They-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named
Part One
Jason Peter Lawandales, MA, PLMHP
Jason
currently works at Peak Wellness Center in Cheyenne, Wyoming as a Community
Substance Abuse Prevention Specialist for 4 counties and has extensive education
and experience in the substance abuse prevention field, as well as behavioral
health. He is also one of the few Nationally Certified Instructors in his field
and is available for classes. Contact him at JLawandales@peakwellnesscenter.org.
He has been involved in substance abuse education since 1991 when, as a Junior,
he became active in the LEADS Program (Leadership Education for Alcohol and
Drug Safety) at The College of Charleston in South Carolina, where he cofounded
The Office of Substance Abuse Prevention. He is a Ph.D. Candidate, Public Health:
Health Promotion and Education through Walden University, 2004, has a Master
of Arts in Clinical Counseling from The Citadel, 1999 and a Bachelor of Arts
in English Literature, The College of Charleston, 1993.
I often find
myself addressing a class, or seminar, or something of the like at 10 a.m. and
I ask, “When trying to sober someone up, what should you do?” Enthusiastic
hands shoot up. “Give him a cold shower!” Another raised hand is
called upon, “Coffee! Yeah that does the trick!” A more impulsive
member of the group shouts out; give him food.” The hungover of the bunch
suddenly become animated and prepare to take notes. Yes. Cold showers, caffeine,
and feeding the individual. Those are the usual suspects. When addressing the
same crowd ask-ing, “What does this result in?” No longer able to
regurgitate decades of misinformation, a more hesitant group, armed with fewer
facts has now materialized before me. A tentative hand inches upwards, “Well,
they have a full stomach.” That they do. There is always one that states
that caffeine is “a Central Nervous System stimulant” and therefore
the afflicted should be more awake. True again, but so what. “What about
the shower part?” Glazed eyes. OK. Final question. “What happens
to a drunk person when these “remedies” are applied?” Vacant
expressions. The typical adolescent/young adult has no clue. And many adults….?
When you try to sober someone up that way you get a wide-awake, well-fed, cold,
wet, pissed-off drunk. Only time can sober someone up. But from information
propagated by They-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named you might just as well know typing
the word “profit” burns 3.682534 carbs.
Here’s
another stumper. Are you more likely to be injured or die in a crash if you
have been drinking, or if you are sober? Why? OK-go again. If there is a car
with four people in it and one is a Designated Driver, what do you call the
other three? Does it really matter? As long as there is someone driving who
is at least capable of noticing red lights and yellow lines? Do you believe
this is “responsible”? What if I asked you to give me a definition
of “responsible drinking”? What would you come up with? Well……
What are you waiting for? Go ahead. Let’s have it. Just even try come
up with a personal definition. Write it down. You’ll be surprised at it
in a minute.
They-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named tell us being responsible means that you can go out
and drink as much as you want and as often as you want as long as you aren’t
killing anyone, taking out innocent property (after all, what did that poor
mailbox ever do to you?) or horribly maiming anyone for life. That’s pretty
responsible, huh? As a matter of fact, the more one drinks, and the more often
one drinks, the more quickly that person will develop alcoholism.
Go back to
the definition that you wrote a minute ago. How much of that definition sounds
like something that has been fed to you by well-meaning “Just Say No”
enthusiasts, 30 minute school pro-grams held once a year, or what we are inundated
with by They-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? The reason you can’t write your own
Responsibility Statement is because you have never been educated about your
personal risks. In 30 minutes, I can give you that information.
By the way, the other three in the car are probably the Designated Drunks. So
what’s wrong with that? They-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named know and it’s
probably why you don’t. There is a great body of information out there
and since I don’t have a profit margin to worry about, I’ll fill
you in and let you make your own choices.
They-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named,
Part Two
What They-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named Know But Won’t EVER Tell
You!
Just being
safe while out drinking is not enough. At the end of this article you will see
the danger that lies under the rhetoric of “Designating Driving”
for if you have one Designated Driver (who probably has been drinking anyway)
those riding with him are the Designated Drunks. What happens long-term to these
Designated Drunks? Has anyone given any though to that? You will also see why
the catch phrase “Drink Responsibly” is woefully inadequate. And
think about this –does one have to be drunk to cause a terrible accident,
or merely impaired by alcohol. How can you be responsible to yourself if you
don’t even know what your own risks are?
At then end of this you will be able to take a short self- test to determine
precisely your RISK for alcoholism, and your safe drinking guidelines. Even
if you score favorably remember, ANYONE can get alcoholism if they drink a lot,
and often. It all depends on the kinds drinking of choices you make.
The most dangerous choices are high-risk quantity and frequency choices. For
those of you who, after taking this test find you are high risk, continue to
drink a lot, and often will find nothing but a speedy descent into the abyss
of alcoholism. This is not rhetoric, nor conjured from scare tactics, but based
upon decades of pure scientific research findings.
We need to stop thinking in terms of “DO we have alcoholism?” “Does
someone I know HAVE alcoholism?” People need to be armed with some very
basic, understandable information about preventing drinking from getting to
the point where someone is alcoholic.
