CONTROL EQUALS PLEASURE?

I would like to add one thought to the discussion in the press and other media that suggests that some people who have had an uncontrolled dependence upon alcohol can return to "social drinking".

Most articles that I have read and studies that I have seen refer to "controlled" drinking. The very word "controlled" suggests to me the absence of any easy, stress-free, natural inclination to use alcohol moderately. To attempt to "control" the use of alcohol seems to be a painful and stressful effort to prove a point that has no merit. It doesn't seem to offer one bit of pleasure.

The accepted use of beverage alcohol in our society is meant to be pleasurable. The majority of those who use it are able to restrict their intake in a manner that achieves pleasure without undue efforts of self-restraint.

For those who, for whatever reasons have been unable to use alcohol in this way and have developed an uncontrolled dependence, the consequences are all too painfully known to us.

The need for this group is treatment and recovery.

But recovery is a wide-ranging experience that calls for the best use of all our resources. Re-establishment and maintenance of a good level of physical health - perhaps better than we have experienced in the past - is but the first goal.

Pursuit of even greater, and very real social comfort - reflected in the relationships we develop at home, on the job and in the community - demands the highest goodwill, patience, and sense of purpose that we can muster.

And, finally, we need to regain self-respect, respect of others, self-confidence and a belief in and acceptance of ourselves - to gain a reasonable degree of peace of mind.

All in all, a sizeable task, but an attainable one, if we can devote ourselves to it without needless distraction and self-made stresses. I do not think there can be enough left over to enter into an experiment...an experiment that offers little or no reward and carries the hazard of disaster.

MIKE WILSON

DON SAYS: Mike was on staff at the Donwood Institute when this article was written in October of 1976. As usual Mike has given us a very thought provoking essay, and as usual is very down to earth.