A Problem That Rivals Drug Addiction

WHAT is it that enslaves many millions more persons than heroin addiction?

What causes persons to be seven times as susceptible to accidental death as the rest of the population?

What ranks next to heart disease and cancer as a major health problem in the United States and many countries of Europe?

The answer: chronic alcohol abuse.

The use of alcoholic beverages goes back to the earliest times of man’s history. The abuse of these beverages is just about as old. Millions of people today enjoy wine, beer and other alcoholic beverages without any damage to their health, or to their mental effectiveness or personal safety. Yet, today, in the United States, about one out of every ten persons who drink is either a full-blown alcoholic or a “problem drinker,” that is, one whose drinking causes trouble for himself (or herself) and for those around him.

In France, where there is a café or bar for about every 250 persons, a poll indicated that nearly one out of every four men and one out of every twelve women has a problem with alcohol abuse. The toll of persons dying from alcohol-caused disease is estimated at 30,000 a year. Last year French Health Minister Michel Poniatowski said: “Let’s not beat about the bush​—alcoholism is a national scourge.”

One of the saddest aspects of the rise of alcoholism is its invasion of the ranks of young people. A London Times report shows drunkenness rising sharply among British teen-agers, particularly among girls. A survey revealed some children slipping drinks from the family cabinet before heading for school; others were missing the school lunch to step out for a drink at a nearby pub.

In the United States, the director of the National Institute on Alcohol and Alcohol Abuse, Dr. Morris Chafetz, said: “It’s not uncommon to see severe alcoholism problems in kids 9, 10, 11, 12 years old. It’s a far more serious problem than we ever imagined.” The Alcoholics Anonymous organization has started “Junior AA” chapters for those ten to twenty years old. In New York city alone there are an estimated 66,000 youngsters twelve to eighteen years of age with serious drinking problems.

FAR-REACHING EFFECTS ON HUMAN LIVES

The Bible says that “wine itself makes life rejoice.” (Eccl. 10:19; compare Psalm 104:15; Ecclesiastes 9:7.) But it also warns that wine can be “a ridiculer, intoxicating liquor is boisterous, and everyone going astray by it is not wise.” (Prov. 20:1) Consider some of the ways that excess in the use of alcohol can make a mockery of human lives.

Some persons are able to drink surprisingly large quantities of alcoholic beverages and still not give the appearance of being “drunk.” A poll by the French paper Le Monde shows most alcoholics in France drinking from four to five quarts of wine a day, yet often showing little outward sign of intoxication. Nevertheless, as Proverbs 23:32 says of excessive drinking, “at its end it bites just like a serpent, and it secretes poison just like a viper.” An early sign of this poisoning may be the well-known “hangover” with its nausea, headache, restlessness, trembling, sweating, stomach upset and tremendous thirst (due to the shift of water from the cells to areas outside the cell walls).

The long-range effects, though less dramatic, are much more grave in their consequences. Alcoholic beverages are high in calories. But these are “empty” calories, lacking vitamins and minerals and amino acids in any quantity. The heavy drinker often neglects normal eating, and then nutritional deficiencies begin to develop. These play a large part in the diseases accompanying alcoholism. Particularly the liver, already heavily worked in metabolizing (“burning up” or oxidizing) the alcohol, suffers, and in time cirrhosis of the liver sets in, a prime source of death among long-term alcoholics.

Excessive amounts of alcohol irritate the tissues of the mouth, throat and stomach. Some French medical authorities believe that 90 percent of the cancer cases in that country involving the mouth, throat and larynx are due to alcoholism. In time, the drinker may develop delirium tremens​—with its violent shaking, frightening hallucinations and forms of paralysis—​and, though only lasting from three to ten days, this often proves fatal.

Even more serious​—and more immediate—​is the effect of alcohol abuse on personal conduct. This is because alcohol, when absorbed into the bloodstream, affects first of all the highest functions of the brain​—thinking, learning, remembering and the vital making of decisions and judgments. A small amount of alcohol for most persons has little effect. But where one takes several drinks in a relatively short time, his ability to remember, to concentrate and to solve problems drops rapidly. The brain finds difficulty in processing more than one kind of incoming information at a time. (Ps. 107:27) Vision becomes impaired; the person has trouble in seeing things off to one side and may have the feeling of looking through unfocused binoculars. Yet, because of alcohol’s somewhat hypnotic effect, the one overindulging may feel he still has full command of his senses.​—Isa. 28:7.