First, we need to dispel some common misunderstandings about the type of people
who get alcoholism and understand very clearly that EVERYONE is at risk for
alcoholism and it depends greatly on a combination of quantity and frequency
of use and the following:
1. Biological Risk, or Family history
2. Psychological Risk, or what types of personalities are more at-risk; &
3. Social Risk – those people we hang out with and how the actions of
those people affect our drinking choices.
First: Common Misconceptions called Strength/Weakness View.
Just because someone is perceived to have these traits, it does not mean that
they are going to be alcoholic:
Low self esteem • Compulsive • No will power • Emotionally
weak • Can’t cope • Can’t handle stress • Immoral
• Depressed • Poor • Crazy • Irresponsible • Dependent
• Immature • Uneducated
Those dropping out of school have the highest chances of using alcohol and other
drugs and becoming addicted.
If you really think about it, these types of things happen to people AFTER problems
and addiction have set in.
The other group of misconceptions is called the Immune/Predestined View.
This simply means that some people believe that no matter what a person does,
or how much or how little they drink, they are destined to get alcoholism whereas
others can drink as much as they want and not get alcoholism. They rationalize
high Quantity-Frequency use among those who believe they do not have these traits
will never get alcoholism. This thinking is archaic and entirely disputable
through a century of scientific research.
Someone is born alcoholic - Just like the old man - It’s all genetics
- Family history
This is entirely untrue. Decades of science tell us that although alcoholism
runs in families, it does not guarantee one will become alcoholic. ANYONE can
get alcoholism depending on how much, and how often they drink (quantity/frequency).
BRIEF TEST:
Assessing your Biological Risk
1) Do I have a parent or grandparent with alcoholism yes no
2) Do I have a strong family history of alcoholism yes no
3) Did I have an unusual early response to alcohol * yes no
4) Have I developed Significant increased tolerance** yes no
*unusual early response: the first 1 or 2 times you used alcohol you could drink
everyone under the table (high tolerance), experience a flushing sensation with
redness in the cheeks, become sick very easily
**Tolerance refers to the fact that when a person first drank it took 1 or 2
drinks to get an effect. As time goes on it takes more drinks to get that same
effect, or buzz. If one finds this happening tolerance is increasing, and the
more alcohol it takes to get the buzz, and the more often one drinks, the more
likely alcoholism will set in. For example, the first few times you had drinks
it took you 2 beers to get a buzz, now, a year later, it takes 6, 7, 8 or more
to get the same feeling! Now is a good time to define just what a “drink”
is:
A 12-ounce beer - NOT a 48.
A 4-ounce glass of wine at 12% alcohol
1 ounce of 100 proof distilled spirits contain about 1/2/ ounce of alcohol
So one sees there is no difference between beer and hard liquor.
Results:
1) NO to all 4 questions have No Sign of Increased Biological Risk—but
they still have a risk. Safe to drink 0-2 drinks a day without increasing risk
for alcoholism
2) YES to #1 or #3 or #4 have Some Signs of Increased Biological Risk. Drink
0-2 drinks LESS THAN DAILY
3) YES to # 2, or to any 2 others have Strong Signs of Biological Risk and should
abstain altogether. This is your best Low-Risk Choice, otherwise alcoholism
will descend rapidly, maybe even in a few months.
Social Risk translates basically into the fact that if a person hangs around
people or groups who have heavy drinking as a normal part of life they will
drink more and more often (high Quantity/Frequency) just to fit in with the
group. No matter what the Biological Risk, a person who stays in this group
will eventually develop alcoholism because of the quantity and frequency of
use. College students are notorious for this type of behavior.
Psychological Risk.
There is absolutely
no way of looking at someone’s personality and being able to tell with
any certainty that they will become alcoholic. There are some personality types
that are more at-risk such as people who are impulsive, rebellious, and gregarious
(center of attention).
Seven Individual Differences They-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named will never mention about
getting impaired.
These differences may increase impairment:
Age
Elderly people and adolescents experience greater impairment from alcohol than
young and middle-age adults.
Body Size
A smaller person experiences greater impairment from a given amount of alcohol
than a larger person. Because impairment is based on the ratio of lean body
tissue to muscle tissue, someone with more fatty tissue will become impaired
faster.
Gender
Women are typically more impaired from the same amount of alcohol than men their
same size. They may also become intoxicated more quickly and stay that way longer
one to three days before menstruation.
Illness or Tiredness
A person who is tired, sick, or just getter better experiences greater impairment
from alcohol. Tiredness adds greatly to increased risk for impairment.
Other Drugs
This could be a prescription, over-the-counter, and illegal drug. It can weaken
or intensify the effect of the drug and intensify the effect of alcohol as well.
In either case this can be dangerous or fatal. Anyone on medication should speak
to a doctor or pharmacist about the use of alcohol while taking the medication.
Stomach Content
Drinking Alcohol on an empty stomach causes greater impairment
Altitude
Drinking at high altitudes increases impairment.
Accidents, minor and serious are caused not when a person is drunk, but impaired.
This is just basic information, it just scratches the surface but should provide
the reader with some valuable knowledge and guidelines in order to determine
risks for alcohol, factors mitigating impairment, and most importantly, the
point to which you are At-Risk for alcoholism. What you choose to do with this
information is your choice, but will it be a wise, informed one, or a choice
based on ignorance and immutable mythology.