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The current issue of the New Yorker has an interesting article on alcohol by Malcolm Gladwell (author of The Tipping Point, etc.) He talks about evidence for what alcohol really does. People have considered it a drug that lowers your inhibitions, but some researchers think that what it really does is focus your attention to what's right in front of you, while eliminating background stuff. Frequently what's right in front of an alcoholic is cues to lower their inhibitions (party, loud music, low lights, etc.) But in some cultures people drink in different circumstances, and so they react to alcohol differently: it doesn't mean that they go out of control. So he talks about what this means for alcoholism and why some cultures have a lot of it and some (like rural Bolivia) have none.
This makes a lot of sense to me. I've seen people who have a lot of anger get even angrier when drunk -- anger is the only thing in their field of attention. My ex A would get drunk in a group of friends and get gushingly, sloppily friendly.
This helps me understand why alcohol is so attractive to some people (it just makes me feel sick, so it's hard to get my mind around). Gladwell also talks about how we try to get people to drink in moderation by various means: legal, moral, etc. But how cultural context counts for a lot, especially in allowing people to get started in overindulging. Not that we can change the culture overnight, but it's food for thought. I recommend it. It's the issue with the artist's studio and the butterfly on the cover.
I remember driving down the highway once with my ex-wife and we passed a billboard with a sexy looking lady drinking some well known brand of whiskey. She turned to me and said I wonder if I would look like her if I drank that type of whiskey. I looked at the billboard then back at her. I don't know, but I know you'd start looking like her if I drank it.
Its a joke of course.
A book was written about 70 years ago that told us why alcoholic men and women drink alcohol. We drink for the effect produced by alcohol. It has a different effect on different people. Shy people become able to talk or dance or whatever they couldn't do before because alcohol lowers their inhibitions. I knew one guy who was loud and obnoxious when he was sober but quiet and shy when he drank.
Personally, I drank to be social. Unfortunately it backfired and I became dangerously and disgustingly anti-social. If you've ever seen the old movie Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, to me he wasn't drinking some strange formula, he was just drinking whiskey.
But, I enjoyed that article also. Its always good to get new insights and information.
By the way that book I mentioned. It's called Alcoholics Anonymous - the big book as some refer to it as..
Personally I thought the article was a little limited. Gladwell lauded those people who drank daily who seemed not to be dependent on it. Well if they drank daily every single day maybe they were. I don't think it went into alcoholism that much.
I don't think there is really much point in saying why do some people drink and not get dependent and others can't.
