that you gain.—1 Pet. 4:3, 4; 1 Cor. 15:33.

To make the cure effective, you need to ‘make your mind over,’ developing new and right standards of conduct. (Rom. 12:2) It is not enough to know that most persons disapprove of alcoholism or that one’s mate, children or relatives disapprove. Knowing God’s viewpoint is what can make the difference and give the determination and endurance needed for lasting success and victory over the problem. His Word assures us that drunkards will have no share in his promised Kingdom and the life-giving benefits it will bring.—1 Cor. 6:10; Gal. 5:19-21.

Above all, one needs something genuine to put hope and faith in, a solid basis for confidence as to a happy solution to life’s problems. The Bible is the unique source that can supply these needs. Some circumstances in life are beyond our making any real change—certain cases of poor health, the general hardness of present world conditions and the daily pressures these bring—but the Bible shows that these things are not beyond God’s changing. That prophetic Word foretold the very things we now see and sets out the sure hope that “the creation itself also will be set free from enslavement to corruption and have the glorious freedom of the children of God.” This will come in a new order of God’s making that will bring this earth into a peaceful, healthful state for all those who love righteousness and truth.—Rom. 8:20-22.

Increasing numbers of persons have found wholesome companionship through association with Jehovah’s witnesses in their Kingdom Halls, have gained a solid hope for the future and learned sound principles for handling their day-to-day problems. Among them, there are many who have suffered from alcoholism and other equally severe problems, but who have now conquered these. All persons are encouraged to feel free and welcome to avail themselves of the Bible-based assistance they provide.

Drinking—Why Not?

‘IS IT wrong to drink? Is it really harmful? Or is it wrong only for me but all right for adults?’ These questions may very well go through your mind. After all, your parents may indulge. Many young people your age (legal age limits notwithstanding) are drinking. TV shows and movies make it look appealing.

When used moderately, alcohol can indeed be a source of pleasure. The Bible acknowledges that wine can make the heart merry or can enhance the taste of a meal. (Ecclesiastes 9:7) When misused, however, alcohol creates serious problems ranging from run-ins with parents, teachers, and police to premature death. As the Bible says: “Wine is a ridiculer, intoxicating liquor is boisterous, and everyone going astray by it is not wise.” (Proverbs 20:1) It is important, then, that you make a responsible decision about drinking.

But how much do you really know about alcohol and its effects? The following test will enable you to find out. Simply mark the following True or False:

Now check your answers against those given on page 270. Did some of your views on alcohol prove wrong? If so, realize that ignorance regarding alcohol can be deadly. The Bible warns us that improperly used, alcohol “bites just like a serpent, and it secretes poison just like a viper.”—Proverbs 23:32.

John, for example, married as a teenager. One night, after a fight with his young wife, he stormed out of the house, determined to get drunk. After gulping down a whole pint [0.5 L] of vodka, he fell into a coma. Were it not for the efforts of doctors and nurses, John could have died. Evidently he didn’t realize that rapidly gulping down a large amount of alcohol can even be fatal. Ignorance almost cost him his life.

The Rebound Effect

This is one of alcohol’s most insidious effects. Alcohol is a depressant, not a stimulant. The seeming uplift you feel after you drink occurs because alcohol depresses, or brings down, your anxiety level. You feel relaxed, less anxious, less worried than before you drank. Taken in moderate quantities, alcohol can thus, to a small extent, help a person ‘forget his troubles.’ (Proverbs 31:6, 7) A youth named Paul, for instance, drank to escape from family problems. “I learned very early that drinking was a way to relieve the pressure I was under,” he recalls. “It relaxed my mind.”

No harm done, right? Wrong! Alcohol has a rebound effect. After a couple of hours, when the sedative effect of the alcohol wears off, your anxiety level bounces back—but not back to normal. It jumps up to a higher level than before you drank! You feel more anxious or more tense than ever. Alcohol withdrawal may last for up to 12 hours. True, if you have another drink, your anxiety level will again go down. But a couple of hours later, it will rise, this time higher than before! And so it goes in a vicious spiral of artificial highs and ever-lower lows.

So in the long run, alcohol will not really reduce your anxiety. It may very well increase it. And when the alcohol wears off, your problems are still there.

Emotionally Stunted

Others claim that alcohol helps them to function better. Dennis, for example, was extremely shy and found it difficult to hold even a simple conversation. But then he made a discovery. “After a few drinks I would loosen up,” he said.

The problem is that one matures, not by running from difficult situations, as Dennis did, but by facing them. Learning to cope with the problems you face as a youth is just a rehearsal for the trials of adulthood. Dennis thus found that, in the long run, the temporary effects of alcohol did not help him to overcome his shyness. “When the alcohol wore off, I went back into my shell,” he reports. What about now, years later? Dennis continues: “I never really learned how to communicate with people on my own true level. I think I was stunted in this way.”

The same is true of using alcohol as a crutch in dealing with stress. Joan, who did so as a teenager, admits: “Recently, in a stressful situation I thought: ‘It would be nice to have a drink right now.’ You think that you can handle a situation better with a drink.” Not so!

An article published in the New York State Journal of Medicine says: “When drugs [including alcohol] become the means of easing difficult situations—academic, social, or interpersonal—the necessity for learning healthy coping skills is removed. Effects may not be felt until adulthood, when establishing close personal relationships then often proves difficult, leaving the individual emotionally isolated.” It is far better to meet and deal with problems and difficult situations directly!

“He Would Not Take It”

Consider the example of Jesus Christ. On the final night of his earthly life, Jesus endured a terribly stressful ordeal. Betrayed, then arrested, Jesus endured a series of interrogations in which lying accusations were made against him. Finally, after having been up all night, he was handed over to be impaled.—Mark 14:43–15:15; Luke 22:47–23:25.

Jesus was then offered something that would dull his senses—a mood-altering substance that would make it easier for him to cope with this difficult situation. The Bible explains: “They tried to give him wine drugged with myrrh, but he would not take it.” (Mark 15:22, 23) Jesus wanted to be in possession of all his faculties. He wanted to face this difficult situation squarely. He was no escapist! Later, though, when offered evidently a moderate amount of undrugged wine to quench his thirst, Jesus accepted.—John 19:28-30.

In comparison, your problems, pressures, or stresses pale into insignificance. But you can still learn a valuable lesson from Jesus’ experience. Instead of using a mood-altering substance (such as alcohol) to cope with problems, pressures, and uncomfortable situations, you are much better off if you deal with them directly. The more experience you gain in facing life’s problems, the better you will become at solving them. You will grow to have a healthy emotional makeup.

When you come of legal age, whether or not you choose to drink occasionally—and in moderation—will be a decision for you (and perhaps your parents) to make. Let it be an informed decision, an intelligent decision. If you choose not to drink, you have nothing to apologize about. But if you’re of legal age and decide to drink, drink responsibly. Never drink as an escape or in order to gain artificial courage. The Bible’s advice is simple and straightforward: “Drinking too much makes you loud and foolish. It’s stupid to get drunk.”—Proverbs 20:1, Today’s English Version.

Drinking can trap a young person in a vicious spiral of artificial highs and ever-lower lows

“I never really learned how to communicate with people on my own true level. I think I was stunted in this way.”—A young man who abused alcohol as a teenager

‘Why We Started Drinking’

An interview with some former teenage drinkers

Interviewer: Why did you drink?

Bill: For me, at first it was the group I was in. It was the “in” thing to do, especially on weekends.

Dennis: I started drinking at about age 14 or so. My father was a pretty heavy drinker. There were always cocktail parties at the house. As a child I saw that drinking was the thing to do socially. Then, when I got older, I got in with a wild crowd. I used to drink to be accepted by the other kids.

Mark: I was involved in sports. I guess I started drinking at about age 15 with the guys on the basketball team. It was mainly, I think, curiosity.

Joan: I was affected very much by what I saw on TV. I used to see the characters drinking. It looked so great.

Paul: My father is an alcoholic. Now I can see that the reason we had so many problems was the alcoholism. I was trying to escape from it. Ironically, that’s one reason I turned to drinking.

Joan: My parents usually didn’t drink much. But I remember one thing about my dad, on social occasions he used to brag about how much he could drink. I kind of developed that attitude—thinking I was unique. One time my friends and I went on a drinking binge. For hours we were drinking. It really didn’t affect me like the others. I remember thinking, ‘I’m just like my dad.’ I guess his attitude about alcohol really did affect me.

Interviewer: But why do many drink to the point of intoxication?

Mark: That’s the reason we drank—to get drunk. I really didn’t care for the taste.

Interviewer: So you drank for the effect?

Mark: Yes.

Harry: I’d say the same thing. It’s like climbing a ladder. Each time you drink you’re reaching for a better high—the next rung on the ladder.

Answers to True or False Test (Page 263)

1. FALSE. Alcohol is predominantly a depressant. It can make you high in that it depresses, or reduces, your anxiety level, making you feel relaxed, less anxious than before you drank.

2. FALSE. Drinking moderate or small amounts of alcohol does not appear to do any serious harm to the body. However, prolonged and heavy drinking can damage the heart, brain, liver, and other organs.

3. FALSE. Liquor or spirits are generally absorbed faster than wine or beer.

4. FALSE. Coffee can wake you up, and a cold shower can make you wet, but alcohol continues in your bloodstream until it is metabolized by your liver at the rate of about one half ounce of alcohol per hour.

5. FALSE. A number of factors, such as your body weight and whether you’ve eaten or not, can influence how alcohol affects you.

6. FALSE. Drunkenness describes the result of overconsumption. Alcoholism is characterized by a loss of control over drinking. However, not everyone who gets drunk is an alcoholic, and not all alcoholics get drunk.

7. TRUE. When mixed with alcohol, some drugs greatly exaggerate the usual reactions expected from alcohol or from the drug alone. For example, mixing alcohol and tranquilizers or sedatives could result in severe withdrawal symptoms, coma, and even death. Thus, one drink plus one pill has a far greater effect than you might imagine. Indeed, the effect of the drug is multiplied three times, four times, ten times, or even more!

8. FALSE. Drunkenness is a result of the total amount of alcohol consumed, whether it’s in gin, whiskey, vodka, or whatever.

9. FALSE. Alcohol doesn’t have to be digested slowly the way most other foods must be. Rather, about 20 percent immediately passes through the walls of the stomach into the bloodstream. The rest goes from the stomach to the small intestine, and from there it is absorbed into the bloodstream.

Driving and Drinking—A Deadly Combination

“Drunk driving is the leading cause of death for young people aged 16-24,” says the 1984 Report on the National Conference for Youth on Drinking and Driving. Indeed, “a teenager is four times more likely to have an alcohol-related crash than any other driver.” (Just Along for the Ride) Such needless carnage is in part due to the persistence of many myths about the effects of alcohol. Here are a few typical examples:

MYTH: It’s safe to drive if all you’ve had is a couple of beers.

FACT: “The alcohol in two 12-ounce [355 cc] cans of beer consumed in less than an hour can slow a driver’s reaction by 2/5ths of a second—allowing an automobile traveling at 55 miles per hour [90 km/hr] to travel an additional 34 feet [10 m]—possibly the difference between a near miss and a crash.”—Development of a Traffic Safety and Alcohol Program for Senior Adults, by James L. Malfetti, Ed.D., and Darlene J. Winter, Ph.D.

MYTH: It’s OK to drive as long as you don’t feel drunk.

FACT: It’s dangerous to rely on how you feel. Alcohol creates an illusion of well-being, making the drinker feel that he’s in control, when in fact his abilities have been diminished.

Dangerous as it is for anyone to mix drinking and driving, it’s even riskier for youths. The driving performance of youths who are drinking “worsens more rapidly than that of adults because driving is a newer and less routine skill for them. In short, most teenagers are both inexperienced drivers and inexperienced drinkers, and even more inexperienced at combining drinking and driving.”—Senior Adults, Traffic Safety and Alcohol Program Leader’s Guide, by Darlene J. Winter, Ph.D.