Since alertness and reflex responses, triggered by the brain, diminish with high alcohol concentrations, driving becomes extremely hazardous. Alcohol abuse is involved in at least half of the 55,000 deaths and one million major injuries occurring each year on United States highways. Where states have lowered the legal age for drinking to eighteen years, a dramatic rise in fatal road accidents caused by drunken teen-age drivers has occurred.

The greatest tragedy lies in alcoholism’s effect on family life. For the alcoholic’s mate and children, life can become a nightmare. Youthful lives may be blighted or permanently scarred. The separation or divorce rate for alcoholics in the United States is seven times as high as that of the rest of the population. In France, alcoholism figures in one fourth of all suicides and one half of all homicides. (Compare Proverbs 4:17.) Research has shown that chronically alcoholic mothers may produce defective children​—children born with abnormally small heads, lopsided faces, having stunted growth ability and subnormal intelligence.

The chronic alcoholic is a poor employee; he cannot perform anywhere near what his normal capacities would allow. He has a far higher rate of absenteeism, takes twice as much sick leave as other employees, is involved in more work accidents. Besides his own inefficiency he generally impairs the efficiency of those whose work ties in with his. (Compare Proverbs 21:17; 23:20, 21.) Estimates place alcoholism’s cost to business and industry in the United States alone at $12,000,000,000 annually. Alcohol abuse leads to a breakdown in morality and the growth of crime. Surveys show it often is a stepping-stone to drug addiction.

Nations today are searching for remedies for this major problem. This means finding out why and how people become alcoholics, so as to know what protective measures can be taken or how a cure can be effected where the person is already a victim of alcoholism. What have the results in this regard shown and where does the real solution lie?

[Picture on page 452]

Many persons can eliminate ¹/₃ ounce of pure alcohol per hour. BEER 8 oz. WHISKEY ³/₄ oz. WINE 2 ³/₄ oz.

When one drinks alcohol, it is quickly taken into the bloodstream, soon reaches the central nervous system, and starts to slow down brain activity.

Several drinks may be required before motor centers of the brain are affected, resulting in faltering steps. But be on guard! Before that, the barriers of self-control come down. As Hosea 4:11 says, “Wine and sweet wine are what take away good motive.”

A very small amount may affect you adversely; others may drink more, with no observable effect; do not conclude that you can drink freely because others do.

The Cause and the Cure of Alcoholism

WHAT causes persons to become virtual slaves of alcohol, even to the point of ruining their lives and the lives of their families?

Alcohol itself is not the problem. Unlike tobacco or heroin, it is not inherently addictive. The difficulty lies with the users. The factors involved are multiple. Yet they all point to a basic lack or need, and this, in turn, points to the real remedy.

Research shows that children whose parents are heavy drinkers are far more likely to be drawn into the same habit. On the other hand, a report from the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare shows that alcoholism is low where there is “early exposure to small, diluted quantities of alcoholic beverages within a strong family or religious group,” and where alcoholic beverages are considered mainly as foods and consumed with meals.

Many persons who did not have the benefit of sound parental training regarding alcoholic beverages may get into danger owing to lack of knowledge. They may not realize that different beverages have different strengths as to alcohol content. Beer, for example, contains about 5 percent alcohol, most table wines from 10 to 14 percent, while fortified wines such as sherry and port contain from 16 to 20 percent. Distilled drinks (such as rum, gin, whiskey) contain from 40 to 50 percent alcohol. Even if individuals know this they may not realize that they take just as much alcohol into their system by drinking a sixteen-ounce bottle of beer as if they drank one and a half ounces of whiskey.

A person’s body size also generally has its effect​—the larger one is, the greater the quantity of blood and number of cells and hence the more diffused the alcohol is on absorption. Yet, even though of the same build, individuals may differ tremendously, one being made dizzy by only a small quantity of alcohol while another feels little effect with double the amount. An empty stomach will allow the alcohol to be absorbed into the blood rapidly, whereas food slows down the process. And, since the body is able to eliminate alcohol at the rate of only about one third of an ounce per hour, the time between drinks also is a vital factor.

Associations play a strong role. If heavy drinking is viewed as proof of being a “real man” or as “smart” and sophisticated, there is pressure to conform. Young men and women often are initiated into heavy drinking in this way and fall into a pattern of “telescoped” drinking​—periodically getting “high” at parties or Saturday-night drinking bouts. Gradually the drinking may spread over into more and more days of the week. The process may be deceitfully slow. Studies show that the making of an alcoholic takes an average of sixteen years in men, only eight in women.

