Is Lisa Nowak crazy–or alcoholic?
“She’s too smart to be an alcoholic, and if she does something at which we shake our heads in disbelief, we should assume she has a psychological problem.â€
The antic-of-the-month below, starring astronaut Lisa Nowak, brings to mind all sorts of myths. She’s too smart, too successful; the stress caused her to freak out; it’s probably a psychological problem rooted in something other than alcoholism; she’s too good a mother; ad nauseam.
No, when inexplicable and destructive behaviors rear their ugly head, it’s probably alcohol and other-drug addiction.
While there were reportedly few problems in Nowak’s life until a few weeks ago, outsiders often have no idea about the turmoil that goes on behind closed doors. Such turmoil often continues for decades, while close people attempt to “reason”with the occasional outbursts of irrational behavior. While Deputy NASA Administrator Shana Dale said that before Nowak’s arrest there were no signs of instability, neighbors reported hearing the sounds of dishes being thrown inside the Nowak home in November, for which police were summoned. A few weeks ago, Nowak and her husband of 19 years separated. This could be a classic example of an addiction-related gulf between public and private lives.
Roughly two-thirds of what appear to be mental illnesses dissipate within the first few months of sobriety. As I wrote in Drunks, Drugs & Debits, addiction can mimic all the Personality Disorders and mental illnesses, “which therefore become symptoms of an underlying addiction….Addicts exhibit abrupt mood changes, from depressed and withdrawn to hyper, manic and excited, for no apparent reason. The timing depends on when and which drug was used last, interactions of various drugs and how the addict’s particular brain neurotransmitters are affected. Often, these reactions take place between uses [which could explain why she may not test positive for alcohol or other drugs in her system, if she was tested at all]. The only difference to the layperson in observable behaviors of an addict and a bipolar [or other Disorder, including paranoia] is that if the addict cleans up, the depression and mania [or other bizarre symptom] eventually disappears.”This is not to say it cannot be anything else. However, we should go with the odds. The best explanation for her behaviors is the consumption of a cocktail of drugs, likely alcohol and pharmaceuticals, as part of a long-standing psychotropic drug addiction.