It also takes less alcohol to intoxicate a youth than an adult. Youths generally weigh less than adults, and the less a person weighs, the less fluid there is in his body to dilute the alcohol he consumes. The higher the concentration of alcohol in your bloodstream, the more intoxicated you become.

“Shrewd is the one that has seen the calamity and proceeds to conceal himself, but the inexperienced have passed along and must suffer the penalty.” (Proverbs 22:3) Given the dangers of mixing drinking and driving, you are “shrewd” if you promise yourself not to mix the two. You can thus not only spare yourself crippling—or fatal—injuries but also show respect for the lives of others.

You should further resolve that you will (1) never get in a car with a driver who’s been drinking and (2) never let a friend drive if he’s been drinking. This may upset your friend, but he may appreciate what you did once he comes to his senses.—Compare Psalm 141:5.

Alcohol Misuse and Health

ALCOHOL misuse is a multifaceted problem that includes hazardous use, harmful use, and dependence. Hazardous use, as defined by the World Health Organization, is “a pattern of alcohol consumption carrying with it a risk of harmful consequences,” physical, mental, or social. It includes drinking more than the limits recommended by health authorities or imposed by the law. Harmful use, also called alcohol abuse, involves drinking that is already provoking either physical or mental damage but has not yet led to dependence. Dependence has been described as “the loss of control to abstain from drinking.” An alcohol-dependent person craves alcohol, continues to drink despite various alcohol-induced problems, and suffers from withdrawal in its absence.

No matter what your age, gender, or nationality, you are not free from the risks of hazardous drinking. Just what does alcohol do to the body? What are the health dangers of overdrinking? And what is generally considered a safe level of alcohol consumption?

Dangerous for the Mind

Ethanol, the chemical compound present in most alcoholic drinks, is a neurotoxin—that is, a substance that can damage or destroy the nervous system. Someone who is drunk is, in fact, suffering from a form of poisoning. In large quantities ethanol causes coma and death. For instance, among students in Japan, the practice of ikkinomi, or alcohol chugging, causes deaths every year. The body is able to convert ethanol into harmless substances, but this is not accomplished immediately. If alcohol is consumed at a faster rate than the body can handle it, ethanol builds up in the system and begins to interfere noticeably with brain function. In what way?

Speech, vision, coordination, thought, and behavior are all connected with an incredibly complex series of chemical reactions in the brain’s neurons, or key cells. The presence of ethanol modifies those reactions, suppressing or enhancing the role of certain neurotransmitters—chemicals that relay signals from neuron to neuron. The stream of information in the brain is thus altered, preventing the brain from functioning normally. That is why when a person drinks too much, he or she develops slurred speech, blurred vision, sluggish movement, and weakened behavioral restraints and inhibitions—all common symptoms of intoxication.

With prolonged exposure to alcohol, brain chemistry adapts to counter the poisonous effect of ethanol and to maintain normal nerve function. This leads to tolerance, whereby the same amount of alcohol has less of an effect than it would have had previously. Dependence occurs when the brain has adapted so much to the presence of alcohol that it cannot operate properly without it. The body craves alcohol to maintain the chemical balance. When a person is deprived of alcohol, his brain chemistry is totally destabilized and withdrawal symptoms, such as anxiety, trembling, or even seizures, set in.

Besides causing modifications of brain chemistry, alcohol abuse can lead to cell atrophy and destruction, altering the brain’s very structure. While partial recovery is possible with abstinence, some of this damage seems to be irreversible, further affecting memory and other cognitive functions. Damage to the brain is not just the result of long-term exposure to alcohol. Research seems to indicate that even relatively short periods of alcohol abuse can be harmful.

Liver Disease and Cancer

The liver plays a vital role in metabolizing food, combating infection, regulating blood flow, and removing toxic substances, including alcohol, from the body. Prolonged exposure to alcohol damages the liver in three stages. During the first stage, the breaking down of ethanol slows the digestion of fats, causing them to build up in the liver. This is called steatohepatitis, or fatty liver. In time, chronic inflammation of the liver, or hepatitis, sets in. While alcohol can cause hepatitis directly, it also appears to lower the body’s resistance to hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses. If unchecked, inflammation causes cells to burst and die. Compounding this damage, alcohol seems to trigger the natural system of programmed cell death called apoptosis.

The final stage is cirrhosis. The vicious cycle of continuous inflammation and cell destruction causes irreversible scarring. Eventually, the liver becomes lumpy, instead of remaining spongy. Finally, scar tissue prevents blood from flowing normally, leading to liver failure and death.

Alcohol’s effect on the liver has another insidious side effect—the liver is less capable of playing its defensive role in counteracting the effect of cancer-forming agents. In addition to favoring the development of cancer of the liver, alcohol greatly increases the risk of cancer of the mouth, the pharynx, the larynx, and the esophagus. What is more, alcohol makes the mucous membranes in the mouth more easily penetrated by cancerous substances in tobacco, elevating the risk for smokers. Women who drink daily are at greater risk of breast cancer. According to one study, the risk for those who drank three or more alcoholic beverages per day was 69 percent higher than that of nondrinkers.

Poisoned Babies

A particularly tragic outcome of alcohol abuse is its effect on the unborn. “Alcohol is far worse for the developing fetus than any other abused drug,” reports the International Herald Tribune. When a pregnant woman drinks, her developing child also drinks, and the toxic effect of alcohol is especially devastating at this formative stage of the fetus. Alcohol causes irreversible damage to its central nervous system. Neurons do not form properly. Cells are killed off. Other cells end up located in the wrong place.

The result, fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), is the foremost cause of mental retardation in newborns. Difficulties encountered by FAS children include intellectual impairment, language problems, developmental delay, behavioral dysfunction or deficit, slow growth, hyperactivity, and hearing and sight disorders. Many FAS babies are also born with characteristic facial deformities.

In addition, children whose mothers drank even moderate amounts of alcohol during pregnancy can suffer from certain disabilities, including behavioral problems and learning deficits. “You don’t have to be an alcoholic to hurt your baby,” remarks Professor Ann Streissguth, of the fetal alcohol and drug unit at the University of Washington, “you just have to be drinking enough and pregnant.” The report of the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research Alcool—Effets sur la santé notes: “The absorption of alcohol is deleterious during the whole gestational period, and no minimal dose has ever been established below which there are no risks.” Consequently, the wisest course for women who are pregnant or planning a pregnancy may be not to drink any alcohol at all.

Safe Drinking

The list of health risks mentioned above is by no means exhaustive. In 2004 an article in Nature magazine pointed out that “even small amounts of alcohol increase the risk of injury and boost the chances of developing about 60 diseases.” In view of this, what constitutes safe drinking? Today millions of people worldwide safely enjoy having an occasional drink. The key to good health is moderation. But just what is moderation? Most people would consider their personal consumption to be moderate, perhaps reasoning that as long as they do not get drunk or are not alcohol dependent, there is no problem. Nevertheless, in Europe 1 man out of 4 has an alcohol consumption rate that is considered hazardous.

Various sources define moderate drinking as 0.70 ounce [20 g] of pure alcohol per day, or two standard drinks for men, and 0.35 ounce [10 g], or one drink, for women. French and British health authorities suggest “sensible limits” of three drinks per day for men and two for women. The U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism further recommends that “people aged 65 and older limit their consumption of alcohol to one drink per day.” However, we all react differently to alcohol. In some cases, even these lower limits may be too high. For example, “moderate amounts of alcohol can be harmful to people with mood and anxiety disorders,” notes the 10th Special Report to the U.S. Congress on Alcohol and Health. Age, medical history, and physique are factors to be taken into consideration.—See the box “Limiting the Risk.”

What help is available for those who misuse alcohol? The following article will answer this question.

ONE FOR THE ROAD?

Restrictions on driving under the influence of alcohol have existed nearly as long as cars have. The first country to introduce such legislation was Denmark in 1903.

When you drink on an empty stomach, the alcohol in your blood reaches its highest level within about half an hour after it is ingested. Contrary to popular opinion, drinking coffee, taking in fresh air, and doing physical exercise will not help you to sober up. The only thing that will reduce the effect of alcohol on your body is the passing of time. Don’t forget, too, that “a drink is a drink is a drink.” That is, if you have a standard drink of wine, beer, or spirits, the alcohol content is the same.

Even small amounts of alcohol can impair your driving ability. Alcohol affects your eyesight. Road signs appear to be smaller. Peripheral vision as well as your ability to judge distances and to focus on distant objects is reduced. Information processing, reflexes, and coordination are slowed down.

If you have an accident after having imbibed alcohol, your injuries are likely to be more serious than if you had been sober. Moreover, your chances of surviving any emergency surgery diminish because of the effect of alcohol on the heart and the circulation. “Thus, contrary to generally accepted ideas, the majority of alcohol-related deaths are of drunk drivers themselves,” notes a report by the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research. In view of the dangers, the report gives the following recommendations:

Generally speaking, about seven grams [0.25 ounce] of alcohol are eliminated per hour. A standard drink varies from country to country. The World Health Organization defines a standard drink as containing 10 grams (0.35 ounce) of pure alcohol. This is the approximate equivalent of 250 milliliters of beer [8 ounces], 100 milliliters of wine [3.4 ounces], or 30 milliliters [1 ounce] of spirits.

These drinks contain roughly the same amount of alcohol

ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE—IS IT IN THE GENES?

In a bid to find a treatment for alcoholism, scientists have striven to understand the role that genes play in its genesis and evolution. Scientists have since discovered several genes that seem to influence one’s reaction to alcohol. However, genetic factors are not the only ones in alcoholism. Even if some people do have a certain genetic predisposition, dependence is not inevitable. Environmental components are involved. Poor parenting, alcohol abuse in the home or by peers, situations involving conflict, emotional difficulties, depression, aggressiveness, thrill seeking, high resistance to alcohol’s effects, or addiction to another substance have all been cited as risk factors. These and other elements open the way for dependence.

Studies estimate that the number of people who abuse alcohol is some five million, of which between two and three million are alcohol dependent

According to the Lagos newspaper Daily Champion, “over 15 million Nigerians are alcoholics”—that is nearly 12 percent of the population

This country has one of the world’s highest per capita consumptions of pure alcohol. The Lisbon newspaper Público reports that 10 percent of the population suffer from “serious disabilities related to alcohol”

UNITED STATES:

According to the 10th Special Report to the U.S. Congress on Alcohol and Health, “approximately 14 million Americans—7.4 percent of the population—meet the diagnostic criteria for alcohol abuse or alcoholism”

LIMITING THE RISK

The following definitions of low-risk limits were published by the Department of Mental Health and Substance Dependence of the World Health Organization. Low risk does not mean no risk. Individual reactions to alcohol vary.

In the following circumstances, even one or two drinks can be too much:

One standard drink equals 0.35 ounce [10g] of alcohol per unit or per glass.

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Source: Brief Intervention for Hazardous and Harmful Drinking

ALCOHOL—GOOD FOR THE HEART?

Scientists suspect that chemicals in red wine (polyphenols) inhibit a chemical that causes blood vessels to constrict.

Furthermore, alcohol in general has been linked to increased levels of so-called good cholesterol. It also reduces substances that can cause blood clots.

Any benefits from alcohol seem to involve drinking small amounts spread throughout the week, rather than the total amount all at once on a night out. Exceeding two drinks per day is linked to increases in blood pressure, and heavy drinking raises the risk of stroke and can cause swelling of the heart as well as irregular heartbeat. Immoderate drinking causes these and other health risks to outweigh any positive effects of alcohol on the cardiovascular system. Too much of a good thing is precisely that—too much.

Breaking the Chains of Alcohol Abuse

AGAIN and again stories such as this one are told by people ensnared by alcohol. Like Víctor, they feel trapped with no way out. Can alcohol-induced problems be overcome or even avoided? If so, how?

