THEY WERE drinking water and coffee when we visited. Members of the Outlook team trekked to the AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) meeting point to speak with members who we hoped would be willing to share their story. They were not.
One woman told us that alcoholism was a personal challenge and the story of one AA member is not likely to be like that of another. That is the AA way. Blunt honesty.
Psychotherapists who work with members of other AA groups told us that members of AA, unless they preface their opening remarks with an admission of their alcoholic dependency, will not be permitted by the group to have their say. The moment of honesty is required to remind them to be on their guard, forever.
Internationally known comedian, Richard Lewis, who celebrated eight years of being alcohol free with the recent publication of his book, "The Other Big Depression", says as much. In a recent interview in the December 2001 edition of Psychology Today by PT editior Robert Epstein, the artiste said that he no longer allows himself to have "even one" drink:
"I went to a wedding and someone said it's a wedding toast the groom. He did not know that I could not have a drink." That one drink he said, could mean the loss of his sobriety and starting all over again at day one. After eight years of an exhilaratingly dry life, "Now I am a sober man going back to places I love. I love going back to the restaurants where I might have had an embarrassing evening. I go back without fear. That's one of the pleasures of recovering retracing your steps with dignity."
It is not merely the fear of death from the illness that no longer stalks him. "Maybe I'll die (now) suddenly or foolishly--something will happen to end it all, but, until that happens, as flawed and ungrateful and self-centred as I can be from time to time, and as full of tears and obsessions as I am, the one thing that I'm most proud of is that I am no longer ruled by alcohol."
Alcohol causes problems in how those dependent on it relate to others. "It stimulates their sex drive and then diminishes it. It eventually impairs sexual functioning. Alcohol removes inhibitions and the defence systems which are normally in place psychologically. Out comes what is underneath which can include anger and violence." This, according to clinical psychologist, Dr. Ruth Doorbar.
