- Home
- Help Yourself Addiction Tools
- Self Management Tool Box
- Problems To Change
- Alcohol
- The Common Sense of Drinking (1930)
The Common Sense of Drinking (1930)
- By Misc Author
- Published 01/2/2007
- Alcohol
-
Rating:
The next phase of the work is that of relaxation and suggestion. This well-known method of psychotherapy has a twofold purpose.
First, to remove the emotional tenseness from the conscious mind; second, to educate the unconscious so that it will function in harmony with the desires of the conscious.
Relaxation, or the elimination of tenseness, comes first. If people accustomed to the use of alcohol will reflect, they will probably agree that the pleasurable state of mind resulting from the first few drinks is due primarily to two mental states -- a feeling of self-importance, and an accompanying feeling of calmness, poise, or relaxation.
We have already indicated such 'self-importance" can be created legitimately and maintained permanently without recourse to alcohol.
Relaxation can as easily be achieved by natural methods, and experience has shown it over and over again that when this has been the case, a most important blow has been struck at the fundamental causes of excessive drinking.
This tension, which is largely emotional, can express itself in a variety of ways; fear, worry, and, most commonly, boredom.
Unhappily, for many men, alcohol for a short space of time removes tension most effectively, and so the person disposed to these states of mind has a tendency to resort to it as a narcotic (a quieting drug having strong habit forming propensities).
That alcohol is no real solution to nervous tension is shown when drinking is carried to its extreme limit (delirium tremens).
But, whatever the final results may be, the initial effects are so satisfactory that the individual is tempted to seek this method over and over again for want of a better one, with full realization of the eventual suffering that he must endure.
On the other hand, if he can find a method which will prevent the accumulation of this excess tension, if he can learn to face life calmly and quietly, he will not feel the need of what he thinks of as a stimulant but what in reality is a sedative.
Men, if necessary, can resist a stimulant; but once they employ alcohol as a narcotic they have great difficulty in controlling themselves.
When the narcotic employed is very powerful, as is the case with morphine and cocaine, the problem is practically insoluble outside of the four walls of an institution.
Relaxation, however, can be achieved without alcohol if a person will take the time to study the method.
Let us consider for a moment the physical aspect. When a man can go through the day using only those muscles which he needs at the time and to the extent that the situation demands and can permit them to recuperate the rest of the time through relaxation, he is far more efficient in business and far less fatigued when the day's work is over than he is if, for example, he sits at his desk with his legs rigid and his toes dug into his shoes or walks home at the end of the day with his jaws and fists clenched.
From the mental point of view, if this same man can train himself by methods of relaxation to avoid displays of temper, baseless apprehensions, shyness, and other unpleasant moods, not by attempting to suppress them, but by finding out why they exist and anticipating occasions which might create them, he has begun to get at the roots of his drinking in a manner that he never did when he was putting the blame on his inheritance, the bad start he got in college -- or the weather.
Now let us consider the phenomena of suggestion.
The existence of the unconscious (subconscious or co-conscious) and the fact that it can be affected, without even the knowledge of the conscious, were definitely proved long ago by hypnotism.
Thus if all in need of it could be hypnotized, and if the effects of hypnotism were permanent, the whole problem of alcoholism would be solved by this method of treatment.
Unfortunately, however, many persons cannot be hypnotized (this is particularly true of introverts, who make up the largest group of alcoholics), and those who can are in most cases only temporarily relieved of their ailments.
In fact, it was because of the limitations of hypnotism that Freud was impelled to seek other methods to treat successfully the psychoneuroses, and thus finally evolved psychoanalysis.
He was perfectly capable of putting many of his patients in a state of hypnosis, and of giving them, while in that state, suggestions that were of the utmost benefit for the time being, but because of the ultimate recurrence of the malady he was dissatisfied with it as a means of psychotherapy.
On the other hand, it has been found by many practitioners that a deep though fully conscious relaxation (what the late Dr. Morton Prince called a state of abstraction) followed by suggestion seems to give the unconscious mind the stimulation and direction that it needs.
As the patient is well aware of what is taking place, the results of this suggestion are not as quick and spectacular as they are when amnesia is induced, but they are surer and in the long run their effect is out of all proportion to the energy spent in practicing them, provided the work is carried on systematically over a sufficient period of time.
Let him who is skeptical about this suggestion commit to memory two verses of poetry - one in the morning to recite in the evening, and the other just before going to sleep to recite on the following morning. He will soon discover that the latter gives better results with a minimum of effort expended.
The relaxation procedure is as follows. The patient is instructed to recline in a chair and think of himself as being numb, heavy, limp, and relaxed. He is told that the chair and the floor are holding him up, and that there is no need for him to make any effort whatsoever.