Recognizing the Problem

First, it is imperative that the person who drinks alcohol and those close to him or her recognize it when a problem exists. Dependence is only the tip of the iceberg. It develops over a length of time from a pattern of drinking that was perhaps once moderate. Surprisingly, the majority of accidents, violence, and social difficulties caused by alcohol are not provoked by people who are compulsive alcohol drinkers. Note what the World Health Organization (WHO) says: “The best way to reduce the total of alcohol-related problems in a society is to focus on curtailing the drinking of moderate rather than heavy drinkers.” (Italics ours.) Does your drinking exceed the limits recommended by health authorities? Do you drink in situations requiring your full attention and quick reflexes? Are your drinking habits causing problems in your family or at work? Acknowledging that one’s level of consumption is potentially dangerous and reducing it accordingly is indeed “the best way” to avoid serious problems later. Once a person is dependent, it is far harder to make changes.

A common reaction among those who abuse alcohol is denial. “I drink like everyone else” or “I can stop whenever I want to,” they claim. “Even though alcohol nearly killed me, I never considered myself an addict, so I never took steps to quit,” states Konstantin, in Russia. “I tried many times to break free,” recalls Marek, in Poland, “but I did not really admit to myself that I was an alcoholic. I minimized alcohol-related problems.”

How can a person be helped to recognize his drinking problem and then to take positive action? First, he has to admit that his difficulties arise from abuse of alcohol and that abstinence will improve his quality of life. As stated in La Revue du Praticien—Médecine Générale, his reasoning needs to change from “I drink because my wife left me and I lost my job,” to “my wife left me and I lost my job because I drink.”

If you want to help an alcohol-dependent person achieve this transformation in his thinking, you may want to follow these suggestions: Listen attentively, use open questions that allow the person to express his emotions and feelings freely, display an empathetic attitude that helps him feel that he is understood, give encouragement even for slight progress, avoid being judgmental or having an attitude that could block him from open expression and from seeking help. Having him write down two lists based on the questions What will happen if I continue to drink? and What will happen if I stop? may also be useful.

Seeking Help

When someone begins to abuse alcohol, he or she is not worthless or beyond hope. Some even manage to break free on their own. However, individuals who are alcohol dependent may need professional help to become abstinent. For some people outpatient treatment works, but when withdrawal symptoms are severe, hospitalization may be necessary. Once the initial physical withdrawal symptoms have passed—between two and five days—medication may be prescribed to reduce craving and to continue abstinence.

Detoxification programs, however, are no guarantee of success. Medication is only a temporary measure, not a cure. Alain, in France, undertook several detoxification treatments. “As soon as I left the hospital, I started drinking again because I associated with the same drinking partners. Basically, I did not have the proper motivation to stop,” he says.

Filling the Void

In effect, many fail because the absence of alcohol leaves a void, somewhat like losing the companionship of a close friend. “I constantly thought of drinking,” says Vasiliy, in Russia. “If a day went by without a drink, it was pointless.” To one dependent on alcohol, all other activities are subordinate to satisfying the craving to drink. “My sole purpose in life was to drink and to find money to drink,” recalls Jerzy, in Poland. Evidently, it is vital for the recovering alcoholic to find a new purpose in life if he is to stay abstinent.

A manual published by WHO with advice for those trying to change their drinking habits highlights the importance of purposeful activities in avoiding a relapse. One idea given as an example is engaging in religious activities.

Being occupied with spiritual activities can help a person to break the hold that alcohol has on him. For example, after his third stay in prison for alcohol-related reasons, Alain began studying the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses. He says: “Studying the Bible gave me a purpose in life and enabled me to hold out. My motivation was not just to stop drinking but to please Jehovah.”

Coping With a Relapse

Counselors on alcohol abuse point out the importance of support and encouragement for the recovering alcoholic. Many have lost family and friends because of their deplorable condition. The resulting isolation can lead to depression and even suicide. The manual mentioned above gives the following advice for those assisting someone with a drinking problem: “Try not to criticize the person you are helping, even if you get annoyed and frustrated with his or her behaviour. Remember that changing habits is never easy. There are bound to be good weeks and bad weeks. Your encouragement, support of low-risk drinking or abstinence, and creative ideas are needed.”

“What helped me,” relates Hilario, who drank for nearly 30 years, “was the love and care of friends in the local congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses. I had many relapses, but they were always by my side to give me encouragement and timely Bible counsel.”

If you are struggling to break free of alcohol, remember that relapses are likely to occur and that you should consider them as part of the road to recovery. Do not give up! Analyze what led to the relapse, and use that knowledge to prevent future slips. Identify specific situations that arouse in you the desire to drink. Could it be boredom, depression, loneliness, arguments, stress, or events or places where others drink? Then avoid them! “I learned to understand and identify the emotions that could lead to drinking,” states Jerzy, who took two years to become totally abstinent. “I now avoid any trigger situations. I stay away from places where people drink alcohol. I do not eat anything with alcohol in it, and I even avoid body care products or medicines that are alcohol based. I also don’t look at any advertising for alcohol.” Many have found that praying to God for “the power beyond what is normal” has been fundamental in mastering their urge to drink.—2 Corinthians 4:7; Philippians 4:6, 7.

While it can be an ongoing challenge, escape from the shackles of alcohol dependence is possible. All the individuals mentioned in this article have succeeded. They are healthier and are reaping benefits on a family and a professional level. States Alain, “I now have the freedom not to drink.” Konstantin observes: “Getting to know Jehovah preserved my family. I now have a purpose in life. My happiness does not depend on alcohol.” Víctor comments: “I feel like a free person. I have recovered my dignity and my identity.”

A person can make changes whether he is at risk of an accident through misuse of alcohol, is suffering problems because of abusing alcohol, or is alcohol dependent. If your drinking poses a threat to your well-being, do not hesitate to make the necessary changes. It can be for your own good and for the good of those who love you.

What’s Wrong With Binge Drinking?

BINGE DRINKING. Some define it as simply drinking to get drunk. A report by the U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism tried to be more specific. It said that binge drinking is “typically defined as consuming five or more drinks in a row for men, and four or more drinks in a row for women.”

Health officials in the United States call binge drinking “a major public health problem.” According to a study of secondary-school children in England, Scotland, and Wales, “up to a quarter of 13 and 14-year-olds claimed to have ‘downed’ at least five alcoholic drinks in a single session.” About half of all 15- and 16-year-olds surveyed said they had done the same.

In one U.S. study, 2 out of 5 college students had engaged in binge drinking at least once during the two weeks prior to the survey. According to the U.S. Department of Health, “about 10.4 million adolescents ages 12 to 20 reported using alcohol. Of those, 5.1 million were binge drinkers and included 2.3 million heavy drinkers who binged at least five times a month.” A study done in Australia revealed that more girls than boys in that land binge drink—consuming between 13 and 30 drinks a session!

Much of this drinking takes place at the urging of other youths. Reports researcher Carol Falkowski: “New and daring drinking games flourish: group activities with the goal of drinking alcohol to intoxication. Some, for example, require all players to drink a shot of distilled spirits at a specified moment of a TV show or group conversation.”

Binge Drinking—The Dangers

While heavy drinking may be considered a game to some, it is a very dangerous game! Excessive amounts of alcohol deprive the brain of oxygen; vital bodily functions can begin to shut down. Symptoms may include vomiting, unconsciousness, and slow or irregular breathing. In some cases death can result. About a month after graduating from high school, 17-year-old Kim went to an “all-you-can-drink” party. Kim consumed 17 drinks before passing out. Her older sister then came and took Kim home. The next morning, Kim’s mother found her dead.

Overdrinking may rarely cause death directly, but it still poses a health threat. “Alcohol can raise havoc with any organ in your body,” says mental-health expert Jerome Levin. “Alcohol’s favorite targets are the nervous system, the liver, and the heart.” Says an article in Discover magazine: “New research suggests that young drinkers are courting danger. Because their brains are still developing well into their twenties, teens who drink excessively may be destroying significant amounts of mental capacity.” Chronic alcohol consumption is also associated with increased acne, premature wrinkling of the skin, weight gain, damage to internal organs, alcohol dependency, and drug addiction.

There are other dangers associated with overdrinking. If you become drunk, you may be vulnerable to mistreatment. You can become the victim of physical assault or even rape. At the same time, you might well be a danger to others, engaging in out-of-control forms of behavior that you would not even consider if sober. The Bible thus warns that if you overdrink, “your own eyes will see strange things, and your own heart will speak perverse things.” (Proverbs 23:33) Painful consequences can include ruined friendships, poor performance at school and work, a criminal record, and poverty.—Proverbs 23:21.

The Pressure to Drink

Despite such dangers, alcohol is heavily promoted and readily available in many lands. In fact, drinking alcohol is glamorized in TV and magazine advertisements. More often, though, young people succumb to binge drinking as a result of peer pressure.

In an alcohol awareness survey taken in Australia, 36 percent of the young ones questioned said that they drank primarily “to fit in at social activities.” In the chaotic atmosphere of a “beer bash,” an otherwise shy person can become the life of the party as his peers urge him to down drink after drink. Young Katie was brought home in a coma after doing so. Her “friend” had given her alcohol, saying: “Come on, Katie, you’re a big girl now. You should learn to chug it.”

The desire to have a good time and to fit in with others is so powerful that despite compelling evidence that binge drinking is dangerous, it continues to be popular.

What Choice Will You Make?

The questions arise: What choices will you make when it comes to drinking? Will you simply follow your peers? Remember what the Bible says at Romans 6:16: “Do you not know that if you keep presenting yourselves to anyone as slaves to obey him, you are slaves of him because you obey him?” If you let your peers control your every move, you become nothing more than a slave to them. The Bible urges you to think for yourself. (Proverbs 1:4) It contains advice that can help you to avoid making serious mistakes. Consider what it has to say about alcohol.

Actually, the Bible does not condemn drinking alcohol, nor is it against young people having a good time. However, it does warn against overdrinking. “Wine is a ridiculer, intoxicating liquor is boisterous, and everyone going astray by it is not wise,” says Proverbs 20:1. Yes, alcohol can make one act in a ridiculous and loud way! True, it may momentarily bring you pleasure, but if you overindulge, it “bites just like a serpent,” leaving you with a host of physical and emotional injuries.—Proverbs 23:32.

Something else to consider is that in many countries there is a minimum age for drinking alcohol. Christians obey such laws. (Titus 3:1) They are there to protect you.

Finally, and most important, consider the spiritual damage overdrinking can cause. Jehovah God wants you to serve him with “your whole mind”—not a mind needlessly damaged by overindulgence in alcohol! (Matthew 22:37) God’s Word condemns not only “excesses with wine” but also “drinking matches.” (1 Peter 4:3) Engaging in binge drinking is therefore counter to the will of our Creator. Such excess can prevent one from enjoying a close relationship with God.

What should you do if binge drinking has caught you in its snare? Get help immediately by speaking to a parent or a mature Christian. Go to Jehovah God in prayer and beg for his help. After all, he is “a help that is readily to be found during distresses.” (Psalm 46:1) Since binge drinking and underage drinking often result from peer pressure, you may need to make substantial changes in your choice of friends and entertainment. Making such changes will not be easy, but with Jehovah’s help you can succeed.

Binge Drinking—Tragic Statistics

The following statistics reveal the sad consequences of binge drinking among college students in the United States:

Death: Each year 1,400 college students between the ages of 18 and 24 die from alcohol-related unintentional injuries, including motor vehicle crashes

Injury: 500,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are unintentionally injured when under the influence of alcohol

Assault: More than 600,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are assaulted by another student who has been drinking

Sexual Abuse: More than 70,000 students between the ages of 18 and 24 are victims of alcohol-related sexual assault or date rape

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Source: The U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

Who Gets Hooked, and Why?

WHILE driving your car down a highway, you hear a peculiar rattle coming from the engine. How will you respond? Will you look under the hood to examine the problem? Or will you simply turn up the volume of the radio to drown out the noise?

The answer seems obvious, yet people who are addicts consistently make the wrong choice—not with their cars, but with their lives. By means of addiction to such substances as drugs, alcohol, and even food, many attempt to drown out their personal problems rather than successfully cope with them.

