Myth: Alcohol is predominantly
a sedative or depressant drug.
Reality: Alcohol's
pharmacological effects change with the amount drunk. In small
quantities, alcohol is a stimulant. In large quantities, alcohol
acts as a sedative. In all amounts, however, alcohol provides a rich
and potent source of calories and energy.
Myth: Alcohol has the same
chemical and physiological effect on everyone who drinks.
Reality: Alcohol, like every
other food we take into our bodies, affects different people in
different ways.
Myth: Alcohol is an
addictive drug, and everyone who drinks long and hard enough will
become addicted.
Reality: Alcohol is
selectively addictive drug; it is addictive for only a minority of
its users, namely, alcoholics. Most people can drink occasionally,
daily, even heavily, without becoming addicted to alcohol. Others
(alcoholics) will become addicted no matter how much they drink.
Myth: Alcohol is harmful and
poisonous to the alcoholic.
Reality: Alcohol is a
normalizing agent and the best medicine for the pain it creates,
giving the alcoholic energy, stimulation, and relief from the pain
of withdrawal. Its harmful and poisonous aftereffects are most
evident when the alcoholic stops drinking.
Myth: Addiction to alcohol
is often psychological.
Reality: Addiction to
alcohol is primarily physiological. Alcoholics become addicted
because their bodies are physiologically incapable of processing
alcohol normally.
Myth: People become
alcoholics because they have psychological or emotional problems
which they try to relieve by drinking.
Reality: Alcoholics have the
same psychological and emotional problems as everyone else before
they start drinking. These problems are aggravated, however, by
their addiction to alcohol. Alcoholism undermines and weakens the
alcoholic's ability to cope with the normal problems of living.
Furthermore, the alcoholic's emotions become inflamed both when he
drinks excessively and when he stops drinking. Thus, when he is
drinking, and when he is abstinent, he will feel angry, fearful, and
depressed in exaggerated degrees.
Myth: All sorts of social
problems-marriage problems, a death in the family, job stress-may
cause alcoholism.
Reality: As with
psychological and emotional problems, alcoholics experience all the
social pressures everyone else does, but their ability to cope is
undermined by the disease and the problems get worse.
Myth: When the alcoholic is
drinking, he reveals his true personality.
Reality: Alcohol's effect on
the brain causes severe psychological and emotional distortions of
the normal personality. Sobriety reveals the alcoholic's true
personality.
Myth: The fact that
alcoholics often continue to be depressed, anxious, irritable, and
unhappy after they stop drinking is evidence that their disease is
caused by psychological problems.
Reality: Alcoholics who
continue to be depressed, anxious, irritable, and unhappy after they
stop drinking are actually suffering from a phenomenon called "the
protracted withdrawal syndrome." The physical damage caused by years
of excessive drinking has not been completely reversed; they are, in
fact, still sick and in need of more effective therapy.
Myth: If people would only
drink responsibly, they would not become alcoholics.
Reality: Many responsible
drinkers become alcoholics. Then, because it is the nature of the
disease (not the person), they begin to drink irresponsibly.
Myth: An alcoholic has to
want help to be helped.
Reality: Most drinking
alcoholics do not want to be helped. They are sick, unable to think
rationally, and incapable of giving up alcohol by themselves. Most
recovered alcoholics were forced into treatment against their will.
Self-motivation usually occurs during treatment, not before.
Myth: Some alcoholics can
learn to drink normally and can continue to drink with no ill
effects as long as they limit the amount.
Reality: Alcoholics can
never safely return to drinking because drinking in any amount will
sooner or later reactivate their addiction.
Myth: Psychotherapy can help
many alcoholics achieve sobriety through self-understanding.
Reality: Psychotherapy
diverts attention from the physical causes of the disease, compounds
the alcoholic's guilt and shame, and aggravates rather than
alleviates his problems.
Myth: Craving for alcohol
can be offset by eating high-sugar foods.
Reality: Foods with a high
sugar content will increase the alcoholic's depression,
irritability, and tension and intensify his desire for a drink to
relieve these symptoms.
Myth: If alcoholics eat
three balanced meals a day, their nutritional problems will
eventually correct themselves.
Reality: Alcoholic's
nutritional needs are only partially met by a balanced diet. They
also need vitamin and mineral supplements to correct any
deficiencies and to maintain nutritional balances.
Myth: Tranquilizers and
sedatives are sometimes useful in treating alcoholics.
Reality: Tranquilizers and
sedatives are useful only during the acute withdrawal period. Beyond
that, these substitute drugs are destructive and, in many cases,
deadly for alcoholics.
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