November 9, 2007 at 12:40 pm ·
Filed under 1 - Top Stories
Disenablers of the Month:
Good Charlotte rocker Joel Madden, who gaveNicole Richie a "get-help-or-we're-through" ultimatum after learning she was pregnant. According to a close person, "His tough love saved her life." Of course, we'll only know in the fullness of time, but she seems to have a good start for someone who was drinking addictively by age 13, using cocaine at 14, and ingesting an estimated 25 Vicodin and 25 Soma daily over a period of four years beginning at age 20 (an incredible 73,000 pills). Sometimes, one-on-one intervention--especially if timed right--does the job.
Tucker Chapman, who released a private conversation with his father, television bounty hunter Duane "Dog" Chapman, in which the reality star repeatedly used racial slurs in referring to ...
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November 9, 2007 at 12:39 pm ·
Filed under 2 - Movie & Book Reviews
"Samantha Who?" and "Life"
The Fall TV season offers two terrific new shows featuring alcoholism as primary and secondary themes. "Samantha Who?" stars Christina Applegate, who has become an excellent actress (who would have known after her role as the daughter in "Married with Children"?). She plays Sam, who after spending eight days in a coma remembers nothing of her life. She is aghast to discover that she was not a "nice" person, but was instead an alcoholic slut who regularly cheated on her non-addicted boyfriend, was a spendthrift and was excellent in her job working for a disreputable company. The question is, can people change--or not? Those of us who understand the difference between a practicing alcoholic and one in ...
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November 9, 2007 at 12:38 pm ·
Filed under 3 - Dear Doug...
Possessive, jealous, angry, controlling--
oh, and violent when drunk
Dear Doug:
My husband Pete is possessive, jealous and angry. We fight constantly and argue over everything. When I go to a store, he demands to know which store and when I'm going to be home. Sometimes, he checks my undergarments to see that I've returned home in the same pair I left with. Once, he turned violent when he was really drunk. I forgave, but will never forget.
I don't want a divorce because he can be a really great guy, but I'm beginning to wonder. What should I do?
Signed,
Unhappily married
. . . . .
Dear Codependent,
While other columnists might simply explain that "Pete is showing signs of an abuser...and he is willing to hurt ...
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November 9, 2007 at 12:37 pm ·
Filed under 4 - Alcoholic Myth of the Month
"Adverse close relationships may increase the risk of heart disease."
So found researchers in a study of 9,011 British civil servants, most of whom were married. Those judged to have the worst relationships were 34% more likely to have serious heart trouble during 12 years of follow-up than those having good relationships with partners, close relatives and friends. The study, reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine, concluded that "the quality of the relationship matters." The study follows several others linking health problems with being single and having few close relationships.
Correlation, however, is not causation. There may be a reason that explains both poor health and a high degree of conflict: levels of alcoholism are higher among unhappily married and divorced ...
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November 9, 2007 at 12:35 pm ·
Filed under 5 - Amazing Alcoholic Antics
Alcoholic Antic-of-the-Month
Story from "This is True" by Randy Cassingham, with his "tagline:"
"JUST PASSING THROUGH: When a car crashed into the front of police headquarters in East Windsor, Conn., an officer ran to investigate. The driver, a 68-year-old woman, was fine, but when she saw the officer, police say, she backed up her car and tried to run him down, crashing into the building again. She then flipped the cop off and drove away. Officers pursued the car and arrested Lillian Dunn about a mile away. During a court hearing Dunn repeatedly interrupted the judge, who warned her that she would be gagged if she didn't be quiet. 'Go ahead,' Dunn urged. 'Shove it!' She has been charged with criminal attempt ...
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October 25, 2007 at 2:42 pm ·
Filed under General
A journalist asks:
"What sort of mindset leads young people to attack the homeless? We had an incident in Aurora, Colo., last week where police say seven teens beat and stabbed a homeless man."
Disgusting, isn't it? As usual, alcoholism is the best explanation for the grotesque.
Alcoholism explains (but does not excuse) 85% of domestic violence and overall crime. There's no reason to think that attacks on the homeless are any different.
What's confusing is the attackers are teens. How could teenagers already be alcoholics (or other-drug addicts)? Because the typical addict in recovery tells us he or she triggered the addiction during the first drinking episode, average age 13.
But why would alcoholism or other-drug addiction result in such attacks? Because alcoholism causes ...
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October 23, 2007 at 9:45 pm ·
Filed under General
The latest issue of Skeptic Magazine includes a wonderful expose of a likely alcoholic imagination running wild in author Erich von Daniken, who is best known for "Chariots of the Gods?" He tried to show that only extraterrestrial beings could have brought the ancients the technology to build pyramids, among other un-earthly achievements. Skeptic rips such claims to shreds.
Skeptic also describes von Daniken's early personal life, which included convictions for fraud and embezzlement. It's possible that von Daniken's likely alcoholism, which took form in defrauding small groups of people early on, transmuted into a big-time fraud when he discovered a penchant for writing and story-telling. I wrote to Skeptic:
"Von Daniken dropped out of school to become a bartender. He was ...
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October 17, 2007 at 11:56 am ·
Filed under General
A Latina asks why Latina women cheat. My response, as usual, attempts to go deeper. We need to seek out root causes.
