One theory suggests that if a person drinks enough
(quantity) over a long enough period of time, s/he will
become an alcoholic. Alcohol is classified in pharmacology
texts as a sedative hypnotic; the same as Quaaludes
and other "downers". Simply put, alcohol is addictive.
So this bit of information raises a couple of questions.
The first question is what is "enough" alcohol and just
how long does it take to become addicted? The tricky
answer is, it depends on the individual. The second
question is how does one actually become addicted? The
answer to this? Well, there's a theory....
To start with, many professionals who work in the addictions
field see drinkers as falling into one of four classifications:
1) social drinkers, 2) life style drinkers, 3) problem
drinkers and 4) alcoholic drinkers.
Social drinkers, for example, drink a glass
of wine when served with a family dinner. While they
may enjoy the effect of the alcohol, they don't need
more, nor do they continue to drink after dinner, or
the next day. In short, they can take it or leave it.
Life style drinkers are personified by the businessman
or woman who comes home and has a drink at 6:00 o'clock.
They won't (or rarely) have a drink during the day,
but they generally drink every day, and it is important
to them. They limit themselves, they monitor themselves,
but drinking is part of their lives. Life style drinkers
often become problem drinkers.
Problem drinkers often drink to self-medicate
- drinking to anesthetize a painful feeling or the perception
of an intolerable situation. So when a problem drinker
drinks, it interferes with some aspect of his/her life.
In the majority of cases, alcoholic drinkers were problem
drinkers.
Alcoholic drinkers are dependent on alcohol.
Alcohol has taken over their lives, which "have become
unmanageable." Yet there is a paradox here, which is
one of the hallmarks of the disease of alcoholism. Alcohol
has rendered the alcoholic dysfunctional, but without
some alcohol the alcoholic believes s/he cannot function.
And there is a strange truth to this, for when alcohol
is taken away, the alcoholic becomes sick, but if the
alcoholic were to then take a drink, s/he would feel
"ok."
So to our second question, what happens to create
this peculiar dependence on alcohol? First, it is important
to know that the body has evolved what is called the
opiod system. This system is made up of neuropathways
within the central nervous system. These neuropathways
produce natural opiates (such as endorphins and encephalins).
Runners and athletes know these natural opiates, which
when activated, produce the "runner's high." The opiod
system acts as the body's natural defense against both
physical and psychological pain. The system serves as
an insulation barrier, protecting both body and mind
from undue stress.
Not surprisingly, the key to understanding what happens
in the physical addiction of alcohol lies in the liver,
and subsequently in the central nervous system. When
alcohol hits the liver a number of complex chemical
reactions take place, the upshot is that a chemical
known as TIQ (tetrahydrosioquinolines) is produced.
TIQs are very much like hardcore opiates (e.g. morphine
and heroin), and are far more potent than the subtle
natural opiates found in the body.
When the liver manufactures TIQs, they enter the body's
opiod system, and the drinker feels "high." By the time
a person becomes an alcoholic, the opiod system has
become saturated with TIQs so the body has stopped manufacturing
its own natural opiates. The individual becomes dependent
on--or addicted to--the TIQs since s/he no longer has
his/her own natural opiates. The system now begins to
crave the stimulation provided by TIQs.
When alcohol is then withdrawn, the system goes into
a shock reaction. The body, now without its normal insulation
barrier from internal and external stressors, feels
"raw", and cannot immediately start manufacturing its
own natural opiates. The individual begins to feel sick,
and feels desperate for alcohol in order to "get right."
This is what everyone knows as withdrawal. The more
pronounced the alcoholism, the worse the withdrawal.
There are many other factors that go into the "making"
of an alcoholic (mostly psychological) and the severity
of withdrawal. But the manufacture and use of TIQs may
be the most significant factor in creating the physical
aspect of the disease.
So what does this evidence suggest to people who drink
and to people who are addicted to alcohol? First, the
social drinker is probably okay; that is if s/he is
able to maintain his/her current style of drinking,
chances are the body will not "change" and require alcohol
to maintain its physical and psychic protection.
Second, it indicates, however, that we may all be prone
to alcohol addiction. If a person drinks enough (too
much) alcohol over a long enough period of time s/he
may become addicted. Who knows how much alcohol abuse
it will take for a metabolic change to occur in a person
causing the body to "require" alcohol?
Third, this underscores what Alcoholics Anonymous
has said for many years, that alcoholism is a disease
not a weakness of character. (It should be noted that
there are many personality issues which may cause the
individual to choose alcohol--to self-medicate--as a
way of dealing with problems and alcoholism itself creates
personality changes.)
Finally, the problem drinker and alcoholic drinker
are either destroying or have destroyed their insulation
barrier and they must stop drinking. The alcoholic drinker
is like a person who slowly takes off a heavy down coat
in sub-zero weather. Soon the cold is unbearable, if
not deadly. The longer it goes on the worse it gets.
There are alternative methods for developing and maintaining
a psychic-warm-coat, helping us interact with our environment
more safely, comfortably, and effectively. Various physical,
psychological, and spiritual approaches offer ways to
develop and maintain a healthful sense of insulation
from the "slings and arrows" that life throws at us.
I'm reminded of a poster from the 1960s. On it was a
picture of a serene yogi, standing in a yoga posture,
superimposed on top of a surfboard racing down a huge
wave. The caption read, "You can't control the waves,
but you can learn to surf them." If we use alcohol to
try to control the treacherous "waves" that we encounter
in our lives, we just might drown. Better to get a good
surfboard and enjoy the ride.