How can a person tell if he or she is addicted? One doctor describes it this way: “Basically, use of a drug or activity is an addiction if it’s causing problems in your life but you keep doing it anyway.”

When this is the case, often there is a much more serious problem under the hood, so to speak, that needs to be examined before the addictive behavior can be changed.

Drugs and Alcohol

What starts a person on the path of addiction to drugs and alcohol? Peer pressure and curiosity often play a significant role, especially for youths. Indeed, the reason many people become addicted is their bad association with those who are abusing alcohol and drugs. (1 Corinthians 15:33) This may explain a U.S. survey that revealed that 41 percent of high school seniors go on an alcohol binge every two weeks.

However, there is a difference between abuse and addiction. Many who abuse substances are not addicted. These can stop the abuse and then not have a compulsion to return to it. But those who are addicted find that they cannot stop. Furthermore, any euphoric pleasure they once derived is overshadowed by anguish. The book Addictions explains: “The classic path for addicts is that, somewhere along the line, they start to hate themselves, and they become hideously tormented by the hold their addiction has gained.”

Many who are dependent on alcohol or drugs use them as escape routes from emotional crises. Such crises are all too common today. And this should not really surprise us, since the Bible identifies these days as “the last days” of this system of things, when there would be “critical times hard to deal with.” The Bible foretold that men would be “lovers of money,” “haughty,” “disloyal,” “fierce,” “betrayers,” and “puffed up with pride.” (2 Timothy 3:1-4) These traits have created an environment that is fertile soil for addiction.

Susan’s emotional crisis resulted from mistreatment during her past. Thus, she turned to cocaine. “It gave me a phony sense of control and self-esteem,” she says. “It gave me a sense of power that I didn’t feel on a daily basis.”

A study of male adolescent addicts revealed that more than a third had been physically abused. Another study of 178 adult alcoholic women found that 88 percent had been severely mistreated in one way or another. The Bible at Ecclesiastes 7:7 says: “Mere oppression may make a wise one act crazy.” A person suffering emotionally because of some terrible life experiences may later irrationally turn to drugs or to alcohol for relief.

But drugs and alcohol are not the only addictions.

Eating Disorders

Eating disorders (which some experts call addictions) sometimes serve as a distraction from unpleasant feelings. For instance, some use excess weight as a scapegoat for personal disappointments. “Sometimes I think I stay fat because everything that is wrong in my life can be attributed to that,” says Jennie. “This way if someone doesn’t like me, I can always blame it on my weight.”

For others, food provides a false sense of control. Food may be the only arena in which an individual feels any authority. Many with eating disorders think that they are somehow defective. To build feelings of self-worth, they strive to subdue their body’s craving for food. One woman said: “You make out of your body your very own kingdom where you are the tyrant, the absolute dictator.”

The experiences cited above are by no means a total explanation of addiction to drugs, alcohol, and food. A variety of factors may be involved. Some experts even suggest a genetic link making some more vulnerable to addiction than others. “What we see is an interaction of personality, environment, biology and social acceptability,” says Jack Henningfield of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. “We don’t want to be fooled by looking at only one factor.”

Whatever the case, no addict—no matter what the cause of his or her addiction—is physically or emotionally doomed. Help is available.

A Worldwide Plague of Addiction

▪ A survey in Mexico revealed that 1 out of 8 persons between the ages of 14 and 65 is alcoholic.

▪ Social worker Sarita Broden reports a proliferation of eating disorders in Japan. She says: “Between 1940 and 1965, the incidence of eating disorders increased steadily with a subsequent jump in both in-patients and out-patients between 1965 and 1981. Since 1981 though, the increase in anorexia and bulimia has been dramatic.”

▪ In China the number of heroin users seems to be rising rapidly. Dr. Li Jianhua, who works at the Kunming Drug Abuse Research Center, says: “Heroin has gone from the border area to the interior, from the countryside to the cities, and to younger and younger people.”

▪ In Zurich, Switzerland, an experimental open drug market ended in disappointment. “We thought we’d ferret out the dealers, but we failed,” says Dr. Albert Weittstein, lamenting that they were simply attracting dealers and users from far away.

Can Drinking Really Get Me Hooked?

IT ALL started when Jerome was only nine years old. “I sampled some leftover drinks from a party held at home, got drunk, and liked the way I felt,” he explains. Buying, hiding, and drinking alcohol soon became Jerome’s daily routine. Yet, he admits: “I didn’t know I had a problem until I was 17. When others were having breakfast, I was downing a half pint [1/4 L] of vodka!”

Alcohol use and abuse are growing at an alarming rate among young people the world over. In the United States alone, over ten million—one half—of America’s 13- to 18-year-old students have had at least one drink in the past year. About eight million drink on a weekly basis. In fact, U.S. teenagers drink over a billion cans of beer and more than 300 million bottles of wine coolers, a carbonated wine drink, a year!

The Bible says regarding alcoholic drink: “Everyone going astray by it is not wise.” (Proverbs 20:1) Yet, millions of youths, like Jerome, are being led astray by alcohol. What are the dangers of alcohol abuse? How can you tell if you are getting hooked?

Alcohol and Alcoholism

When packaged as a brightly colored wine cooler or a frothy beer, alcohol looks pretty harmless. Taste and appearances can be deceiving, however. Alcohol is a drug—a powerful one.

Doctors say that alcohol is a depressant that affects the brain, acting on the central nervous system. Taken in modest amounts by an adult, it may create a harmless, pleasant effect. “Wine . . . makes the heart of mortal man rejoice,” says Psalm 104:15. However, too heavy a dose of alcohol can cause intoxication—a state in which physical and mental control is markedly impaired. Like Jerome, a person may be hooked, crossing the fine line from wanting a drink to needing or craving one. Why does this happen? The body can develop a tolerance for alcohol if it is overused. The user must then drink increasingly larger amounts in order to experience its effects. Before he realizes it, though, he is hooked. Once a person is hooked, his life is altered tragically. Nearly five million U.S. youths have a drinking problem.

Why They Drink

In the 1930’s the average U.S. teenager sampled his first alcoholic drink at about age 18. Today, he does so before age 13. Some start even younger. “I was six years old, . . . and I sipped a little beer out of my grandfather’s glass. . . . I was so light-headed!” Thus recalls Carlotta—a recovering alcoholic. The earlier you start, the more likely you are to get hooked.

Of course, peers often exert considerable pressure along these lines. But sometimes parents also share some blame. Some overindulge themselves, use alcohol as an emotional crutch, or even brag about how much liquor they can hold. A booklet on alcoholism says: “Children who become responsible adult drinkers tend to come from families where alcohol is treated matter-of-factly and unemotionally . . . , where drinking has its proper place.”

Television is another potent influence on youths. By age 18 the average American youth has seen 75,000 drinking scenes on TV—11 a day. Slick advertisements, carefully crafted to make drinking seem like the doorway to fun and romance, portray sexy models drinking in rowdy party settings. Alcoholic beverages are given fruit flavors and catchy product names. The ads work. Every weekend, 454,000 youths in the United States go on drinking binges, prompting the U.S. surgeon general to say that many of them are “already alcoholics, and the rest may well be on their way.”

Some youths, though, are driven to drink by internal turmoil. Kim revealed why she guzzled beer: “I used [alcohol] to change my mood and make me feel better about myself.” If a youth is shy or suffers from low self-esteem, drinking may seem an attractive solution. Yet others drink to block out some painful realities of life, such as parental abuse or neglect. Why did Ana begin drinking? “I never got the affection that I needed.”

Whatever the reason for getting started, in time a youth may find it increasingly difficult to control his drinking. At that point he may find himself face-to-face with alcoholism. Have you begun drinking? Then take the quiz entitled “Since You Began to Drink.” You may find the results to be quite revealing.

Alcohol—Dangerous for Youths!

“Those staying a long time with the wine” are warned by the Bible that “at its end it . . . secretes poison just like a viper.” (Proverbs 23:29-32) Venom injected by a poisonous snake can slowly and painfully injure or kill a man. (Compare Acts 28:3, 6.) Likewise, prolonged and heavy abuse of alcohol can slowly kill you. It can damage or destroy vital organs, such as your liver, pancreas, brain, and heart. Developing young bodies and minds are particularly vulnerable to such damage, which is sometimes irreparable.

Alcohol abuse can be even more damaging to your emotions than to your body. A drink may temporarily boost your confidence. But the confidence it gives you is phony—and the effects always wear off. In the meantime you retard your emotional and mental growth. Instead of sobering up and facing reality, you reach for another drink. But after being sober for 11 months, 18-year-old Peter says: “I’m having to learn how to face my feelings and find new ways to cope with situations booze got me through before. I figure that emotionally and socially I’m about thirteen years old.”

Then there are the dangers of drinking and driving. Alcohol-related highway death is the number one killer of young people in the United States. Drinking is also associated with homicides, suicides, and drownings—the other leading causes of death for youths.

Furthermore, alcohol abuse can have devastating effects on your family life, friendships, schoolwork, and spirituality. Here’s the way the Bible puts it: “Show me someone who drinks too much, . . . and I will show you someone miserable and sorry for himself, always causing trouble and always complaining. His eyes are bloodshot, and he has bruises that could have been avoided. . . . You will feel as if you were out on the ocean, seasick, swinging high up in the rigging of a tossing ship.” (Proverbs 23:29-34, Today’s English Version) This is a side of drinking that is never shown in glamorous TV ads.

Why Get Started?

Many countries therefore restrict youths from drinking alcohol. If you are a Christian, you have a compelling reason to obey these laws, as God commands you to be in “subjection to the superior authorities.” (Romans 13:1, 2) Even if the use of alcohol among youths is lawful due to local culture, is it really in your best interests to start drinking at this time in your life? As 1 Corinthians 6:12 says, “all things are lawful . . . ; but not all things are advantageous.” Are you really ready to handle alcoholic beverages?

True, when peers offer you a colorful wine cooler, it may be tempting to see how it tastes. Realize, though, that you are being offered a potentially addictive drug. Godly youths in Bible times, such as Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, had the courage to stand up to the Babylonian authorities and turn down the defiling foods and wine that were allotted to them by the pagan king of Babylon. You too can have the courage to say no!—Daniel 1:3-17.

In time you will be old enough—legally, mentally, emotionally, and physically—to drink alcohol if that is your choice. Even so, you will be wise to exercise moderation and avoid getting hooked. Many youths have already become hooked, and a future article will discuss what they can do to recover.

SINCE YOU BEGAN TO DRINK:

□ Do you have different or fewer friends?

□ Is life at home more difficult?

□ Do you have trouble sleeping, or do you feel depressed or anxious?

□ Do you need a drink to feel at ease around others?

□ Are you unhappy or disappointed in yourself after drinking?

□ Do you lie about or hide the fact that you drink?

□ Do you get embarrassed or angry when someone brings up your drinking habits?

□ Has anyone ever counseled you or joked about your use of alcohol?

□ Do you believe that wine coolers and beer are OK for you to drink because they are not hard liquor?

□ Have you lost interest in or dropped hobbies and sports you once enjoyed?

If you have answered yes to more than two questions, it may indicate that you have a serious drinking problem. If so, you would be wise to seek help immediately.

Source: THE REGENT HOSPITAL, New York, NY.

How Can I Stop Drinking?

BOB and Jerome both paid the price for drinking alcohol too much and too often. Both became addicted to alcohol. And while Bob was finally able to quit drinking altogether, Jerome is still trying to overcome alcoholism.

Alcohol addiction is a growing problem among young people in many parts of the world. Some estimate that in the United States alone, about five million youths have a serious drinking problem. If you are a Christian youth, though, no doubt you have avoided experimenting with alcohol, especially if teenage drinking is against the law in your community. Nevertheless, the following information can serve to strengthen your resolve not to get involved with drinking in the first place—at least until you are older and better equipped to handle it. But if you are one who has got hooked on alcohol, we hope this information will help you fight this problem. With real effort on your part and the help of Jehovah God, recovery is possible.

