When someone drinks to the point of shitting themselves........why do they keep doing it?
We routinely see drunks that have puked on, pissed on and shit on themselves and yet they turn right around and do it again.
I don't understand.
They drink so much that when their BAC gets down around 0.2 (two and a half times the legal limit) they start to have seizures.
They die alone in an alley in the cold, they die in the ER puking unstoppable torrents of blood, they die on the floor - skin yellow and bellies swollen with the fluid from their failing livers.
I don't understand.
It's not just the homeless. We've seen society matrons and CEO's in the same condition.
Alcohol is one of the deadliest poisons, it is easily available and socially acceptable.
I don't understand.
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- ERnursey
- A hardworking ER nurse trying to survive until retirement and if I can have little fun or have a positive impact on someone's life, all the better!
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25 comments:
During the revolution, in the bastille prison in france, inmates were given three bottles of wine a day.
Who would try to escape?
Even earlier still, primitive beer was the ideal nutriment for the powers the be to give to slaves, to keep them fueled with carbohydrates enough to work but too weakened from lack of proteins to fight off disease or oppression.
It's a tool, just like the drugs we use, except it's not in the best interest of those who are addicted to it.
I was an active alcoholic for a couple of years back in my early 20's. Because I thought my s**t life seemed only worth living when I was in 'the zone'. Meaning drunk enough that I didn't care. Trouble is that it takes more and more once your tolerance goes up - and 'the zone' gets very close to the pass-out-and-crap-on-yourself stage. Fortunately I recognised the main issues, got help and have been sober for so long I hardly remember why I did that then...
Though it'd give you a bit of insight, though.
Friday night "Deborah Peel" was brought in with a BAC of .613. When I left at the end of my shift "she" was still unconscious and on the vent. I'll be interested to see if "she" is still on the floor tonight. (Do I even need to mention that it's not the first time for DP being brought in for passing out in public due to an obscenely high BAC? I thought not.)
Alcoholics have lost the power of choice and can not control their drinking. They drink because they will shake or get DT's with out the booze. It is nearly hopeless. Jails will not help, hospitals will not help. There needs to an intervention or they will die drunk.
In my opinion they DO have the power of choice (and yes, I do know that alcoholism has been classified a "disease"). They DO have the choice of walking into the alcohol store or that aisle in the grocery store. They DO have the choice of buying alcohol. They DO have the choice of opening it. They DO have the choice of drinking it. At ANY point in this progression they could make the choice NOT to be exposed to it, buy, open, drink, etc.
I know this is not the PC view, but it is mine, and many other people's also.
I DO, however, believe there are people who are extra sensitive to alcohol, have trouble stopping once they've started, etc. "I" have trouble not eating a whole bag of Dove chocolate once I eat one piece. One day I ate two bags of dried chili mangoes. Since I have trouble controlling my intake of these things, I choose not to buy them, therefore don't eat them.
Just another point of view.
rnrochelle is right. Alcoholics make the choice to drink, and they have to be the one to choose not to drink. Any type of forced program isn't going to work. My husband is an alcoholic who is dying of cirrhosis of the liver. He chose to drink enough to put him in this condition, and he chooses to keep drinking now. If you ever figure out why, please let me know, I'm dying to find out.
It is a choice at first but once they are addicted and their body is habituated to such a high level of central nervous system depressant when they stop drinking they have seizures(like ERNursey said above). They are caught in a horrible catch 22,die if they drink,die if they don't.
I understand the physiology of it but not the psychology. And it is not nearly so simple as mere choice.The analogy to chocolate is absurd.
If not for the huge money tied up in the liquor industry,it would be banned or better regulated as it is poison and it IS a deadly drug.
It is an incredibly sad situation. I have known many delightful and worthy people who did not think enough of themselves to stop living the wretched life of an alcoholic.
It makes me angry to have to take care of their bloated,yellow bodies when they're bleeding out too,VERY ANGRY. What a waste.
Actually, the analogy to chocolate is a good one, since morbid obesity is the product of a similarly destructive behavior. One consumes too much alcohol, while others are able to moderate their consumption. The other consumes too many calories. The side effects of not eating to extreme are not as severe as the side effects of not drinking at all. The psychology of excessive consumption is probably not much different, regardless of the item consumed.
We all make choices.
We tend to rationalize our bad choices, yet continue to make these bad choices.
Nasty side effects of addiction do not remove the choice, they just make it more difficult to make the right choice.
Addicts remain addicted until the cost, to them, of addiction is so high that they decide to make the choice to stop. Then they need to continue making the same choice every time they are faced with this temptation. A temptation they have, so far, perceived as irresistible.
Giving in to temptation makes it harder to resist, next time.
Many people quit briefly. It is much harder to continue to NOT yield to a strong temptation.
Chocolate consumption in relation to food addiction does not have any horrible side effects if you stop eating it. As opposed to the physical side effects of DTs and withdrawal.That is where I disagree.
buttercup58 said...
"As opposed to the physical side effects of DTs and withdrawal."
Almost as if I had not written:
"The side effects of not eating to extreme are not as severe as the side effects of not drinking at all."
There are differences. This is an analogy - a comparison of things that are different, but have similarities.
A focus on the differences does not mean that the analogy is not valid.
RM,in your opinion the analogy is valid,I don't agree. Maybe we can agree to disagree here.
It's just a comment.
And it is not nearly so simple as mere choice.The analogy to chocolate is absurd.
I could not agree more, especially with the chocolate is an absurd analogy point. And I say this as someone addicted to chocolate and not to alcohol.
