Basic HTML Version
or pseudonyms of alcoholi cs are
used in this articlc.)
The Payoff - Sobriety
The fru its of AA's approach to alco–
holism were everywhere in evidence
al the 35th anniversary celebration.
lt
was evident in the happy smil es,
the warm handshakes. th e cam–
a raderie, and the concern that per–
vaded the room.
lt was evident from thc number
of "birthdays" being observed.
"Birthdays" in AA a re the date of a
member's last drink. Each complete
yea r of sobriety is ce lebrated with a
"birthday cake." That evening 13
people observed from 1 to 30 years
of complete sobrie ty. lt was evident
in the reactions and words of those
who carne forward to blow out th c
candles on their cakes.
The "babe" of the ce lebrants, a
middle-aged woman , B. G., was
marking her first year of sobriety.
After hugging her sponsor (the per–
son who helped and encouraged her
to
attend AA) and blowing out her
candle, she turned to the audience
and began, "I'm a
ve1y
gra teful alco–
bolic ..." but could no t finish for
the tears ofjoy.
A middle-aged man, S. H., cele–
brating 5 yea rs of sobricty, said with
profound emotion, " lf
l
could have
written a scenario five ycars ago, 1
couldn 't have imagined a ll the good
things that have happened to me
since
1
achieved sobriety."
The last o f the ce lebrants was a
wealthy businessman ,
T.
P. , with 30
years of sobriety. A dozen of hi s
children and g randchildren we re
there for the occas ion an d ap–
plauded with s pecial vigor. He
asked , " How can you express what
it is like to have 10,959 days of so–
briety after experienci ng 20 years of
a lcoholic living death?"
Help That Goes Begging
In the United States, an estima ted
one out of every ten drinkers is an
alcoho lic. That ratio adds up to over
nine million people of a ll ages for
whom onc drink is too many and a
thousand is never enough.
Pasadena has its share - 14,000
by one estímate. Only a small frac–
tion of them have sobered up, but it
has not been for lack of opportunity
or help. Pasadena has a wide va riety
28
of agenc ies and programs to help
the alcoho lic. "There's help running
out of the ears," says Jean B. Yan–
dervoot, cxecutivc director of the
Pasadena Council on Alcoho lism.
But alcohol ism is a disease of de–
nía!. Most alcoholics will not admit
to themse lves, let alone anyone e lse.
that they have a drinking problem.
Consequently. it is vcry difficult
to help most alcoholics unti l they
have sunk into their own personal
hel l. Alcoholics must often suffer
broken marriages. lost jobs, jail sen–
tences, au to acciden ts, cirrhosis of
the liver, delirium tremens. and
other crises before they run out of
a li b is and seek help.
"Referral and educational ser–
vices such as ours can he lp pcople Lo
avoid going to the bottom." says
Jeanne. " People don't have to lose
loved ones or j obs. lf they' re in–
formed and if they get lrcatment
and help in the middle part of their
disease. they can save themselves
from all that suffering. ··
The Turn of the Tide
Jn
spite of the readily available
he lp, a certain percentage do hit the
bottom of bottoms - thc la te or
chronic phasc whe re obsessive
drinking rcsults in physical com–
plications and imminent death. For
these people. recovery must begin at
one of the two detox ification centers
in Pasadena: Pasadena Communi ty
Hospital o r St. Luke Hospital.
On the wa ll in the co rridor of the
detoxi fication ward of Pasadena
Community Hospita l han gs a poster
with a message and metaphor. The
message is: "The lowest ebb is the
turn o f the tide." The me taphor is a
turbu lent surf crashing on the rocks
o f a rugged coastline.
The poster s ta tes a fa c t a nd
presents a hope for the alcoholic.
T he fact is his hea lth , his very Life, is
on the rocks. Alcohol has devastated
h is personal life and is litera lly kiU–
ing him. He has come or been re–
fe rred to th e "detox unit" to "dry
out" under medica! supervision be–
ca use it's too dangerous todo so on
his own.
The hope is that they
can
bottom
out and rebound. Most a lcoholics
who seek he lp do recover and go on
to lead productive, happy lives.
While tou ring th e detox facility at
Pasadena Community Hospital. a
ca ll carne from the front desk: An
alcoholic man wanted to be admit–
ted. Staff counselor Bill Ro!>c went
lo see him. At the age of 27. Bill is a
vete ran , an expert on drug abuse.
having spc nt over half his life - 14
years - as an addict-alcoholic, a
multiple drug user. Now he's part of
the solution instead of th e problem.
He has been "clean ' ' for a year an d
started working in the detox unit a
couple of mon ths ago.
Bill brought back a disheveled.
stu bble-faced. blcary-eyed. 40-yea r–
old man - the kind of alcoholic ste–
reotyped in jokcs and TY comedy
skits. But this real-life alcoholic was
no laugh ing matter, but a sick man
named Larry.
Larry said he had been drinking
half a gallon of vodka over the past
couple of days. Now he was coming
down with wine Lo avoid deli rium
tremens. He had them once before
severa[ yea rs ago and didn't want
to experience the agony again. He
had aJso becn hallucinating - he
was heari ng water dripping out of a
tap. The paperwork was begun, and
Larry sta rted detoxification and a
2 1- day rehabilitation prog r a m
which consists oftwo vital parts: occupa–
ti onal therapy and group therapy .
Small But lmportant Steps
Je rrie Williams, occupa tiona l thera–
pist in the detox unit, gave me a
tour of the occupational therapy
room.
lt
is s mall a nd s im ply
eq uipped a nd conta ins suppli cs for
painting, knitt ing, and macrame.
Jerrie expla in ed tha t the patients
are g iven relatively simple tas ks lo
occupy their time whi le in the room.
Sorne wrap bottles with ta pe and
pa in t them with shoe polish. Others
decorate ciga r boxes wit h patterns
of macaroni shells aod elbows and
then spray them with gold paint.
Patients a lso try their hands at
macrame, sketching, and pa inting.
In a nother room the re is sorne exer–
cise equipment for those who want
a little mo re vigorous activity.
As plain and simple as the mate–
rials and tasks are, they have impor–
tan! therapeutic benefits. The first
steps towa rd recovery must neces–
sa rily be small and often undrama–
tic. All alcoholics a re losers in sorne
sense, and sorne are complete losers
The
PLAIN TRUTH December 1976