For the sake of those who wish to keep my argument in mind, I have summarized below the salient points in my exposition.

THOSE WHOM ALCOHOL POISONS

An abnormal drinker is either a man who habitually behaves in an asocial, i.e. dangerous or disgusting manner. When under the influence of liquor, even though the time spent in this condition be restricted to reasonable limits, or one who, unlike his normal drinking friends, is unable or unwilling to face a return to reality.

For these people a night's sleep is only a particularly long interval of abstention. This type is the true alcoholic. Sometimes both these characteristics of abnormal drinking are present in the same man. If not, the missing one is apt to be latent.

THE GENESIS OF THE HABIT

An individual becomes an alcoholic for three main reasons:

1. As a result of inheritance he possesses a nervous system which is non-resistant to alcohol. (In no sense is a direct craving transmitted from parent to offspring.)

2. By reason of his early environment. Through the ignorance of his parents or from their own nervous constitution the alcoholic was either spoiled or neglected. He was not brought up to face the world courageously. He is lacking in self-reliance no matter how physically brave he may be or how bold he may appear on the surface.

Psychologically he is unable to stand on his own two feet. As a result of this he unconsciously craves a stimulant-narcotic.

3. Because of the effects of his later environment, that is to say "school, college, economic and social competition," marriage, and for one generation at least, the World War.

TO WHOM RE-EDUCATION IS APPLICABLE:

Scientific treatment for the eradication of the drink habit can be successfully applied to sane men who have come to realize that drink has definitely disintegrated them to a point where they are no longer able to control themselves, but who would sincerely like to eliminate the habit if they could be shown how to do so.

THE TREATMENT

The treatment consists in instructing a man how to train his mind so that he carries out a sustained course of conduct consistent with the theories of his most mature intellectual self, how to form new habits and stick to them and conversely how to eliminate the unsatisfactory method of trying to adapt himself to his environment through the medium of alcohol.

The re-education is comprised of the following steps:

1. A mental analysis is made wherein the drinker learns that certain actions and systems of thinking, past as well as present, have directed him on the unfortunate course he has been pursuing, by creating doubts, fears and conflicts.

When these are removed his energy is free to take up more interesting and constructive occupations.

2. Various factors contribute to an abnormal state of tension which drink temporarily releases, only to aggravate it in the long run. This tension can be permanently removed by learning formal relaxation and suggestion.

3. The unconscious mind can be influenced by suggestion so that it cooperates with the conscious to bring about a consistent, intelligent course of action.

4. Actions (where they are not mere reflexes) are the direct result of thoughts. Experience has proved over and over again that thoughts can be definitely controlled and directed when it seems desirable to do so.

5. As the body and mind are indivisible parts of the same organism the mind is naturally much more efficient in the vigorous execution of new ideas if it is functioning in a sound body.

To this end the elements of a normal, healthy hygiene should be followed, If there is any actual or suspected disability it should be attended to by a competent physician.

6. The alcoholic is to a large extent demoralized and disintegrated. To overcome this condition a direct attack must be made on the small habits of daily inefficiency.

Alcohol is too strong an enemy to fight with untrained forces. To this end living by a self-made and self-imposed schedule will accomplish three very important results:

(a) The individual is continuously occupied;

(b) He is conscious that he is doing something concrete about his problem (in contrast to mere intellectualizing),

(c) He trains himself constantly in minor ways to obey his own commands.

This develops an ability to say "Yes" when he means "Yes," and "No" when he means "No."

7. Various unexpected pitfalls into which people have previously slipped are carefully explained so that the drinker is forewarned and forearmed as much as possible against the future.

8. Some means of self-expression, some outlet or hobby to satisfy the urge to create, some means of absorbing the will-to-power must be energetically sought.

The mind cannot dwell on the subject of not drinking all of the time, important as it may be. It must be diverted, intrigued and, if possible, inspired.

This does not always happen until the cure is completed, but if it can take place earlier it is a great assistance to rapid recovery.

9. The individual is only an inferior person as long as he continues to drink. The same driving force that has brought disintegration, if given a chance under conditions of sobriety, will carry him beyond the level of achievement attained by his average contemporary.

He has an energy within which must be utilized constructively or it will destroy him.

What Dr. Milton Harrington says of people with strong instinctive tendencies seems to be equally applicable to alcoholics. "Instinctive tendencies" he says, "drive some upward to success, while in others, who are unable to direct them into satisfactory channels, they are dammed up only to find outlet in unhealthy ways, and so, instead of doing useful work, react on the mind to distort and destroy it."

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From the book by Richard R. Peabody, Ph.D.
© (1930) Little, Brown and Co. Boston