I have known some pretty darn strong people addicted to alcohol. Know them well, in fact. If you haven't been addicted to alcohol, you have no idea what you are saying when you say "they're making a choice." On the surface, yeah, but there is sooooooooooo much more to it than that.
I don't recommend coddling them, because that's unproductive. But you all just need to know that it ain't that simple.
To anyone who has quit, you have my DEEPEST respect and admiration. And to those of you trying to quit, I applaud you. If you fail, keep trying to quit. You might fail several times before you succeed, but don't quit on quitting. I'm routing for you.
Teresa,
The morbidly obese would probably not appreciate your dismissal of their problems.
The action to drink, or eat, is voluntary, even if addiction is involved. Addiction may diminish the willpower of the individual, but it does not eliminate it. The same is true for conditions that predispose one to addiction. If these eliminated the willpower of addicts, nobody would be able to quit.
Addiction to alcohol makes it more dangerous to quit than most other addictions, but nowhere near impossible.
I haven't been addicted to anything (unless you count occasional and temporary caffeine dependence as an addiction, I do not). I recognize my problem behaviors before they become extreme. I could not accept the loss of control over my own body.
Nothing is that good. If it feels that good, there is a price eventually.
I do have family and friends who are addicts, as well as some who were addicts before it contributed to their deaths.
Jamie--I'm sorry your husband is causing you heartache! I hope he will stop drinking soon . . .
buttercup 58--alcohol is POTENTIALLY a deadly drug--as are tylenol, aspirin, and almost every other medication, over-the-counter or prescription, anyone can take. Even oxygen can be deadly if given in too high of a concentration to someone with COPD!
Not every alcoholic goes thru DTs with seizures, etc. when he/she stops drinking. My father-in-law stopped drinking cold turkey with absolutely no seizures, etc. I have known many friends who have made the choice to quit, often after a long history of heavy drinking. They just decided to quit . . . and did. Some of them months or years ago, and none of them needed hospitalization to do so.
I'm not disputing the fact that some people DO need hospitalization, just pointing out that it's not an absolute given that people WILL have DT's, etc.
Back to my father-in-law--he quit 35+ years ago and he still blames all of his problems and negative behaviors on his alcoholism. And that's part of my problem with charactizing alcohol dependence as a disease.
The industry of addictions is a profitable one--look at the books, workshops, recovery centers, etc., etc., etc. I think many, if not most, of the people involved in that truly want to help people . . . but there IS an interest in telling people it's a lifelong disease, they cannot help themselves without these books, workshops, counseling, etc., etc., etc.
We ALL, at some time, need outside help in dealing with problems. However, the alcohol addiction industry has a vested interest in convincing people that they will NEVER be cured and CANNOT do it alone.
Anyone who has quit ANY habit--alcohol, smoking, overeating, eating too much of one thing, destructive relationships--has my respect for making that difficult choice and sticking to it.
I knew a guy who, every time he went out drinking, would piss himself.
Every time.
His roommates never used the furniture after a few weeks of living with him, as he had pissed on nearly all of it.
You would think that after 2 or 3 consecutive episodes of waking up soaked in his own urine, he might have sworn off drinking for good.
You'd be wrong. He still went out almost every night and woke up every time soaked in his own piss. He was 22 years old.
That's how it starts, I imagine.
Or started using diapers or a condom catheter, but that would mean less money to buy drugs.
Do you ever do anything but complain about how miserable your job is, and how stupid everyone around you is? Perhaps you shouldn't be a nurse if you're so disgusted by people with problems.
anonymous 6:47 PM,
You need to repost this. I'm certain that everything you write is true. ER Nursey confided to me that she is the reincarnation of the Marquis de Sade and delights in torturing others. She finds the thought of writing anything positive to be unbearable.
Somehow you signed in using the wrong name.
Your name is Hypocrite.
Please be sure to identify yourself correctly in the future.
Thank you.
Anonymous, you are a blog troll. I'd suspect you were a reincarnation of the speaker but you lack her verbosity. Since you clearly dislike me so much I wonder why you keep returning. Please feel free to not do so in the future.
There is a hormone in our brain called ADH. That stands for ANTI DIURETIC HORMONE. As we know, a diuretic, is something that makes us pee. So if we took a "water pill" that is a diuretic. Well this hormone in our body is called ANTI-diuretic hormone, so that means it is against diuresis. So when alcohol is consumed, it messes with this hormone, and its job. When the hormone can not do its job, the opposite happens.
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Alicemark
Alcoholism Treatment
That stands for ANTI DIURETIC HORMONE. As we know, a diuretic, is something that makes us pee. So if we took a "water pill" that is a diuretic.
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seandalton
California Alcohol Addiction Treatment
Alcoholics have lost the power of choice and can not control at their drinking problem. It is nearly hopeless. Jails can not help the Alcoholics, but yes, hospitals can help in this way that Alcoholic’s relatives also participate in their rehabilitation.
Jim Curtz
Alcohol Treatment
I was "in the zone" myself for years. When your not feeling the pain you don't care about your bowel movements or anything else in life for that matter, your numb.
narconon northern california alcohol treatment center
"why do they keep doing it? ... I don't understand." Same reason that you know that you are fat and you don't lose weight. Same reason that some people haven't learned fluent English as an adult after 3 years. Only difference is you can't tell fat people and drunk to "go back to where they come from".
There are so many reasons that I can think of as to why I continued to behave in these ways. Mainly I believe that I did not see anything wrong with my actions while I was using or otherwise. As long as I was having a 'good time,' I thought that it was OK. I justified my actions to myself and after a while I didn't need to because I just viewed it as being alright.Narconon Northern California Alcohol Treatment Center was what I needed, to not just change my life around but what I needed to confront who I was and what I had been running from for so long.
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