perhaps by an employer warning of term ina
tion, the alcoholic is backed into a corner so
that she or he finally agrees to a treatment
program.
As part of my medical training, I was re
quired to attend autopsies. I remember the
autopsy of a 22 year-old Native .American
man who had died technicallv ol pneumonia.
Actually, he was a late state alcoholic who
had probablv become drunk and vomited
white lyinQ down so th<jt some of his vomitus
held gotten down into his lungs which
by Patrick Caplis, /YD
Cary was nineteen when I met him. a
beautiful vibrant blond-hz- red youth, who
loved life and people and perhaps drank a
little too much too often vi e had a brief
affair and later saw each ether socially
from time to time. When I last s<iw Gary, he
was thirty. His handsome face is now badly
scarred from injuries suffered in a motor
cycle accident. His eyes
watery, his face
bio
i his bulging muscles now hidden
unt
ol Is o f flab- He is unem ployed except
when he works part tirnt
^ us father s
construction business Cary is gay. and
Gary is an alcoholic.
Over the past several years, the AIDS
epidemic has become the major health con
cern of the gay community. Perhaps you are,
as I was, largely unaware of the magnitude of
another health problem, namely, lesbian and
gay alcoholism. These are some of the facts:
• One out of every three members of the gay
community is either an alcoholic or well on
the road to becoming one. This includes
both women and men.
• Experts estimate the number of alcoholics
in America to be at least 10 m illion people.
• Alcoholism is ranked the #3 killer in the
United States, only cardiovascular disease
and cancer rank higher.
• Half of all homicides, 405 of all rapes, and
as high as 60% of all suicides are alcohol-
related.
Alcoholism is an actual physical disease. It
is chronic, hereditary, progressive and fatal.
Historically, alcoholics have been labeled
morally degenerate or lacking in willpower,
but researchers now understand that alco
holism is caused by certain metabolic de
fects in the body which makes alcoholic
individuals physiologically incapable of pro
cessing alcohol normally. Over 80% of
alcoholics are hypoglycemic and exhibit
abnormal carbohydrate metabolism. Many
alcoholics are also deficient in certain liver
enzymes essential for the proper breakdown
of alcohol in the body. By-products of abnor
mal alcohol metabolism accumulate in the
blood and eventually result in the classic
symptoms of the true alcoholic: 1) increased
tolerance for high doses of alcohol, 2) the
total inability to stop drinking once the indi
vidual starts, and 3) suffering severe with
drawal symptoms if the individual tries to
stop drinking.
An estimated 10% of the general American
population is alcoholic. So why is the inci
dence of alcoholism so much higher among
lesbians and gays? No one knows for sure.
We speculate that it has to do with the fact
that for a long time we have been a bar-
centered community. We meet in bars, we go
dancing in bars, we celebrate and commis
erate in bars. And when we are not in bars, we
are drinking at home or drinking at parties.
Alcohol is a friend to the shy man who wants
to feel less inhibited. Alcohol may help a
lonely and depressed woman feel like she is
part of the crowd, and perhaps only when she
is intoxicated can she openly express her true
homosexual self. We drink to get happy, and
we drink and party in order to hide from the
world, to escape the painful and anxious feel
ing of being different, being gay.
A sense of alienation and feeling of low
self-esteem coupled in some individuals with
a genetic tendency toward alcoholism has
resulted in an enormous increase in the
number of lesbian and gay alcoholics. For us,
alcoholism is not only a physical disease; it is
a m ajor symptom of our oppression as a
people.
Donna was bom to dance. It was obvi
ous from ju s t watching her w alk across the
room, sleek legs, supple gestures. She
worked so hard at her craft, demanding so
m uch o f herself cind her students. Then one
i.
1
1 „....
Just Out, November T985
Alcoholism:
The Unseen
Epidemic
day I came to the studio and someone
w alked toward me sobbing. “Donna is no
longer w ith us. ' she said. Booze and pills —
those were her weapons. Hone o f us were
aware that Donna had been an alcoholic.