Overcoming Denial

The first and most difficult step you must take is to overcome denial. Alcoholics typically refuse to believe that they have any sort of problem with drinking. ‘I can handle it,’ is the pathetic boast of the alcoholic. Consider, for example, the 15-year-old who said: “I’m not a problem drinker. I only have a six-pack of beer an evening.” We are reminded of the Bible’s description of the man who “has acted too smoothly to himself in his own eyes to find out his error so as to hate it.”—Psalm 36:2.

Yes, denial is deadly. So if you have a problem with drinking, you must admit that painful truth to yourself. Do not ignore friends, siblings, or parents who tell you that you are drinking too much. They are not your enemies because they tell you the truth. (Compare Galatians 4:16.) Bob (mentioned at the outset) used to drink heavily each weekend. When a friend approached him about it, Bob rejected any notion that he had a drinking problem, and he ended the discussion. But how was alcohol affecting Bob’s life? “I was a nervous wreck if I didn’t drink and was out of control when I did,” confesses Bob. “My family life was torn apart—as was my relationship with God.”

On another occasion, Bob finally broke down and admitted to his friend that he indeed craved alcohol. Having breached the wall of denial, Bob was able to begin his recovery.

Develop the Determination to Quit

Professor George Vaillant writes that “alcoholism is . . . highly treatable, but . . . will require great responsibility from the patient.” That includes your being determined to quit drinking alcohol. A lack of resolve can mean living—and dying—as an alcoholic. What can help? Focusing on the destructiveness of alcoholism can help you to “hate what is bad” and can strengthen your resolve to stop drinking once and for all.—Psalm 97:10.

You might, for example, give a lot of thought to the high toll alcoholism exacts physically, emotionally, and morally. Granted, a drink may seem to salve your inner pain or feelings of worthlessness for a while. But in the long run, reliance on alcohol simply serves to create more problems; friendships break up, and family relationships become strained. Furthermore, because alcohol lowers your inhibitions, it can easily “take away good motive” and lead you into serious misconduct.—Hosea 4:11.

Consider, too, what large doses of alcohol can do to your body, gradually poisoning your vital organs. The Bible thus says that overdrinking results in little more than ‘misery, remorse, quarrels, anxiety, and bruises.’ (Proverbs 23:29-30, The New English Bible) Is any temporary pleasure you get worth this price?

It may also help to remind yourself that you do not need alcohol to be happy. Nor do you need an artificial high to have self-respect, good health, loyal friends, and a loving family. Success in these areas of life comes through applying God’s Word. (Psalm 1:1-3) That Word also gives you a hope for a brighter future—eternal life without emotional or physical pain! (Revelation 21:3, 4) Having such a hope gives you yet another reason to abstain from alcohol.—Compare 1 Corinthians 6:9, 10.

Get Help

Simply having the desire to recover is usually not enough, though. You will also need the support and help of others. “Two are better than one,” said King Solomon. “For if one of them should fall, the other one can raise his partner up.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9, 10) Trusting someone to help you with your problem will not be easy. But a recovering alcoholic named Katy gives this advice: “Learn to trust people, especially your family.” Yes, in most cases your family is in the best position to give you the love and support you need.

True, your family situation may have contributed to your getting involved with drinking in the first place. But if your parents were made aware of your situation, might they not see the need to improve things at home? So why not try approaching your parents, informing them that you have a serious problem? Instead of laying all the blame on them, ask for their help and support. Being open and honest with your folks will help your family to be “harmoniously joined together” just as God’s household is. (Ephesians 4:16) In this way all of you can begin to work together for a successful recovery.

If family support is not available, others can help. (Proverbs 17:17) Bob was befriended by a Christian elder who met with him every week over a period of several months to monitor his progress. Says Bob: “His interest and care gave me the self-esteem I needed to stop my abusive habit.”—James 5:13, 14.

Above all, realize that you need the help of Jehovah God. Lean upon him for strength. Yes, with God’s help “the brokenhearted ones” can experience Jehovah’s ‘healing and binding of their painful spots.’—Psalm 147:3; see also Psalm 145:14.

Find New Friends

A survey in New Zealand reported that friends are a major influence on youths who abuse alcohol. You will therefore find it hard to stop drinking if you hang out with drinkers. For this reason the Bible exhorts: “Do not come to be among heavy drinkers.” (Proverbs 23:20) Develop new, wholesome friendships. Just as it is true that “bad associations spoil useful habits,” good companions are a positive influence.—1 Corinthians 15:33.

Kim discovered this to be true. “It was awkward,” she admits, “but I had to change my friends . . . I didn’t want to be around alcohol or drugs.” Admittedly, friends who do not drink may seem hard to come by. You will find, though, that exemplary youths among Jehovah’s Witnesses do not engage in illegal drinking. Nor do they rely on alcohol as a source of recreation or escape. They can therefore help—not hinder—your efforts to “strip off the old personality with its practices.”—Colossians 3:9.

You Can Recover!

Living without alcohol will be an ongoing battle for you. At times abstinence may be very difficult. “I still have the compulsion [to drink] really bad,” admitted Ana, “especially when I’m upset, frustrated, depressed or hurt.” It is thus not uncommon for a recovering alcoholic to experience a relapse, leading to overwhelming feelings of guilt. Should that happen, remember that “we all stumble many times.” (James 3:2) Recall, too, that Jehovah is a God of mercy who understands your weaknesses.—Psalm 103:14.

Nevertheless, be careful not to abuse God’s kindness. Learn from your mistake, and be more determined than ever not to relapse again. By showing such determination, Bob was able to quit drinking. Since then, he has been able to enjoy peaceful relations both with his family and with God. His happy life now includes service as a full-time minister. Happiness and peace of mind will be your lot, too, if you win the battle against alcohol.

Who Is at Fault?

“GETTING drunk is acceptable” to many people in society, says Jim Vanderwood of the Mohawk Valley Council on Alcoholism in New York State. Unfortunately, very few can successfully deny that drinking, even to excess, is part of their society’s makeup.

For years most societies have been tolerant of regular, and even heavy, drinking. This has encouraged others to imitate that permissive attitude. As Vanderwood states: “Look at the movies. We’ve always applauded people who can drink you under the table and still go out and be a great cowboy. It’s looked upon as a kind of self-esteem builder. How do you combat that?”

Thus, while the primary guilt rests upon those who commit mayhem by drinking and driving, permissive, indulgent societies with their unbalanced attitude toward alcohol also bear a measure of the guilt.

“Drinking is not only acceptable but vigorously promoted,” states crime prevention officer Jim Thompson. He told Awake!: “Many sporting events are geared around the alcohol industry, such as the beer industry.” He noted that during many sporting events, “the best commercials on TV are beer commercials, with all of society’s shining stars endorsing their favorite beer.”

A federal workshop held under the direction of former U.S. surgeon general C. Everett Koop was boycotted by the National Association of Broadcasters and the Association of National Advertisers. Why? Because it addressed this issue of driving under the influence of alcohol and the matter of culpability. Dr. Patricia Waller, who chaired the Education Panel of the workshop, stated: “The fact is that we [society] have created this problem, and people are dumb enough to succumb to all the pressure we’ve been putting on them since they were old enough to notice anything on television. ‘But,’ [society says] ‘we’re not responsible. That’s not our problem.’”

Today’s Youthful Offender—Tomorrow’s Problem Drinker

Through various means, such as television, movies, and advertisements, drinking is glamorized. This reaches the young, impressionable mind with the message, ‘You can drink and live happily ever after.’

“The average child will see alcohol consumed 75,000 times on TV before he is of legal drinking age,” states Dr. T. Radecki of the National Coalition on Television Violence in the United States. British researcher Anders Hansen surveyed prime-time TV in the United Kingdom and found that 71 percent of all fictional programs include drinking. There were, on an average, 3.4 scenes of drinking per hour with “very few portrayals of alcohol consumption with more specific outcomes,” such as vehicle accidents and homicides, lamented Hansen.

Writing for The Washington Post, columnist Colman McCarthy put it this way: “Behind the fun-and-games of . . . ex-athletes as barroom pitchmen are ad and promotional campaigns designed to captivate children and push to college students the idea that consuming alcohol, and lots of it, is essential for social well-being. Take it from the ‘tastes great, less filling’ boys, if you aren’t hoisting a glass, you’re out of it.”

In the Soviet Union, drinking and driving is a major national problem. Some officials there doubt that drinking habits can be changed. “It’s in our Russian roots,” said one. While this may be so, it is viewed by many as a form of recreation. So the young and impressionable grow up in an environment of drinking.

J. Vanderwood explains that the United States has “a young drinking culture. Alcohol equals softball, bowling, superbowl, happy hours. If it’s recreation, it’s alcohol, if it’s alcohol, it’s recreation.” He notes: “You might grow out of that phase if you haven’t triggered your addiction psychologically, sociologically, or physically.” But then he warns: “One thing that we know from research, and it’s well attested to, is that if you start drinking heavily when you are 14, 15, or 16, you can develop an addiction within a year. In the early 20’s, within a few years.”

Is it any wonder that the leading cause of death among 16-to-24-year-olds in the United States is alcohol-related traffic accidents? No doubt it is also a leading cause of death in many other countries. Thus, Dr. Waller concludes that conscientious parents who try to rear their children in a home climate that is pulling in the direction of sobriety are confronted by a permissive society that “is pulling in the other” direction.

So today’s youthful drinker can become tomorrow’s chronic problem drinker. And he is often resistant to rehabilitation, which poses a huge threat to public safety on the roads. One 34-year-old repeat offender, after going through a state-mandated alcohol program, went on a drinking binge and drove his pickup truck down the wrong side of a Kentucky highway. He crashed into a bus filled with teenagers and sent 27 people—24 youngsters and 3 adults—to a flaming death. Indeed, it has been determined that more than a quarter of those who are convicted drunk drivers are previous offenders.

Alcohol—A Licit Drug

Many authorities are bringing to the attention of the public that alcohol is a licit (legal) drug. They are equating alcohol with other addictive drugs.

At a special White House briefing, U.S. president Bush declared that drunk driving is “as crippling as crack. As random as gang violence. And it’s killing more kids than both combined.” He also emphasized that “we must teach our children that alcohol is a drug.”

If you have not viewed alcohol as a drug before, you are not alone. “A lot of people don’t connect it,” says C. Graziano, a traffic-safety director, adding: “Lawyers, doctors, judges. Alcohol can affect anyone . . . It’s accessible. It’s so easy to get!” Because it is legal in most countries, it can be purchased in various types of stores. Often there are few controls.

Technically, alcohol is a food because of its caloric content. But it must also be classified as a drug because it depresses the body’s central nervous system. In large doses it has a narcotic effect on the body the same as a barbiturate. Because of its “mood altering nature, it’s a stress reducer,” says J. Vanderwood. “It loosens up your inhibitions, changes your thought process. You feel that you can perform when you really cannot.” Therein lies the problem with drinking and driving. As he concludes: “You have an impaired person making an impaired judgment about an impaired performance.”

Some who are involved in difficult situations—divorce, loss of a job, family problems—often resort to heavy drinking in an attempt to cope with the pressure and stress. In this condition they behave in “irrational, irresponsible ways, including DWI,” says the Journal of Studies on Alcohol.

However, with alcohol one does not have to be intoxicated to have one’s performance affected. Only one or two drinks can impair the judgment of a driver and make him a threat to himself and others.

Tragic indeed is this scourge upon society, which has poisoned itself with a deadly mixture of commercial greed and a permissive attitude toward a licit but potentially highly dangerous substance. What comfort, then, is there for those who mourn this tragedy? What real hope can there be for finding a cure?

What’s Wrong With Drinking and Driving?

“I BLACKED out while driving home,” says Mike, recalling that he had too much to drink that night. “But somehow I made it to my house. When I got up the next morning, I noticed that the passenger side of my car was badly damaged, but I couldn’t remember having an accident! I drove around trying to figure out what had happened, and that’s when I saw it. The big stone pillar near the cemetery had been hit, and the paint from my car was all over it. I must have smashed into it the night before! It really scared me.”

