Alcoholism: a killer disease without a cure
By David Brown
Ot the Emerald
During the Prohibition, there
was an Oklahoma whiskey so
cheap that "for 50 cents you
could buy a pint And you
poured the top off of it because
that was the fuel oil," Bill B
insists to an attentive audience
packed into a high school cafe
teria,
"You forced it down and said,
God, that's good,' " he contin
ues through a shuddering
grimace
Alcoholism, a disease without
cure, is what bonded together
speakers and their audience in
a warm atmosphere of laughter,
smoke and camaraderie at an
evening speaker's meeting of
Alcoholics Anonymous
And because of those
feelings, Bill B is a "grateful
alcoholic."
A friend once told him AA
was a journey, not a destina
tion He adds "you ain't never
going to get there, but what a
fantastic journey "
Before he joined — on April
Fool s Day. 1950 — "I was all
front and no back," laughs Bill,
another speaker. "The tnings I
said at the time I thoroughly
meant." But one drink and it all
went out the window, he says
We all drink for different
reasons but we become al
coholics for the same reason
We've got an allergy of the body
that gets coupled with an ob
session of the mind "
The most important fact for
the public to realize is that al
Like many other diseases, al
coholism touches all segments
of society Serenity Lane's pa
tient list includes physicians,
nurses, professors and Univer
sity students
Generally, patients come to
Serenity Lane through interven
tion by friends or family. “To do
a good intervention, it takes
more than one person It takes a
body of people." well versed in
what they're going to do and
how they're going to do it.
O'Connor says
You need somebody willing
to take that risk It’s tough love
It's risky, stressful It's hard
work," she says
Addicts must be helped to
create a crisis for themselves,
so to speak, to get them into
treatment And then, when they
make that committment you
don't let them off the hook,"
Well, I need to finish this
term Wrong1 Because all
you're doing is pouring money
down the tube You're not doing
well in school You're going to
do worse, she says
Although the illness is not the
addict's fault, it is the addict's
responsibility to get out of it.
O'Connor says
Treatment at Serenity Lane is
“strictly therapy and educa
tion" The 30-day program in
cludes two classes and two
therapy sessions per day An
ongoing support system is
formed following release,
O'Connor says
But the alcoholic is not
necessarily the one with the
We all drink for different reasons
but we become alcoholics for the
same reason.'
coholism is a progressive illness
which kills people every day,
says Lois O'Connor, patient
coordinator for Serenity Lane
Alcoholism Treatment Center
That's what we confront in
treatment, recognizing that
they're dealing with an illness,
realizing that it's not because
they're a useless weak person,
O'Connor says
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Oregon Daily Emerald
problem "A problem doesn't
cause them to drink That's a
myth A chemical imbalance
causes them to drink,'' O'Con
nor says
Al-Anon, a branch of AA,
deals with the problems of co
alcoholics
During the speaker's meeting,
Diana talked of her son, Billy
(not their real names)
Photo by Bob Baker
This new Raleigh Hills facility, like Serenity Lane, is one of the 30 organizations in the Eugene-Springfield
area offering alcoholism treatment programs
inrougn Mi-«non, uiana
came to grips with the tact that
she doesn't like Billy when he's
drinking She learned to see him
as an individual who must deal
with his own life and problems,
and treat him accordingly She
no longer bails him out ot
covers tor him
Billy still drinks after quitting
high school, has been in jail a
number of times, ending up in
violent, drunken confrontations,
she says But he has begun to
look at himself and take re
sponsibility, she says.
Co-alcoholics live a super
ficial life under stress. They live
with resentment, denied of the
one they love, feeling hate,
feeling jealous of the bottle and
the money spent. They feel
guilty as they lie to the addict's
boss, covering for him.
"You don’t feel close to (ad
dicts) because they don't want
anybody to feel close to them.
'All that needs to be dealt
with when the addicted person
is getting well so that there is
no garbage left over When you
are with an alcoholic, you are
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author of
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"Pensions,
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will speak on
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not communicating, O Connor
says
The third week of Serenity
Lane's 30-day treatment plan is
family week
“You have to be able to
remove the alcohol. You have t6
say here's my dad that I love
and care about and there's the
alcohol ’ Take the alcohol away
and you've still got this man,”
ternative treatment program
O'Connor agrees “A ver'y
very low percentage of people
who are alcoholics get treat'
ment."
If ‘you're not sure where you
want to go with (alcohol), or
what’s happening with it,” then
Drinking Decisions attempts to
provide the information needed
to make a decision, Shan
non-May says.
‘A very very low percentage of
people who are alcholics get
treatment. ’
u oonnor says.
Serenity Lane also has an
outpatient clinic for those who
are too busy to stay the 30 days
Despite the numerous treat
ment options in Eugene, nearly
90 percernt of those needing
help don't get it, estimates
Jackie Shannon-May, program
manager and counselor at
Drinking Decisions a local al
i he program otters classes
through Lan'fe Community Col
lege for adults and youth.
Classes are also offered for
parents of drinking youth.
About 30 organizations in the
Eugene-Springfield area offer
help through a variety of
approaches tailored to in
dividuals and their special cir
cumstances.
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