While I had been out celebrating m y birth
day, m y friend had been home dying. So
now every year I get to celebrate the bitter
sweet anniversary o f m y birth and her death.
Alcoholics often try to hide their drinking,
their feeling about their drinking, or both. For
this reason, alcoholism is often referred to as
a “ disease of denial." People who really have
no drinking problem do not find it necessary
to defend their drinking to themselves or
others.
Most alcoholics are not the stereotypical
drunken bum on Skid Road. In most cases,
alcoholics are able to hold down jobs, some-
times quite successfully. They have families
and lovers, and often even close friends will
be unaware of the drinking problem. Alcohol
ics frequently choose fellow alcoholics as
their friends.
Most di inking alcoholics do not want to be
helped. They are sick people, unable to think
rationally, and usually incapable of perma
nently giving up alcohol by themselves. They
may understand that drinking is creating dif
ficulties in their lives, but it is only when they
try to stop drinking that the real trouble be
gins. The tension, frustrations, tremors,
irritaiiility and nausea finally become so un-
bearaoie that they have to drink because al
cohol is the fastest way to relieve the pain.
Many alcoholics have had to be forced into
treatment against their will. Either by order of
a judge following a senous accident, or by a
partner threatening to pack up and leave, or
watermelon, weighing perhaps twenty five
pounds. In order to have such a grossly en
larged fatty liver, this 22 year old wouid have
nad to have been drinking very heavily for
! nuny years.
Most alcoholics die at a young age.
Between the onset of any ol a variety of
specific diseases: malnutrition, ulcers, pan
creatitis. cancers of the throat and esopha
gus, frequent infections, liver and heart dis
ease. brain atrophy. Alcohol also acts as an
immunosuppressant, and a large percentage
of persons with AIDS have a previous history
of alcohol and/or drug abuse. Statistically,
women alcoholics are more likely than men
to develop liver damage and other alcohol-
related diseases.
Most alcoholics will die of their disease.
This is because substantially less than 10% of
the victims of alcoholism will ever seek or
receive treatm ent But it is important to bear
in m ind that alcoholism, in proven fact is a
readily treatable illness.
The goal is to help the alcoholic individual
stop drinking and stay sober. This often ini
tially requires participation in an alcohol
treatment program followed by regular
attendance at meetings of Alcoholics
Anonymous.
Here in Portland, we are fortunate in having
many community resources available ot help
any gay person quit drinking. The Gay Al
coholics Hotline (231 -3760) is staffed by vol
unteers who invite you to call them between
10:00 P.M. and 7:00 A.M. any night of the
week if you have a question or a problem
about drinking — yours, or that of someone
for whom you care. In December. Phoenix
Rising will be offering a Chemical Depend
ence Workshop. (Call 223-8299 for further
information.)
Another important community out-reach
group is the Live And Let Live Club, located at
2403 S.E. Ankeny. The Live And Let Live
Club is a non-profit organization established
by a group of lesbian and gay members of
Alcoholics Anonymous. The primary pur
pose of the club is to rent space for meetings
of Alcoholics Anonymous and other “ 12 -step
programs,” such as Narcotics Anonymous
and Overeater Anonymous. Meetings of A A
take place three or four times daily at the
Club.
From its beginning to the present the Live
And Let Live Club has received most of its
support from the gay/lesbian community;
however all Club events are open to the gen
eral public free of charge. The Club will soon
celebrate a half-decade of service to the les
bian and gay community, and an open house
is planned for December 1st (Please call
231 -3760 for further details.) For inform a
tion about other Alcoholics Anonymous
groups in the Portland area call the Portland
Area Intergroup at 223-8569.
Addiction is hating yourself, and the only
way out of addiction is learning to love your
self. If you have a drinking problem, at least
consider the possibility of seeking advice or
treatm ent If you are concerned about the
devastating epidemic of alcoholism in our
community, become informed. Somene you
love may need your help — before it's too
late.
Patrick Caplis is a Portland area naturo
pathic physician.
......
*