Mike got off easy—he lived to talk about it. Unfortunately, many others do not. “Drunk driving is the leading cause of death for young people aged 16-24,” says the 1984 Report on the National Conference for Youth on Drinking and Driving. ‘Oh, it won’t happen to me!’ you may think. But that’s probably what many a victim had said to himself! See also the box on page 20, “It Can Happen to You!”

But if drinking and driving is so dangerous, then why do so many young people do it?

Why Youths Drink and Drive

As to why youths drink, peer pressure is a popular reason given. Yet some youths retort: ‘My friends don’t pressure me to drink.’ However, peer pressure may be more subtle than you think. Youths are often influenced, not simply by overt invitations to do something, but by how they feel their peers view them. As the manual Alcohol and Alcohol Safety, by Peter Finn and Judith Platt, explains: “The need to belong is felt by everyone, but for teen-agers this need is intensified, and to be ‘out of it’ can be especially hard to take. It is no wonder that group pressure is often thought of as a major explanation for teen-age drinking.”

But why do so many youths drink and then drive? ‘Adults do it, so why shouldn’t we?’ some youths reply. And there’s no denying that some adults set a very poor example in this regard. But is that any reason for you to do something so potentially dangerous?

‘But what’s the harm in driving if all you’ve had is a couple of beers?’ some may ask. That points to a major reason why youths drink and drive—they (and adults, too!) are victims of myths about the effects of alcohol. Here are a few examples:

MYTH: It’s safe to drive if all you’ve had is a couple of beers.

FACT: “The alcohol in two 12-ounce [355-cc] cans of beer consumed in less than an hour can slow a driver’s reaction by 2/5ths of a second—allowing an automobile traveling at 55 miles per hour [89 km/hr] to travel an additional 34 feet [10.4 m]—possibly the difference between a near miss and a crash.”—Development of a Traffic Safety and Alcohol Program for Senior Adults, by James L. Malfetti, Ed.D., and Darlene J. Winter, Ph.D.

MYTH: Having some black coffee will sober one up more quickly.

FACT: Coffee may make a person more awake, but he’s still drunk. The body eliminates alcohol at a fixed oxidation rate regardless of how much coffee one downs. Only time helps a person sober up.

MYTH: It’s OK to drive as long as you don’t feel drunk.

FACT: It’s dangerous to rely on how you feel. Alcohol creates an illusion of well-being, making the drinker feel that he’s in control when in fact his abilities have been diminished.

Dangerous though it is for anyone to mix drinking and driving, it’s even riskier for youths. Why?

Unique Risks

Lack of experience is one factor. For instance, if you were going to fly in an airplane, would you prefer a young, new pilot or a seasoned veteran with many years of flying experience? The answer is obvious. But why prefer the experienced pilot? Because you know that people are more likely to make mistakes or miscalculations when an activity is new to them.

The same applies to drinking and driving. Thus, a report on traffic safety and alcohol notes that the driving performance of youths who are drinking “worsens more rapidly than that of adults because driving is a newer and less routine skill for them. In short, most teenagers are both inexperienced drivers and inexperienced drinkers, and even more inexperienced at combining drinking and driving.”—Senior Adults, Traffic Safety and Alcohol Program Leader’s Guide, by Darlene J. Winter, Ph.D.

Weight can be another factor—young people generally weigh less than adults. The less a person weighs, the less fluid there is in his body to dilute the alcohol he consumes. To illustrate: Imagine taking two cubes of sugar of the same size and dissolving one in a very small glass of lemonade and the other in a large tumbler of lemonade. Now, the amount of sugar in each would be the same, but the concentration in the smaller glass would be greater. Similarly, the concentration of alcohol is higher in a person who weighs less. And the higher the concentration of alcohol in your bloodstream, the more intoxicated you become.

What Will You Do?

Since so many problems are related to alcohol, young people who abstain altogether from drinking it are doing the wise thing. However, drinking in moderation is not wrong, provided one is of legal age and drinks moderately. (See Psalm 104:15; 1 Timothy 5:23; Proverbs 23:31.) But drinking and driving—that’s another story. What will you do?

The Bible offers this wise advice: “Shrewd is the one that has seen the calamity and proceeds to conceal himself, but the inexperienced have passed along and must suffer the penalty.” (Proverbs 22:3) Given the dangers of mixing drinking and driving, you are “shrewd” if you vow to yourself that you won’t mix the two. You can thus spare yourself needless “calamity”—crash-related injuries that leave you crippled or claim your young life.

And you may spare the lives of others as well. You may not imagine yourself as a killer. Yet, when you mix drinking and driving, your chances of killing another person go up dramatically. “The driver, passengers, pedestrians, and people in other cars are all equal targets of the impaired driver,” says Just Along for the Ride, by the National Association of Independent Insurers. Why risk incurring bloodguilt?—Compare Exodus 21:29; Proverbs 6:16, 17.

Not to be overlooked is the law of the land where you live. In many areas, driving while intoxicated (DWI) or driving while ability impaired (DWAI) is against the law. Many places also have a minimum legal drinking age, and the Bible tells us to be obedient to the governmental authorities. (Romans 13:1; Titus 3:1) In that way you can avoid not only fines or imprisonment but also the incurring of God’s displeasure.—Romans 13:2-5.

Besides refraining from drinking and driving, there are other things you can do to safeguard yourself and others from an alcohol-related traffic accident: (1) Don’t get in a car with a driver who’s been drinking. Life is a gift from God. (Romans 6:23) Why put such a precious gift into the hands of someone who’s been drinking? (2) Don’t let a friend drive if he’s been drinking. He may get upset, but, then again, he may appreciate what you did once he comes to his senses.—Compare Psalm 141:5.

“It really scares me to think that I could have killed someone that night,” says Mike. “To this day I get afraid driving at night, knowing that there are drivers out there in the same condition I was in.” Mike doesn’t mix drinking and driving at all any more. What about you? Don’t take a chance, thinking, ‘It won’t happen to me.’ Have the courage to be different. Promise yourself that you won’t drink and drive. Then, no matter what others say or do, live up to your promise.

It Can Happen to You!

Reports about alcohol-related traffic accidents are often in the news. It’s easy to think, ‘It won’t happen to me!’ But such tragedies happen far more frequently than you may realize. Consider some of the sobering facts about youths and drinking and driving:

“Alcohol use by young people is on the rise in most parts of the world. . . . Road accidents, many of which are related to alcohol, are one of the major killers and producers of disability in young people.”—World Health.

“A teenager is involved in an alcohol-related accident in [the United States] every 10 seconds, less time than it takes to fix a drink.”—Aide magazine.

“A teenager is four times more likely to have an alcohol-related crash than any other driver. . . . While the life expectancy of most people in [the United States] is rising, that of 15-to-24-year-olds is not.”—Just Along for the Ride.

So before you even consider drinking and driving, remember—it can happen to you!

Alcohol and You

GOOD advice? Definitely not! Actually, if he’s had too much to drink, a cup of coffee will not make it safe for Joe to drive home; nor will a breath of fresh air, a cold shower, or exercise. Such things may make Joe more awake. But there’s only one thing that will help him to sober up—time. To understand this better, it is helpful to take a look at how your body handles alcohol.

How Alcohol Works

When you drink an alcoholic beverage, the alcohol is quite “anxious” to get into your bloodstream. Unlike other foods, it doesn’t need to be digested. Some 20 percent immediately passes into your bloodstream through the walls of your stomach. The rest is absorbed when it passes on to your small intestine.

The extent to which alcohol affects you depends upon how much it builds up in your bloodstream. And how quickly it builds up depends upon several factors:

(1) Amount of alcohol consumed: How much alcohol do you consume with a typical drink? Does a can of beer contain less alcohol than a shot of whiskey? Surprising as it may seem, the typical serving of beer, table wine, and 80-proof whiskey all contain about the same amount of alcohol—a little more than a half ounce (15 cc).

Thus, the report Physiological Effects of Alcohol, published by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, concludes: “In terms of the effects that drinking has on an individual’s mind and body, then, it does not really matter a great deal whether he or she chooses to drink wine, beer, or ‘hard liquor’—what is most important is the actual amount of alcohol consumed.”

(2) Rate of absorption: A number of factors can affect the rate at which alcohol is absorbed into your bloodstream. Food is one factor. That is, having food in your stomach tends to dilute alcohol and slow down its absorption. So a person who has a glass of table wine with dinner will raise his blood alcohol level less than if he drank the same amount of alcohol on an empty stomach. The spacing of drinks can also affect absorption. Two drinks within a few minutes are much more intoxicating than two drinks taken over a couple of hours.

Weight is another factor. Why? Simply because the more a person weighs, the more fluid there is in his body to dilute alcohol. For example, explains the report Development of a Traffic Safety and Alcohol Program for Senior Adults: “A person weighing 160 pounds [73 kg] has about 110 pounds [50 kg] of water in his/her body to dilute alcohol. After three drinks in an hour his/her BAC [blood alcohol content] would be about 0.07 percent. If an individual weighing 100 pounds [45 kg] drank the same amount in the same time, his/her BAC would be about 0.11 percent, and [he/she] would be eligible for arrest as a drunken driver.”

The alcohol concentration of the drink may also affect the absorption rate. That is, the greater the alcohol concentration of the drink the quicker the alcohol will be absorbed.

So the absorption of alcohol into your bloodstream can be somewhat hastened or slowed—depending on any of the above influences. However, there is one other factor that determines how much alcohol builds up in your bloodstream.

(3) Oxidation rate: Once alcohol is in your bloodstream, your body begins working to eliminate it. A small percentage (between 2 and 10 percent) is given off unchanged in the breath, sweat, and urine. The remainder is oxidized, “burned up,” mostly in the liver, where the chemical structure of the alcohol is changed to release heat and energy.

How quickly does your liver oxidize alcohol? The rate of oxidation may vary slightly from person to person, depending upon such factors as weight and health. According to the report by Malfetti and Winter, “as a general guide, a 150-pound [68-kg] person can oxidize (or ‘burn up’) the alcohol in one drink in one hour.”

How does alcohol build up in your bloodstream if your liver quickly swings into action to eliminate it? It is simple: When the absorption rate exceeds the oxidation rate, the blood alcohol level rises. The report Physiological Effects of Alcohol illustrates it this way: “It’s much like bailing water out of a leaky boat: If alcohol ‘leaks’ into the blood faster than the body can ‘bail it out,’ its level, or concentration, rises.” And as the blood alcohol level rises, the person gets increasingly intoxicated.

So while alcohol is rather “anxious” to get into the bloodstream, it takes its time about leaving. The body will “burn up” the alcohol at its fixed oxidation rate. And until it does, you should keep off the road. Why? Because alcohol affects you in several areas that are essential for the safe driving of an automobile.

How Much Is Too Much?

ALCOHOL can be good or very bad. It can make you glad or very sad. It depends on where it goes and how much gets there. A little wine can be good for your stomach and make your heart glad. (1 Timothy 5:23; Psalm 104:15) Too much can make you miserable all over—and make those around you miserable too!

In moderation, a cocktail, wine, or beer can relax you and temporarily relieve anxiety, raise your spirits, and make you a more sociable companion. It may even offer some protection from heart attacks, since it relieves stress and raises your HDLs (high-density lipoproteins). But even small amounts of alcohol slow your reflexes, so it is unwise to drive a car after even moderate drinking. And it is loaded with calories, so it is not very compatible if you have a weight problem.

Let’s follow your cocktail as it travels through your body. It does not tarry long in an empty stomach, and in the intestines the alcohol quickly passes into the bloodstream. The blood carries it to the liver, where it is broken down and excreted, thus removing it from the bloodstream. In this way the liver can handle in an hour the alcohol in one cocktail, one glass of wine, or one can of beer.