He need not even keep perfectly quiet if it is difficult for him to do so. If other ideas than those he is being given enter his mind, he is warned not to try to resist them but to let them come into his field of thought and then quietly pass out of it again.
He takes a long deep breath in the beginning which is slowly exhaled, and thereafter the breathing is rhythmical and slow as in sleep.
In a voice that is even and monotonous the instructor enumerates the more prominent muscles of the body, such as the arms, legs, shoulders, and back, which are to be relaxed, and the patient is informed many times that he is becoming drowsier and s1eepier, and that his mind is following his body into a state of relaxation.
When at the end of four or five minutes a state of drowsiness has been attained, simple suggestions are given; but these suggestions must under no circumstances conflict with ideas which are acceptable to the individual when he is in alert condition.
He is then instructed to relax himself at night in much the same manner, though he is at perfect liberty to invent any method of his own which he may find more effective in treating himself.
For instance, one patient discovered that relaxation could best be induced under conditions of extreme tension by first making the muscles all over the body as taut as possible while slowly inhaling, and then very slowly relaxing while exhaling, the process to be repeated more and more slowly as often as necessary.
The suggestions given to the patient during the relaxed state are in general to the effect that he is going to be more calm, poised, and relaxed on the following day, that he is slowly but surely building up a well-poised mature personality, and that as his nervous tension passes away the desire for alcohol will go with it, furthermore, that through a relaxed attitude he will develop a sense of relativity so that he can distinguish the true values of life from the false, and that, what is all-important, having distinguished them, he will be able to develop them in a sustained manner.
Alcohol itself is referred to as briefly possible because of the danger of employing negatively suggestive words, but in the beginning it is necessary to mention it if the subject is to be done sufficient justice in the patient's estimation.
If, on retiring, a person is already relaxed and ready for sleep, the artificial method can be dispensed with, but the suggestion must never be omitted as the ideas in the mind at that particular moment are more potent in influencing the personality than at any other time.
A whole book might be -- and indeed has been -- written on the energy wasted and the exhaustion produced by living in a contracted state of mind and body.
Bodily tension, except where it is willed for the accomplishment of some task, is always the result of a nervous state of mind, though the latter can exist apparently independent of physical expression.
For those who are interested in the physiological side of this problem I recommend Progressive Relaxation, by Dr. Edmund Jacobson. It is rather technical for a layman, but it shows in a convincing manner the far-reaching results of relaxation.
I appreciate that this relaxation-suggestion phase of the treatment may sound like hocus-pocus to those who have never tried it.
But I have never yet seen a person -- and alcoholics are much more apt to be skeptical than credulous -- who did not admit receiving very distinct benefits from it, once they had given it a fair trial.
First, to remove the emotional tenseness from the conscious mind; second, to educate the unconscious so that it will function in harmony with the desires of the conscious.
Relaxation, or the elimination of tenseness, comes first. If people accustomed to the use of alcohol will reflect, they will probably agree that the pleasurable state of mind resulting from the first few drinks is due primarily to two mental states -- a feeling of self-importance, and an accompanying feeling of calmness, poise, or relaxation.
We have already indicated such 'self-importance" can be created legitimately and maintained permanently without recourse to alcohol.
Relaxation can as easily be achieved by natural methods, and experience has shown it over and over again that when this has been the case, a most important blow has been struck at the fundamental causes of excessive drinking.
This tension, which is largely emotional, can express itself in a variety of ways; fear, worry, and, most commonly, boredom.
Unhappily, for many men, alcohol for a short space of time removes tension most effectively, and so the person disposed to these states of mind has a tendency to resort to it as a narcotic (a quieting drug having strong habit forming propensities).
That alcohol is no real solution to nervous tension is shown when drinking is carried to its extreme limit (delirium tremens).
But, whatever the final results may be, the initial effects are so satisfactory that the individual is tempted to seek this method over and over again for want of a better one, with full realization of the eventual suffering that he must endure.
On the other hand, if he can find a method which will prevent the accumulation of this excess tension, if he can learn to face life calmly and quietly, he will not feel the need of what he thinks of as a stimulant but what in reality is a sedative.
Men, if necessary, can resist a stimulant; but once they employ alcohol as a narcotic they have great difficulty in controlling themselves.
When the narcotic employed is very powerful, as is the case with morphine and cocaine, the problem is practically insoluble outside of the four walls of an institution.
Relaxation, however, can be achieved without alcohol if a person will take the time to study the method.
Let us consider for a moment the physical aspect. When a man can go through the day using only those muscles which he needs at the time and to the extent that the situation demands and can permit them to recuperate the rest of the time through relaxation, he is far more efficient in business and far less fatigued when the day's work is over than he is if, for example, he sits at his desk with his legs rigid and his toes dug into his shoes or walks home at the end of the day with his jaws and fists clenched.
