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Witha
Friend
Like
Alcohol,
Who
Needs
Enemies?
by Freddy C.
Freddy C. was a we/1-known entertainer
whose career and tamily lite were nearly
destroyed by his addiction to alcohol.
Since overcoming the problem, he has
recently had a book pub/ished entitled
The Alcohol Problem Explained.
T
he yea r
1954
was. to quote
a
phrasc. a vintage one.
1
was
considcred one of thc top musicians
in
Brita in .
1
was marri ed to a wi fe
wit h whom
1
was very much in love,
and
1
had two lovcly daughters.
It
seemed nothin g could poss ibly go
wrong.
My work cons istcd of accom–
panyi ng a ll thc big ·'names" in the
world of films. rccordings. and TV.
1
wa on firs t-name terms with al!
thosc a rtists. This was not only good
for my bankbook but a lso my ego.
But if
1
had position. money, and
family life,
1
a lso had one other
thing that ju!>L ca nnot be left out of
thi s liLLi e saga alcohol. And if th e
truth must be told,
1
was quite
happy wi th thc a rrangcmcnl. For
alcohol is uniquc.
lts
propertics a re
rcmarkable : l f you are cold , it will
create thc fccling of wa rm th: if you
are warm. it wi ll bring thc ill usion of
coolness.
1
f you are ti red, it wi ll pro–
vide instan t cncrgy; ifyou a re tense.
it wi ll act as an instant relaxer. Not
for nothing ha it been call ed Na–
turc's Anesthetic. and for those who
ca n handlc th c stuff. it ha at times
provcd a blessing.
But 1 cou ldn 't hand le il. And
people who can' t handle it shouldn ' t
drink il. But when the exacting and
The
PLAIN TRUTH December 1976
demanding work s ta rted
to
bring
mental pressures, 1 found that a
glass of Scotch brough t not only in–
stan! rclief but a lso a confidence
that was necded to do a particular
j ob. And so the bollle became as
necessa ry a part of my equi pment as
was my instrumenl.
A person who drin ks for rcasons
other than socia l is on a dangerous
path. and
1
was no cxception. The
price that had to be paid for my
booze slowly crept up. Rows. lears,
and scencs with my wife and girls
were commonplace. The one-time
dependablc charactcr who used to
sit in the orchestra with " nerves of
steel" was slowly red uced to a ner–
vous. s haky, pathetic cha rac ter
whose only nerves were those of al–
co hol.
"Try and contro l your drinking."
frie nds adv ised . "Use a bit of will–
power," thcy declared. "Pul! your–
self toge thcr." they suggested.
1
just
co uldn ' t ge t through to them that
1
w
AS
tryi ng to control the stuff;
I
w
AS
trying to use my willpower.
What
1
did not know is that a lco–
ho l. lo th e alcoholic. is the grea test
destroyer or the will ; and when the
will has gone, so has the control.
And when the control ha. gonc, the
alcoholic is in no pos ition to pull
himself or hcrsclf togc ther. Once th e
first drink has gonc down. the men–
tal obsession coupled with the phys–
ical compu lsion makcs thc alcoholic
a s lave to alcohol.
And so the job, money. family.
and evcrything else th at
1
had so
despera te ly tri ed to ho ld o n to
started to go. Wha t was
1
to do?
Fi rst of all
1
went to see the family
doctor. " How can
1
help you?" he
askcd .
"lt's my ncrves."
1
a nswered
trut hfully. After a ll. they werc in a
te rrible statc. So he treated me ror
nerves, and thing:. go t worse. He
then sent me to a psych iatrist
(1
was
to visit eigh t in all ), and he. too.
asked me the problem. This time 1
mentioned th at 1 drank a little too
much. but only bcca usc of the p res–
sure of work. plus the ract that 1
now suffered from insomnia and
amnesia.
He trea ted me for tens ion, nerves,
insomnia. and amnes ia, and 1 con-
tinued to drink and continued to
suffer from nerves. tension, in–
somnia. and amnesia.
1t
was as
vicious a circlc as onc could imag–
ine. and
l
could n' t ge t out of it.
l
tri ed hypnotists, fa ith healers, and
health fa rms, but the end result was
th a l
1
woke up in a police cell and
then was moved to a locked ward in
an alcoholic unit. l t was here that
they did the imposs ible: They
stopped me from drinking.
But
1
subsequcntly lea rned that
the a lcoholic's mai n problem is not
on ly to
STOP
drinking, but also to
STAY
stopped. After being rcleased
from the unit,
1
began drinking a l–
mos t immediatcly. In sheer dcsper–
a tion
1
phoned Alcoholics Anon–
ymo us. and th e same night
1
attended my fi rst meeting.
1
just cou ld not see how the well–
dre ssed and secmin g ly happy
people there could in any way be
id en ti ficd with the shivering mess
thal was me. But the minute the
speaker · opened his mouth ,
1
knew
that
1
was in thc right place. He
ta lked my languagc. Onc reason AA
is so succcss fu l is becausc when a
shy, embarrassed alcoho lic walks
into their meeting, no one Jaughs,
condemns. or ridicul es him, because
a ll of them, wit hout exception. were
in si mi lar shape when they them–
selves began aucnding.
lt
is that
personal ident ification tha t conrrib–
ut es to the succcss of AA. All have
been in exactly the same boat - or
bar - as the ncwcomer. And as soon
as the new mcmber feels
THAT
kind
of iden tification. they are on the firsl
rung of the ladder back to sobriety
and sanity.
But just lo stop drinking a lcohol
is not enough in th e trea tmen l for
th e illness of alcoholism; the alco–
holic must not only stop
drinking
alcohol. he must also stop
thinking
alcohol. Thc thought precedes the
act ion: l f he th inks it. he will drink
it.
Alcohol is unique, and so i alco–
ho lism. And to comba t a lcohol ism.
there has Lo be something equally
unique - thc Fellowship of Alco–
holics Anonymous. The numbc r of
the ncarcst AA group is in your
phone book. Dial now if you need
help.
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