Notes On 'Nobody Kicks A Dead Dog" Video

What is alcoholism is it really a disease or just people who lack will power or are morally weak. Is alcoholism a manisfestation of underlying deep-rooted psychological and problems and thus needing pyschiatric treatment.

In order to understand why the conflict and what is the correct position in answer to the above questions one must first understand the drug alcohol.

First of all we must take cognizance of the fact that alcohol is a selectively addictive drug in other words not everybody who drinks alcoholic beverages will become addicted to them. Only a minority will. This is because those who are alcoholics undergo certain neurolical changes in the brain as they drink alcohol leading to certain changes. This process does not happen to non-alcoholics.

This is due to certain abnormalities in the brain chemistry of alcoholics that most of them inherit. In other words when the alcoholic drinks, something different happens which has nothing to do with personality disorders or moral depravity. It is merely that the alcoholics body responds in a different way.

We must thus realise that it is physiology and not psychology that determines whether one person will become addicted and another one will not.

Yet myths and misconceptions abound and thus affect treatment and recovery of alcoholics.

The stigma and shame which surrounds this disease also propagates denial among the person afflicted and the family and friends who are affected and prevents them seeking treatment. This leads to families suffering for longer periods and even some alcoholics dying without ever having known that there was help at hand

The tape should be used to open up discussion on what people think alcoholism is and their reasons for their line of thought. Do they know anybody who they think is alcoholic? What are the treatment methods?

They can use this video as a springboard to find out more about the disease and its management but mostly this tape should leave them with an understanding that alcoholism is a disease and that like any other disease one should seek treatment as soon as possible.

There is no shame in being sick, and hiding the alcoholic or denying that one is alcoholic only leads to prolonging the suffering that the the individual and famly members go through.

One should also stop enabling the addicted person, with behavior that allows them to continue using alcohol. There are many ways of enabling e.g. giving money, gettting them out of jams caused by thier drinking like calling the employer and lying the person is sick, getting them out of police cells, paying for their bills at bars or shops and generally pandering to their every whim including backing down when they throw tantrums.

Back to top


This site is designed by David Ogot snr. and hosted by
Science & Engineering Research Center
©goinghomedotcom 2001 - 2006
Disclaimer Privacy Policy