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By Charlene Rubush, April 9, 2012 2:00 pm

Nearly every day I visit one of my favorite websites, The Fix. Today I read an excellent article by Vicki Hogarth, who is a recovering alcoholic, freelance writer and former celebrity journalist.

The title of the piece is Relapsing on Mouthwash. The subtitle says a lot.

The meetings I went to were creepy enough for me to avoid the program altogether—and eventually relapse while gargling. Then I realized something had to change: me.

I won’t go into the whole article, but the gist of it was, that Vicki had gone to a 28-day rehab, and when she came out, she really wasn’t into AA meetings. She found the meetings depressing.

She tried going out with her friends from work who drank, and she stayed sober for awhile. But as months went by, she notes that the “novelty of my sobriety wore off.”

One morning before work, she was gargling mouthwash, and instead of spitting it out, she swallowed it. Well, this brought on a buzz and before you know it, she was doing it too often. Within two weeks of binging on mouthwash, she had to detox with medical support.

Fortunately, this episode led her back to AA, where she found an AA meeting of people young, like herself. She even met an acquaintance there, and she finally began to feel comfortable with AA and the program.

Reading this article reminded me of an experience I had while attending Open AA meetings. (I’m not an alcoholic. I was trying to understand a loved one’s behavior.) Much to my surprise one night, I met an old friend and co-worker there. Jane had hired me for my first hairdressing job and was probably the first alcoholic I had daily interaction with. (Although I didn’t realize she had a problem at the time.)

I even went out with her a few times, and noticed she really downed the drinks awfully fast. But since I’d never been around that kind of behavior at that time in my life, I wasn’t particularly alarmed. Jane wasn’t a loud drunk. She actually became strangely quiet. It never occurred to me then, that I was putting myself in danger by riding with her.

Sadly, Jane’s problem was so bad, that one evening she went out barhopping alone, and got so drunk that she hit and killed a woman while driving. I still remember Jane being out of work due to her own injuries. She had all of her teeth knocked out and many broken bones. I never did know if she had to serve any jail time.

It was strange to meet up with her again so many years later in AA. But now I look back and feel extremely grateful that I wasn’t with her that horrible night. I’m also hoping she is still working her program and will never get in a car and drive drunk again.

To read Vicki’s article, go to:

http://www.thefix.com/content/hating-aa-drove-me-drink-moutwash-10038?page=all

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By Charlene Rubush, August 18, 2010 7:33 pm

To glean a better understanding of the mysterious, baffling disease of alcoholism, I often return to the work of alcoholism expert Doug Thorburn. Our society, as a whole, has a long way to go in learning about this insidious disease:

I’m listing below some startling facts from Thorburn’s excellent book, Alcoholism Myths and Realities- Removing the Stigma of Society’s Most Destructive Disease. It’s a well-known fact that our returning combat veterans are often struggling with alcohol abuse.

• Alcoholism is the most misunderstood of all diseases. This is rather surprising, since 1 out of 10 people have this disease and we are all directly or indirectly affected.
• Doctors and psychologists whom we trust to treat diseases and mental disorders are almost completely untrained in understanding and diagnosing the affliction.
• Medical doctors take as few as 24 classroom hours on the subject, virtually all on treating withdrawal and none on diagnosis.
• Psychologists are schooled in the idea that childhood trauma and other negative environmental factors can cause alcoholism, even though the evidence shows that such influences only shape its course.
• Secondary diseases are usually diagnosed long before alcoholism is identified.
• Alcoholism is the root cause or primary contributing factor to at least 300 other illnesses and disorders.
• Emergency room medical personnel treat symptoms of addiction, including accidents, in an estimated 50 to 80% of admissions, yet rarely test for alcohol or other drugs in the system.

I believe it is imperative that we teach a course on alcoholism in the primary grades. Thorburn notes (p.9) that most recovering alcoholics tell us they triggered alcoholism during their first drinking episode, usually at age 12 or 13.

Thinking back to my own education on this affliction, ( in my late 30′s) it took me attending a treatment center for 52 lectures on the subject, before I began to grasp the “big picture” of this disease. It is that complex; affecting body, mind and soul.

Doug Thorburn is one of the most forward-thinking of today’s alcoholism experts. I highly recommend all his books, and checking out his wonderful website and free newsletter. Get educated. The life you save may be your own, or that of a loved one. Go to:

 http://preventtragedy.com

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By Charlene Rubush, July 2, 2010 5:26 pm

Part Two:

IS THERE A HIDDEN ALCOHOLIC IN YOUR LIFE?