Drink more than that in an hour, and the alcohol remains in the blood and is carried to the brain. There, a little can make you more sociable, too much may make you obnoxious. If five hundredths of one percent of your total blood volume is alcohol, you will be tipsy; ten to fifteen hundredths will make you officially intoxicated. Toxic is in that word “intoxicated” and means poisons are in your body.

Now, what does this excess of alcohol do as it travels through your system? First stop is your stomach. There it can erode the mucous coating that protects the lining of your stomach from stomach acid. It can also make your stomach produce more acid.

Alcohol takes water out of your body cells. Excessive amounts of alcohol dehydrate the liver cells and eventually destroy them, resulting in cirrhosis. The damaged liver can no longer supply sufficient sugar to the bloodstream, opening the way for hypoglycemia. It becomes less and less efficient in removing alcohol from the blood. Then the alcohol goes throughout the body, dehydrating and killing cells everywhere. The arteries are constricted, less blood flows to the heart, and its muscles are weakened.

When the alcohol reaches your brain, it dehydrates the brain cells and interferes with the generation of electric messages. When the alcohol leaves your system, the brain cells regain their water. Drinking excessive amounts over a long period of time, however, can impair intelligence and memory. Brain size diminishes as cells are destroyed, and IQ drops permanently.

Heavy drinking may cause men to develop female characteristics. Men produce both male and female hormones, but the liver eliminates the female ones. A damaged liver, however, lets them remain. Heavy drinking makes pregnant women more likely to miscarry or deliver a stillborn. If the baby is born alive, there is special risk of birth defects.

For pregnant women and alcoholics, any drinking is too much. For men and women generally, moderate drinking allows only small quantities of alcohol to reach the brain. Several drinks in a short period of time are too much for anyone. One drink for the alcoholic is one too many.

The conclusion of the matter: A little wine for the sake of your stomach, but not too much for the sake of your liver, your heart, and your brain—and for the sake of those around you.

Drinking—Why Not?

To make a responsible decision about drinking, you really need to know the facts about alcohol and how it can affect you. But when it comes to alcohol, many people have more feelings than facts. What about you? How about taking a little test? Mark the following statements True or False. The answers appear on page 14.

WELL, how did you do? Did you learn something? Really, though, this is far more than just an academic test. Knowing the facts about alcohol is a serious matter. If you know the pitfalls, you can avoid them. The Bible warns: “At its end it [wine or alcohol, when you overindulge] bites just like a serpent, and it secretes poison just like a viper.”—Proverbs 23:32.

The case of a young man named John in the northeastern United States well illustrates how alcohol, when misused, can ‘bite like a snake.’ John had married as a teenager. One night he had a fight with his young wife and stormed out of the house. He set out to get drunk. After gulping down a whole pint (nearly half a liter) of vodka, he fell into a coma. Were it not for the efforts of doctors and nurses, John would have died. Evidently John didn’t realize that rapidly gulping down a large amount of alcohol can be fatal. Ignorance about alcohol’s effects almost cost him his life.

But that’s not all. Apparently John thought that he could drown his problems in alcohol, that somehow they would go away. And in this he’s not alone. When asked by Awake! why they had got involved in drinking, a number of young people responded: ‘To escape.’ Escape from what? From pressures at home. Others said that they drink because they can’t handle school or some other problem. So getting high is an escape.

But is it? Again, it’s helpful to know a little about how alcohol can affect you.

The Rebound Effect

When you drink, alcohol depresses your brain by diminishing, or putting down, your anxiety level. That means you feel relaxed, less anxious, less worried than before you drank. Suddenly your problems don’t seem so bad. Thus, the Bible says: “Give intoxicating liquor, you people, to the one about to perish.” Why? As the proverb says, that he may ‘forget his troubles.’—Proverbs 31:6, 7.

Paul experienced this. He’s a young man who as a teenager drank to escape from family problems. “I learned very early that drinking was a way to relieve the pressure I was under,” recalls Paul. “It relaxed my mind.” If that were all, you might think that drinking to get relief isn’t such a bad idea, that there’s no great harm done. After all, when the alcohol wears off, your level of anxiety goes back to normal, right?

Wrong! Alcohol has a rebound effect. Psychotherapist Dr. Stanley E. Gitlow explains: “As the short-term sedative effect wears off, the other effect of alcohol, increased psychomotor activity, becomes apparent. No one in this world can get a sedative effect from any known drug without it being followed by an agitating effect which wears off more slowly.”

What that means is this: After a couple of hours, when the sedative effect of the alcohol wears off, your anxiety level bounces back, but to a higher level than before you drank. So you feel more anxious or more tense than before you drank at all. What you’re experiencing is withdrawal from alcohol, and it may last for up to 12 hours after you’ve been drinking.

If you now have another drink, you’ll feel relief, that is, your anxiety level will again go down. But a couple of hours later, it will rise, this time higher than ever! And so it goes. You don’t have to be an alcoholic to have this rebound effect. Anyone can, if he drinks enough.

So, overall, alcohol doesn’t really reduce anxiety but may increase it. More than that, though, when the alcohol wears off, your problems are still there, as big or even bigger than ever! So using alcohol as an escape is really not a good idea.

Of course that’s not to say that it’s wrong occasionally for persons of legal age to drink moderately. No, the Bible gives a very balanced view of drinking. For example, it rightly acknowledges that wine puts the heart in “a merry mood.” (Esther 1:10) At the same time, it straightforwardly advises: “Drinking too much makes you loud and foolish. It’s stupid to get drunk.”—Proverbs 20:1, Today’s English Version.

Answers to True or False Test

1. FALSE. Alcohol is predominantly a depressant. It can make you high in that it depresses, or reduces, your anxiety level, making you feel relaxed, less anxious than before you drank.

2. FALSE. Drinking moderate or small amounts of alcohol does not appear to do any serious harm to the body. However, prolonged and heavy drinking can damage the heart, brain, liver and other organs.

3. FALSE. Liquor or spirits generally are absorbed faster than wine or beer.

4. FALSE. Coffee can wake you up, and a cold shower can make you wet, but alcohol continues in your bloodstream until it is metabolized by your liver at the rate of about one half ounce of alcohol per hour.

5. FALSE. A number of factors such as your body weight and whether you’ve eaten or not can influence how alcohol affects you.

6. FALSE. “Drunkenness” describes the result of overconsumption. “Alcoholism” is a disorder that is characterized by a loss of control over drinking. However, not everyone who gets drunk is an alcoholic, and not all alcoholics get drunk.

7. TRUE. When mixed with alcohol, some drugs greatly exaggerate the usual reactions expected from alcohol or from the drug alone. For example, mixing alcohol and tranquilizers or sedatives could result in severe withdrawal symptoms, coma and even death. Thus, one drink plus one pill does not equal the effect of two drinks or two pills. Rather, the effect of the drug is multiplied three times, four times, ten times, or even more.

8. FALSE. Drunkenness is determined by the total amount of alcohol consumed, whether it’s in gin, whiskey, vodka, or whatever.

9. FALSE. Alcohol doesn’t have to be digested slowly the way most other foods must be. Rather, about 20 percent immediately passes through the walls of the stomach into the bloodstream. The rest goes from the stomach to the small intestine where it is then absorbed into the bloodstream.

10. TRUE. Under certain circumstances, even one drink can affect your judgment, interfere with your normal reactions and cause you to take needless chances. However, it usually takes just two ordinary-sized drinks within a few minutes to produce driving impairment in most persons.

Can Drinking Really Help Me Cope?

AS A teenager Dennis was extremely shy. He found it very difficult to hold even a simple conversation with others. But then Dennis discovered that alcoholic beverages could change things. “After a few drinks I would loosen up.” So he thought that alcohol could help him to overcome his shyness.

Dennis’ experience is not uncommon. Many young people drink alcoholic beverages for similar reasons. What about you? Will you drink? If so, for what reason will you drink? Before you answer those questions, there are a number of factors you’ll want to consider.

You’ll want to think about your parents, for they’re affected by what you do. You’ll also want to consider the law of the land—whether you’re legally old enough to drink. One more thing: It’s been said that every decision has a consequence. So in deciding if, how and when you will drink, you’ll also want to weigh the consequences of your decision, for misusing alcohol can have long-term effects that perhaps you haven’t thought about.

The Need for Balance

There is no denying that there are some benefits in the moderate use of alcoholic beverages. Even the Bible acknowledges that wine can make the heart merry or enhance the taste of a meal. (Ecclesiastes 9:7) There is also some evidence that light natural wines have certain health advantages. (1 Timothy 5:23) This appears to be particularly true for the elderly.

In all honesty, though, would you say that most young people who drink do so moderately, to enhance the taste of a meal or for health advantages? “You just can’t picture a group of 15-year-olds sitting around a table, sipping martinis and having pleasant conversation,” says Fred, a young man who had drunk heavily as a teenager. He added: “So often young people drink to get high.”

Of course, not all young people misuse alcohol in this way. However, when interviewed by Awake!, more than a few youths who had got involved in drinking did concede that their primary purpose in doing so was to get high or even drunk! Some admitted also that they drank to cope with problems, to give them courage or, like Dennis, to help them be more sociable. Could there be some long-term dangers from misusing alcohol in this way?

Your Mind Needs Exercise Too

Experience is the best teacher. Or so you’ve heard. While experience may not necessarily be the best teacher, it certainly is a teacher. In other words, as you grow up, one important way you learn is by experience. As you experience life and its problems you learn to cope with difficult situations. This is very important to your proper emotional development.

We might illustrate it this way: Your body needs exercise. When it’s exercised, it grows stronger and healthier, right? Well, it’s the same with your mind. It, too, needs exercise. How do you exercise your mind? By experiencing and dealing with problems. But just as your body will grow flabby when deprived of exercise, so, too, your mind will grow flabby if you don’t exercise it. It will be ill-equipped to deal with the daily problems of life. That’s why there’s such a danger in using alcohol as a way of escaping from problems and uncomfortable situations.

Dennis, the young man mentioned at the beginning, found this to be true. He explains: “I think a lot of young people drink to relieve the pressure they’re under, to blot out their problems. So they never really learn how to deal with problems. I can see that that’s what happened to me.” In what way?

Recall that Dennis thought that alcoholic beverages could help him overcome his shyness. As he said: “After a few drinks I would loosen up.” But did drinking really help him to overcome his shyness? “When the alcohol wore off, I went back into my shell,” answers Dennis. What about now, years later? Dennis continues: “I never really learned how to communicate with people on my own true level. I think I was stunted in this way.”

The same is true of dealing with stress in general. If you use alcohol now to cope with stress, you may find it difficult to handle stress as an adult.

Consider as an example Joan, who as a teenager used alcoholic beverages as a kind of escape. Did this have any long-term effects on her? Joan, now in her late 20’s, explains: “Recently, in a stressful situation I thought: ‘It would be nice to have a drink right now.’ You think that you can handle a situation better with a drink.”

Dennis and Joan’s comments agree with those of L. Hennecke, Ph.D., and S. E. Gitlow, M.D., published in the New York State Journal of Medicine: “When drugs [including alcohol] become the means of easing difficult situations—academic, social, or interpersonal—the necessity for learning healthy coping skills is removed. Effects may not be felt until adulthood, when establishing close personal relationships then often proves difficult, leaving the individual emotionally isolated.”

It’s far better to meet and deal with problems and difficult situations directly!

“He Would Not Take It”

In this connection, there is no finer example for you to imitate than Jesus Christ himself. On the final night of his earthly life, Jesus endured a terrible ordeal. Betrayed, then arrested, Jesus was put on trial before the Jewish religious leaders. He was brought before Pilate, then Herod, and then back to Pilate. Finally, after having been up all night, Jesus was handed over to be impaled.—Mark 14:43–15:15; Luke 22:47–23:25.

What if, right at that point, Jesus was offered something that would dull his senses, a mood-altering substance that would make it easier for him to cope with this most difficult situation? That’s exactly what happened! The Bible explains: “So they brought him to the place Golgotha, which means, when translated, Skull Place. Here they tried to give him wine drugged with myrrh, but he would not take it.” (Mark 15:22, 23) Jesus wanted to be in possession of all his faculties. He wanted to face this difficult situation squarely. He was no escapist!

