Alcohol
Sonny’s personal testimony and analysis of alcohol addiction.
A Female Elbow Bender
My first run in with alcohol was at the age of 14—the age of involvement for most juveniles. During those years I was extremely shy. To overcome this trait while in the mist of other teenagers, I began drinking. In those days of the ’50s, drugs weren’t as prevalent as they are today. Obviously, the time was before the major upheaval in the social culture of the ’60s. As a result of my indulgence, I became so habitually involved that in later years I was characterized as an alcoholic by the rehab community. That’s because from my late teens to my early ’20s, I drank while in high school, in the Air Force, with college frat brothers in Harlem, and as a player in West Philly. During those times, I brawled on the streets, drove like a maniac, and was collared by the man. However, in my mid ’20s, I had regressed to social drinking, and ceased binge drinking, acting a fool and blacking out.
A Mug of Suds
Years later, during a time of domestic upheaval and traumatics, I wound up in a counselors office trying to seek some relief. I was interrogated about my previous indulgence with alcohol during my youth, if I came from a dysfunctional family, was I abused, were my parents alcoholics, or functional alcoholics, did I ever have blackouts, or run ins with the police. All the previous answers we no, except for the last two. Even after being clean for about 20 years as a Christian, I was tagged with having the disease of alcoholism regardless. While in such a distraught state, I attended AA. While in AA I was told to abstain for ever, that I will always be an alcoholic, and I should attend 12 step meetings the rest of my life. Moreover, I needed to work the 12 step program, or else die. Plus, it was my stinkin’ thinkin’ that got me there, and I should give myself over to whatever god I could mentally conjure up. Any form of rejection was labeled denial, and I should be submissive to an authority figure—a sponsor—who in my case eventually relapsed into snorting cocaine. For me most of the program was redic.
Analysis
Analysis: Not all guys who binged in the military, or in college remained alcoholics the remainder of their lives. According to Ellis and Velten: “College students, for instance who drank so heavily that they had blackouts, were followed up as middle-agers. There was no correlation between the amount they drank in college and the amount they drank in middle age. They had severe alcohol problems as youngsters, but still did not go downhill the way ‘everybody knows’ they should. Why not? No doubt many reasons, but our point is that ‘alcoholism’ takes no single course.”[2] Since I had binged as a juvy, while in the military and as a part time college student, I categorize myself as part of this class. Like so many others, I terminated the abuse in my mid ’20s, and sought a professional career. In this case, the typical come back from 12 steppers is: “I never was an alcoholic in the first place.” Granted, there are many who fail to walk away from the problem so easy. In this case they should be aware that all is not lost, because there are alternatives to 12 step programs.
Cult Buster 