ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE

 ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE

A friend recently confided a concern about becoming dependent on alcohol. 

I, too, am concerned about becoming dependent. The specter of alcoholism is particularly fearsome because of a family member's alcoholism.

Naw, I’m not concerned about it – I am already dependent. But that’s not the same as being an alcoholic.

To me, in my case, being dependent means relying on whiskey to provide relief from pain – either physical or psychological.

“Quaff, O quaff this kind nepenthe, And forget ...” 

          The Raven, Edgar Allan Poe

I usually have a shot of bourbon in my morning coffee, due to waking up with Arthr1, and frequently I have no more until the next day. Sometimes I will have another late in the day.  

And sometimes I get kinda blue …thinking about my beloved Lady, my parents, my son, or my life-long hunting buddy... all departed … and I will find surcease in a couple of shots of vodka.

I have observed that there is a unique, unpleasant physical sensation of pressure in my head that accompanies the “blues”, and a drink – or two – will relieve the pressure and restore my usual carefree indifference to my situation.

That is dependence.

Alcoholism is – well, like the SCOTUS justice said about pornography, “I can’t define it, but I know it when I see it.” (I always wondered at the extent of his “seeing it…”)

Alcoholism, by my definition, is the ongoing, excessive use of alcohol, to the extent that it negatively impacts a person’s relations with those around him, or his function in society.

So I try to avoid more than a couple of drinks in any one day. And I avoid driving for several hours if I’ve had any – even one.

Let’s lift our glasses high !!