Of course, the wine that Jesus was offered was drugged, and that’s why he refused it. Later, when offered evidently a moderate amount of undrugged wine, Jesus accepted. Why? Simply to quench his thirst and to fulfill a Bible prophecy.—John 19:28-30; Psalm 69:21.

By comparison, your problems, pressures or stresses pale into insignificance. But still you can learn a valuable lesson from Jesus. Instead of using a mood-altering substance (such as alcohol) to cope with problems, pressures and uncomfortable situations, you’re much better off dealing with them. As you face more and more of life’s problems you will get better and better at handling them. You will grow to have a healthy emotional makeup.

Making an informed decision about if, how and when you will drink alcoholic beverages is a serious responsibility. If you choose not to drink, feel good about it. You don’t have to apologize to others for not drinking. You’re entitled to be respected for your decision. On the other hand, if you’re of legal age and you choose to drink, then by all means drink responsibly—in moderation.

Alcoholism—The Facts, The Myths

DID you pick No. 4? Perhaps the biggest myth about alcoholism is that the skid-row derelict is the typical alcoholic. Actually, fewer than 5 percent of the alcoholic population can be found in the derelict sections of large cities. The rest? They are taking care of the children at home, caring for patients, working at the office.

Of all major health problems, probably none is more shrouded in myth than alcoholism. So what are the facts? The facts must be recognized if alcoholism is to be treated. And it can be treated successfully.

● What Is an Alcoholic?

According to Marty Mann, founder-consultant of the National Council on Alcoholism, “an alcoholic is someone whose drinking causes a continuing and growing problem in any department of his life.” The key word is “continuing.” To illustrate: If drinking was causing a problem in the homelife, social life, business or professional life of a normal drinker, he could drink less, even though this might call for real determination. But with the alcoholic it’s different. Oh, he may try to cut down. But no matter how much determination he may have, once he starts to drink, he is unable to control it, and thus drinking causes a “continuing” problem in his life.

● Why Is Alcoholism Called a “Disease”?

In a general sense, a disease is defined as “a disturbance in function or structure of any organ or part of the body, possessing certain recognizable symptoms.” Does alcoholism fit the definition? According to the American Medical Association, the World Health Organization and numerous other medical and government agencies, it does.

How is there “a disturbance in function” in the body of an alcoholic? Well, alcohol affects him differently from the way it affects other people. In the early stages he often consumes huge amounts of alcohol without getting drunk. Then, too, he may have blackouts, afterward not remembering what he said or did while drinking, although he was fully conscious and appeared normal to others. And as we will see, there are recognizable symptoms.

Alcoholism is not strictly a physical problem. The alcoholic is affected mentally, emotionally and spiritually as well, and efforts to help him must take these factors into consideration.

● Are Some People Predisposed to Alcoholism?

There is increasing evidence that this may be the case. For example, a study carried out in Denmark between 1970 and 1976 found that sons of alcoholics were four times as likely to be alcoholic as were sons of nonalcoholics. And this was so even though the children were raised by nonalcoholic adoptive parents.

In another study, conducted at the University of Washington in Seattle, it was found that young men with a family history of alcoholism developed high levels of acetaldehyde in their blood when they drank alcohol. Science Digest suggests that the “increased acetaldehyde may heighten the feeling of intoxication and pleasure alcohol brings, thereby serving as strong inducement to drink more.”

Such findings, however, are not conclusive and indicate only that some predisposition to alcoholism may be hereditary.

● Is Alcoholism Curable?

If by “curable” is meant the ability to return to normal controlled drinking, this has happened so rarely that most experts would answer, No! Dr. Sheila Blume, director of the New York State Division of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse, put it this way: “I tell my patients to imagine that they are on this side of Long Island Sound and are asked to swim to Connecticut through shark-infested waters. Out of hundreds of swimmers, one or two might make it—but would you plunge in?”

Alcoholism is, however, controllable, and most counselors and recovering alcoholics agree that it can best be controlled only by total abstinence.

● Is It the Same as Drunkenness?

No. Drunkenness describes the result of overconsumption—a temporary loss of control over physical and mental capacities. But not everyone who gets drunk is an alcoholic. And not all alcoholics get drunk. For instance, a recovering alcoholic may not drink at all. Yet he is still an alcoholic; if he started drinking, he eventually would lose control.

The Bible condemns both heavy drinking and drunkenness as morally wrong. (Proverbs 23:20, 21; 1 Corinthians 5:11-13; 6:9, 10) But the alcoholic does not have to get drunk. He can stay sober by not drinking. However, if he, with full knowledge of his condition, chooses to go on drinking and continues to get drunk, then he has a moral problem—drunkenness.

● Is It Just a Case of Willpower?

“Most alcoholics have more than their share of will power,” answers Marty Mann. “They will get up and go to work when anyone else, feeling as they do, would be in bed calling for the doctor.” If alcoholics were simply lacking in willpower, then no doubt most of them would be skid-row derelicts.

Perhaps the myth about alcoholics’ being weak willed stems from what happens when they do drink—they lose control. So the alcoholic must use his willpower to abstain from the first drink.

● What About Tranquilizers?

The alcoholic who wakes up with the shakes and doesn’t want to drink in the morning might reach for a tranquilizer. But what he may not realize is that his body doesn’t know the difference. Alcohol is a sedative, a mood changer, just as tranquilizers, sleeping pills, painkillers, even medicines for colds (which contain antihistamine) are mood changers. And any mood-changing substance can present a danger to the alcoholic.

To progress in recovery, therefore, many experts recommend that alcoholics abstain not only from alcohol but from all mood-changing substances.

● How Does Alcoholic Drinking Differ from Normal Drinking?

The alcoholic’s drinking goes beyond what is accepted as normal. For example, if somebody you know started sneaking into a closet to drink milk, surely you would conclude that something was wrong. It’s not normal. Yet alcoholics very often sneak drinks, even hiding bottles for later consumption. Normal drinkers don’t do that.

The biggest difference, however, between alcoholic drinking and normal drinking is control. The social drinker, even the heavy drinker, usually can decide when and how much he or she will drink. The alcoholic can’t. He consistently drinks more than he intended to.

Have others become increasingly concerned about your drinking? Be honest with yourself. ‘I can stop any time I want to,’ you might say. And you’re probably right. But “going on the wagon” is no test, because even the most advanced alcoholics can at times do that for a while. Besides, how do you feel during periods of abstinence—calm and relaxed or nervous and tense? Remember, the key is control. Thus the book Alcoholics Anonymous states: “If when drinking, you have little control over the amount you take, you are probably alcoholic.”

● Why Doesn’t the Alcoholic See What Is Happening to Him?

As his condition worsens, the alcoholic’s sense of self-worth deteriorates and in its place grow anxiety, guilt, shame and remorse. To live with himself, he unconsciously uses several defenses.

Rationalization: He gives his drinking and its effects a variety of excuses: “I’m nervous,” “I’m depressed,” “I drank on an empty stomach.”

Projection: He puts his painful feelings onto others. Now he sees others as “hateful,” “spiteful,” “mean,” “against me.”

Repression: He tunes out painful drinking episodes, actually convincing himself that they never happened. Thus, with his wife upset over last night’s binge, he might lean over and ask: ‘Is anything bothering you this morning?’ And she can’t believe her ears!

Euphoric recall: At times his memory of drinking episodes is euphoric or happy. So he might say, ‘Yes, I had a few last night, but I was just fine’—when actually he wasn’t ‘just fine.’ Alcohol has distorted his perception.

These defenses build up a wall of denial that hinders the alcoholic from seeing what’s happening to him. He needs help.

● What Kind of Help Is Needed?

‘All he needs is help to stop drinking,’ you might think. But he needs more.

Physically: He must be safely withdrawn from alcohol (“detoxified”). This may require hospitalization so that alcohol-related health problems can also be treated. But physically recovering is not enough. Otherwise, once he’s feeling better, he might think, ‘Now I can handle it.’

Mentally: He should learn the facts about alcoholism, becoming aware of and accepting the logical reasons for him to abstain. This knowledge will help him in his lifelong fight to maintain sobriety.

Socially: He must learn to live comfortably with himself and others.

Emotionally: He must learn to cope with anxiety and the other negative feelings within him. He must learn to be happy without alcohol.

Spiritually: Since he is given to hopelessness and fear, he needs help that will inspire hope, confidence and trust.

● Where Can Such Help Be Found?

While there are various forms of treatment available, one thing stands out as a must—having someone knowledgeable and sympathetic to talk to, perhaps someone who has been there and back. This can inspire hope, for it lets the alcoholic know that he, too, can recover.

Many alcoholics have been aided by an alcoholism rehabilitation center. Such centers may have a staff that is drawn from many disciplines, including physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists and trained social workers. Here the patient usually goes through a thorough educational process whereby he learns about alcoholism in a way he can accept.

Then, too, group-therapy sessions led by trained counselors may offer the patient practical support with his problems and help him to open up and become aware of the unconscious defenses he has been using. Since he can’t change what he can’t see, such insight is an aid in his recovering. But whatever therapy is used, the basic goal is to help the patient to learn to cope emotionally without resorting to alcohol.

However, once he leaves such treatment, the recovering alcoholic may find himself face to face with the realities that used to drive him to drink. There may be lingering negative feelings about himself, family problems or a shaky job situation. Clearly, he needs ongoing help to cope. For such help, some turn to local volunteer groups made up of recovering alcoholics who are dedicated to helping one another.

There is, however, another source of help available, one that can give the recovering alcoholic strength “beyond what is normal” in his daily struggle to cope with life and maintain sobriety. What is that?—2 Corinthians 4:7, 8.

“My success,” states a recovering alcoholic, “is due to my faith in Jehovah, the power of prayer and the help given to me by my Christian brothers. Without that, I would now be in the gutter, or dead, through alcohol.” Yes, it was by studying the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses and attending Christian meetings that this man acquired real faith in God and loving Christian companions. But in what way can these help?

Well, his study of God’s Word can help the recovering alcoholic to change his way of thinking. (Romans 12:1, 2) Feelings of guilt and remorse are eased as he comes to know Jehovah as a merciful, forgiving God. (Exodus 34:6, 7) Too, Bible principles show him how to improve family life, how to be the kind of worker any employer would delight in, and how to avoid thoughts and actions that create undue anxiety and worry.—Ephesians 5:22-33; Proverbs 10:4; 13:4; Matthew 6:25-34.

As he builds a trusting relationship with Jehovah God, he learns to commit his cares and burdens confidently to Jehovah in prayer. With the help of loving Christian friends, he learns to communicate clearly his feelings and needs and comes to realize that he can get close to others without fear. Such relationships inspire the secure feeling and the sense of self-worth so much needed by the recovering alcoholic.—Psalm 55:22; 65:2; Proverbs 17:17; 18:24.

So, have you or others become concerned about your drinking? Has drinking caused you problems in one or more areas of your life? Then do something about it! Why hold onto something that can cause you so much pain and trouble? By learning the facts (not myths) and acting in harmony with them, it is possible to recover from alcoholism and lead a happy, productive life.

Is drinking causing problems in your life? Why hold onto something that can cause so much pain and trouble?

Symptoms of Alcoholism

(Please note that these are some symptoms of alcoholism and that the onset of these symptoms may vary from person to person.)

Possible early symptoms

● Gulping Drinks (“Others drink so slowly”)

● Sneaking drinks

● Predrinking drinking (“Might as well have one before the party”)

● Increase in tolerance

● Blackouts (“How did I get home last night?”)

Possible middle symptoms

● Begins losing control

● Denial of problem

● Changes drinking pattern (“I’d better switch to beer. It’s Scotch I can’t handle”)

● Tries “going on the wagon” (abstaining)

● Drinks alone

Possible late symptoms

● All control is lost

● Benders (drunken sprees) increase in frequency and intensity

● Decrease in tolerance

● Unreasonable fears and anxieties

● Delirium tremens