From the mental point of view, if this same man can train himself by methods of relaxation to avoid displays of temper, baseless apprehensions, shyness, and other unpleasant moods, not by attempting to suppress them, but by finding out why they exist and anticipating occasions which might create them, he has begun to get at the roots of his drinking in a manner that he never did when he was putting the blame on his inheritance, the bad start he got in college -- or the weather.
Now let us consider the phenomena of suggestion.
The existence of the unconscious (subconscious or co-conscious) and the fact that it can be affected, without even the knowledge of the conscious, were definitely proved long ago by hypnotism.
Thus if all in need of it could be hypnotized, and if the effects of hypnotism were permanent, the whole problem of alcoholism would be solved by this method of treatment.
Unfortunately, however, many persons cannot be hypnotized (this is particularly true of introverts, who make up the largest group of alcoholics), and those who can are in most cases only temporarily relieved of their ailments.
In fact, it was because of the limitations of hypnotism that Freud was impelled to seek other methods to treat successfully the psychoneuroses, and thus finally evolved psychoanalysis.
He was perfectly capable of putting many of his patients in a state of hypnosis, and of giving them, while in that state, suggestions that were of the utmost benefit for the time being, but because of the ultimate recurrence of the malady he was dissatisfied with it as a means of psychotherapy.
On the other hand, it has been found by many practitioners that a deep though fully conscious relaxation (what the late Dr. Morton Prince called a state of abstraction) followed by suggestion seems to give the unconscious mind the stimulation and direction that it needs.
As the patient is well aware of what is taking place, the results of this suggestion are not as quick and spectacular as they are when amnesia is induced, but they are surer and in the long run their effect is out of all proportion to the energy spent in practicing them, provided the work is carried on systematically over a sufficient period of time.
Let him who is skeptical about this suggestion commit to memory two verses of poetry - one in the morning to recite in the evening, and the other just before going to sleep to recite on the following morning. He will soon discover that the latter gives better results with a minimum of effort expended.
The relaxation procedure is as follows. The patient is instructed to recline in a chair and think of himself as being numb, heavy, limp, and relaxed. He is told that the chair and the floor are holding him up, and that there is no need for him to make any effort whatsoever.
He need not even keep perfectly quiet if it is difficult for him to do so. If other ideas than those he is being given enter his mind, he is warned not to try to resist them but to let them come into his field of thought and then quietly pass out of it again.
He takes a long deep breath in the beginning which is slowly exhaled, and thereafter the breathing is rhythmical and slow as in sleep.
In a voice that is even and monotonous the instructor enumerates the more prominent muscles of the body, such as the arms, legs, shoulders, and back, which are to be relaxed, and the patient is informed many times that he is becoming drowsier and s1eepier, and that his mind is following his body into a state of relaxation.
When at the end of four or five minutes a state of drowsiness has been attained, simple suggestions are given; but these suggestions must under no circumstances conflict with ideas which are acceptable to the individual when he is in alert condition.
He is then instructed to relax himself at night in much the same manner, though he is at perfect liberty to invent any method of his own which he may find more effective in treating himself.
For instance, one patient discovered that relaxation could best be induced under conditions of extreme tension by first making the muscles all over the body as taut as possible while slowly inhaling, and then very slowly relaxing while exhaling, the process to be repeated more and more slowly as often as necessary.
The suggestions given to the patient during the relaxed state are in general to the effect that he is going to be more calm, poised, and relaxed on the following day, that he is slowly but surely building up a well-poised mature personality, and that as his nervous tension passes away the desire for alcohol will go with it, furthermore, that through a relaxed attitude he will develop a sense of relativity so that he can distinguish the true values of life from the false, and that, what is all-important, having distinguished them, he will be able to develop them in a sustained manner.
Alcohol itself is referred to as briefly possible because of the danger of employing negatively suggestive words, but in the beginning it is necessary to mention it if the subject is to be done sufficient justice in the patient's estimation.
If, on retiring, a person is already relaxed and ready for sleep, the artificial method can be dispensed with, but the suggestion must never be omitted as the ideas in the mind at that particular moment are more potent in influencing the personality than at any other time.
A whole book might be -- and indeed has been -- written on the energy wasted and the exhaustion produced by living in a contracted state of mind and body.
Bodily tension, except where it is willed for the accomplishment of some task, is always the result of a nervous state of mind, though the latter can exist apparently independent of physical expression.
For those who are interested in the physiological side of this problem I recommend Progressive Relaxation, by Dr. Edmund Jacobson. It is rather technical for a layman, but it shows in a convincing manner the far-reaching results of relaxation.
I appreciate that this relaxation-suggestion phase of the treatment may sound like hocus-pocus to those who have never tried it.
But I have never yet seen a person -- and alcoholics are much more apt to be skeptical than credulous -- who did not admit receiving very distinct benefits from it, once they had given it a fair trial.
