The Plain Facts About Alcoholism: What it Is and What it is Not

"Aunt Mary drinks a beer every night before she goes to bed-- she is an alcoholic!" "Did you see how blasted George got at the party last night?! he's an alcoholic!" "Grandpa hasn't had a drink in the last year-- he's a dry-drunk alcoholic!"

As this subject does not usually have the degree of stigma attached to it as it did in the past, the word is too casually and too freely tossed around, generating a host of misconceptions about what it really means, what it really is. As with any subject on which one wishes to learn the facts, the best course of action is to go to the source-- in the case of alcoholism, "the source" is those who defined and described this condition for what it was.

As stated by Dr. William Silkwood in the Alcoholics Anonymous text known as "the Big Book," alcoholics are individuals who "cannot start drinking without developing the phenomenon of craving." In plainer language, it is called a compulsion-- when one has a drink, he will want more, and not be able to stop of his own free will. It is also referred to as a "bodily allergy"-- and, as Silkwood pointed out, this type of odd reaction which alcoholics have to alcohol differentiates them from the majority of the population, for, unlike the majority, they do not possess the ability to control their intake.

Of people who consume alcohol, or have done so in the past, alcoholics make up the minority. It is another misconception that if a person drinks alcohol he will at some point "become" an alcoholic, or "develop" the condition. This compulsion, or allergy, is present in many people, yet not in all people, not even in most people.

The Big Book also asserts that while others are not capable of "diagnosing" whether or not a person is an alcoholic, the person himself does have the ability to do so-- that if a person has a concern or doubt about whether or not he fits into this category, he can put himself to the test: "Step over to the nearest barroom and try some controlled drinking. Try to drink and stop abruptly. Try it more than once. It will not take long for you to decide, if you are honest with yourself about it. It may be worth a bad case of the jitters if you get a full knowledge of your condition." (from "Alcoholics Anonymous"-- the Big Book.)

In clarifying what alcoholism is-- a compulsion over which one has no control; a "bodily allergy" which compels a person to continue drinking once he has begun; the inability to put down a drink of one's own free will-- hopefully it will also clear up some popular misconceptions about what it is not. A drinking binge, a drunk driving ticket, doing something stupid while under the influence-- while these are serious errors in judgment, they do not automatically mean one is an alcoholic; neither does feeling the need for a drink when unduly stressed. A sign that one may be an alcoholic is if drinking causes problems in one's everyday life, relationships, job, etc.; but even then, one must determine whether he meets the criteria of an alcoholic, or if these difficulties are being caused by other problems which must be addressed.

You may drink daily, or once a year; the frequency of drinking is not the deciding factor. Nor is the frequency of one's drinking or the lack thereof what is meant by another commonly-misused term, a "dry-drunk." Dry-drunk is the state of an alcoholic when he is not drinking but exhibits all or most of the same characteristics as when he is drinking-- the same negative attitudes, the same negative behaviors. An alcoholic who drinks, needs help; an alcoholic who possesses and exhibits the same characteristics without drinking, needs help. It is the responsibility of the individual to determine whether or not he has this problem, and, if so, to seek the help he needs.