In later life, personal circumstances become a principal factor. Family problems, marital difficulties, heavy debts, illness, disappointments, failures and the resulting mental depression​—these are often the things that initiate the dependence on alcohol. Men in executive positions, or other work that involves stress and pressure, may become reliant on alcohol for a measure of relief from tension. Persons involved in selling and buying often use it to “oil” the wheels of their business associations. Men with monotonous jobs may spend their free time in seeking the synthetic fellowship to be found with workmates in a bar.

The modern increase in alcoholism is especially strong among women. In the United States about half the women alcoholics have experienced broken marriages and a third are married to alcoholics. Some have well-paying jobs but have found life less than satisfying, lacking in meaning. Those who have the role of homemaker may experience boredom or find the responsibilities of caring for small children burdensome. A housewife’s greater privacy from public attention may enable her to develop and conceal a drinking habit for some time. Hormonal changes accompanying the menstrual cycle may be all that is needed to trigger a spell of very heavy drinking.

WHERE THE SOLUTION IS TO BE FOUND

All these things point in a principal direction: people who become compulsive drinkers (unable to control their drinking habits) rely on alcohol to supply an emotional need. True, in time the cells of their body may become so adjusted to high concentrations of alcohol that cessation of drinking produces a violent reaction, and thus there is also a physical enslavement. The physical-enslavement point, however, would doubtless never be reached if emotional dependence had not come first. Yet alcohol solves no emotional problems; it only creates more serious ones. It is a false source of comfort, courage, fellowship, or escape from life’s problems. Only if persons recognize this can they find the real solution to their dependence on alcohol.

This brings us to the most difficult problem in effecting a cure for alcoholism. What is that? Getting the person to recognize that he or she really does have the problem. Yes, strangely enough, the alcoholic is often the last one to face up to the fact of his or her dependence on alcohol. A man may take a small drink in the morning, two or three at noon, another during the afternoon, another on arriving at home, and two more during the evening and still tell himself he is not an alcoholic. Only if for some reason he is deprived of his drinks and then undergoes the terrible reaction associated with delirium tremens may he be jolted into a recognition of his true situation.

The first step, then, in solving the problem is for the person to recognize his or her enslavement to alcohol. The Bible associates truth with freedom, and lies with slavery. (John 8:32; 2 Pet. 2:18, 19) The clerk who keeps a bottle in the bottom drawer of his desk, and the housewife who secretly works her way through a series of drinks each day, and yet who deny they have a problem, will never find the way to become free.

Then, instead of using alcohol as a personality “crutch” or emotional medicine, the person must look to the right source for satisfying the emotional needs he or she has. Companionship and fellowship should be sought with those who have a healthful outlook on life and a right attitude toward drinking. True, previous associates may mock you when you “do not continue running with them in this course [of ‘excesses with wine’ and ‘drinking matches’] to the same low sink of debauchery,” but whatever unpleasantness that brings you is well worth it in the escape from degradation that you gain.​—1 Pet. 4:3, 4; 1 Cor. 15:33.

To make the cure effective, you need to ‘make your mind over,’ developing new and right standards of conduct. (Rom. 12:2) It is not enough to know that most persons disapprove of alcoholism or that one’s mate, children or relatives disapprove. Knowing God’s viewpoint is what can make the difference and give the determination and endurance needed for lasting success and victory over the problem. His Word assures us that drunkards will have no share in his promised Kingdom and the life-giving benefits it will bring.​—1 Cor. 6:10; Gal. 5:19-21.

Above all, one needs something genuine to put hope and faith in, a solid basis for confidence as to a happy solution to life’s problems. The Bible is the unique source that can supply these needs. Some circumstances in life are beyond our making any real change​—certain cases of poor health, the general hardness of present world conditions and the daily pressures these bring—​but the Bible shows that these things are not beyond God’s changing. That prophetic Word foretold the very things we now see and sets out the sure hope that “the creation itself also will be set free from enslavement to corruption and have the glorious freedom of the children of God.” This will come in a new order of God’s making that will bring this earth into a peaceful, healthful state for all those who love righteousness and truth.​—Rom. 8:20-22.

Increasing numbers of persons have found wholesome companionship through association with Jehovah’s witnesses in their Kingdom Halls, have gained a solid hope for the future and learned sound principles for handling their day-to-day problems. Among them, there are many who have suffered from alcoholism and other equally severe problems, but who have now conquered these. All persons are encouraged to feel free and welcome to avail themselves of the Bible-based assistance they provide.