Doug Thorburn, in his excellent, informative book How To Spot Hidden Alcoholics—Using Behavioral Clues to Recognize Addiction in its Early Stages explains why most attempts to conquer problem drinking fail.

He uses numerous examples and case histories to demonstrate how subtle, seemingly innocuous behaviors are often early indicators of alcoholism that occur long before the alcoholic has lost control over his drinking.

 JUST AS CANCER STARTS IN A FEW CELLS AND SPREADS, ALCOHOLISM STARTS SMALL AND PROGRESSES TO A FATAL DISEASE

Some EARLY WARNING SIGNS include:

• Lying or twisted logic
• Belittling others
• Poor conduct
• Assigning inappropriate blame to others
• “Supreme Being” Complex
• Sense of “invincibility

Thorburn notes in the introduction that “One of the surprising things about alcoholism is how little most experts know. The main problem is that the definition they have agreed upon fails to describe the affliction in its early stages.

As a result, the current practice of identifying alcoholism is comparable to ‘waiting until tumors become the size of basketballs before diagnosing cancer.’ Yet, almost every alcoholic shows signs of the disease years or even decades before it progresses into obvious latter-stage alcoholism.”

The premise of Thorburn’s book is that we can, and must- identify early-stage alcohol and other drug addiction if we are to prevent tragedies. These include the breakup of families, domestic violence, highway slaughter, the destruction of financial and emotional health and even murder.

 By identifying alcoholism in its early stages, proactively imposing consequences and intervening, we significantly increase the odds of stopping the inevitable progression of the disease before an all-too-common tragic end.

 Charlene’s Note:

I have been studying alcoholism for years, and find Thorburn’s ideas on the subject to be the most progressive and sound.

The ignorance that prevails in our society on this disease is mind-boggling. It usually “takes a tragedy” to lead people to become educated on this complex disease.

Alcoholism affects every aspect of a person; mind, body and soul. It behooves us all to learn as much as possible on the subject. Social drinking can easily cross over into alcoholism, if one is genetically predisposed.

Doug Thorburn’s work can truly prevent tragedy. Visit his website and learn all you can. Subscribe to his excellent, free newsletter too:

http://www.preventtragedy.com

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By Charlene Rubush, July 2, 2010 1:25 pm

Part One:

Doug Thorburn is one of today’s most informed, insightful, and pioneering  authorities on alcoholism. I have read and reviewed almost all of his books, and return to them often, for increased understanding of this perplexing disease.

Thorburn offers an excellent, free newsletter, available from his website. I’m going to share some highlights here, from his excellent book, Alcoholism Myths and Realities: Removing the Stigma of Society’s Most Destructive Disease.

In the introduction, Thorburn notes:

•  Alcoholism is the most misunderstood of all diseases. This is rather surprising, since  1 out of 10 people has this disease and we are all directly or indirectly affected.
• The doctors and psychologists whom we trust to treat diseases and mental disorders are almost completely untrained in understanding and diagnosing the affliction. Medical doctors take as few as 24 classroom hours on the subject, virtually all on treating withdrawal and none on diagnosis.
• Psychologists are schooled in the idea that childhood trauma and other negative environmental factors can cause alcoholism, even though the evidence shows that such influences only shape its course.
• Secondary diseases are usually diagnosed long before alcoholism is identified, even though the latter is the root cause  or primary contributing factor to at least 300 other  illnesses and disorders. Emergency room medical personnel treat symptoms of addiction, including accidents.
• Yet in an estimated 50-80% of admissions, they rarely test for alcohol or other drugs  in the system.

Thorburn asserts that the appalling unawareness of the disease results from the stigma, and from the common misperception that alcoholism implies a weakness in an individual.  These faulty perceptions make others reluctant to diagnose or even suggest the  possibility of alcoholism.

From my own experience, the average person has very little understanding of this complex disease. That ignorance only adds to the devastation that is so often wrought by this “baffling, cunning” illness.

Visit Doug Thorburn’s website to become informed and empowered on the subject of alcoholism. The life you save may be that of a loved one, friend, or quite possibly, your own. Knowledge is power, and Thorburn’s newsletter is FREE!

http://www.preventtragedy.com

Charlene’s Note:

I’ll be posting more info on this cruel disease soon. Stay tuned.