Women who cheat, like their male counterparts, often do so out of a need to wield power. In Western cultures, this need is frequently rooted in egomania resulting from alcohol or other-drug addiction.
Recovering addicts admit that affairs were a regular part of their married lives. What they can't tell us is what compelled them to cheat, which I have researched extensively. It usually comes down to that egomania.
Race is irrelevant, as is economic class, education level, gender or anything else except a parent who was an addict. Aside from learning from such a parent--actually, not so much learning ...
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October 17, 2007 at 11:51 am ·
Filed under General
What do Nigerian scams have to do with alcoholism?
Most con artists, including Charles Ponzi, are or have been alcohol or other-drug addicts. The Nigerian scam, a variation of the up-front fee con originating in the Sir Francis Drake scam perfected by the alcoholic Oscar Hartzell, is no exception. Just as alcohol permeates the offices of penny-stock boiler-rooms, I'd bet my reputation that it does so at the offices of Nigerian con-artists.
Those unfortunate enough to meet such a con artist usually note an inflated sense of self and charm. These are both consistent with alcoholism, which causes egomania, which results in a need to wield power over others. One way by which to exert power is charm. A classic example of ...
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October 17, 2007 at 11:43 am ·
Filed under General
A journalist asks, "What's the connection between domestic violence and divorce?"
Wrong question.
Those interested in the driver behind domestic violence need to comprehend alcoholism and other-drug addiction. There is at least an 85% likelihood of addiction in those who commit DV. And while only 10% of the population consists of addicts, 40% of divorces involve an addict on one side or the other, and often both. In addition, among those married and divorced four times, the odds of alcoholism and other-drug addiction are close to 90%.
If we want to solve the problem--and even prevent it--we need to understand its cause. That's what my books are for, particularly "Drunks, Drugs & Debits," which gives a "gut" feel for alcoholism.
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October 6, 2007 at 11:33 am ·
Filed under 1 - Top Stories
O.J. Simpson arrested--again
Another example of alcoholics pitted against alcoholics in the criminal justice system
"...I'm not going to blame being drunk [for having struck you] that's (sic) no excuse. (But I have decided to stop drinking and will go to AA)" (parentheses in the original). So wrote O.J. Simpson in a 1989 letter of apology to Nicole Brown Simpson.
To understand O.J., one must grasp the concept of alcoholic egomania, which compels the addict to wield power over others. This explains how even successful, talented and charming people can create a mess of so many lives. In particular, it accounts for O.J.'s success on the playing field and as an actor, because success facilitates the use of power and, therefore, alcoholism in ...
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October 6, 2007 at 11:30 am ·
Filed under 1 - Top Stories
Best runner-up for story of the month ever:
Norman Hsu, until recently a large donor to Democratic Party luminaries, was arrested--again--for missing a court hearing--again--relating to charges of grand theft, to which he pleaded no contest in 1992. Hsu's sordid story is consistent with undiagnosed alcoholism, by far the best explanation for his numerous bizarre exploits.
Hsu, 56, a purported businessman whose rags-to-riches story no one seems able to explain, filed for bankruptcy twice, the first time in 1990. Just two years later, after charming friends and relatives into investing in what turned out to be a multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme, he forfeited $2 million in bail when he failed to appear for sentencing. He seems to have moved to Hong Kong ...
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October 6, 2007 at 11:29 am ·
Filed under 1 - Top Stories
Another runner-up:
"Dancing With the Stars" contestant Vivica A. Fox, 43, who pleaded not guilty to charges of DUI, stopped after passing a California Highway Patrol officer, allegedly driving 80 mph and weaving on the Ventura Freeway in Los Angeles. It was, of course, after she was told she was under arrest that the actress (best known for "Kill Bill" and "Independence Day") began to berate the officers. "Brother," she yelled at one of the two officers, "help a sister. Are you going to let this racist white cop do this?" She reportedly continued to speak in a "condescending manner" as she was placed into the patrol car. An arrest for DUI is an excellent clue to alcoholism. Bigotry (Mel Gibson) ...
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October 6, 2007 at 11:28 am ·
Filed under 1 - Top Stories
Runner Up:
Former Philippine President Joseph Estrada, who got a life sentence after being found guilty of taking $85 million in bribes and kickbacks six years after he was ousted. The 70-year-old former action-film star became a hero to millions of poor and homeless Filipinos, no doubt by engaging in a variation of the tactics used by Hugo Chavez of Venezuela: give to the poor while consuming the country's capital through a failure to invest. Estrada's government began to unravel in 2000 after a self-confessed racketeer and "one-time drinking buddy of Estrada," provincial Gov. Luis Singson, admitted to paying bribes to Estrada. According to the L.A. Times, Estrada, "a notorious playboy, lived the high life during the trial, holding parties at ...
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October 6, 2007 at 11:25 am ·
Filed under 1 - Top Stories
More runners up:
Character actor Seymour Cassel, 72, who narrowly lost a bid to become president of Hollywood's most powerful union, the Screen Actors Guild. Cassel, whose career was derailed over two decades ago by a stint in federal prison, became a member of the SAG board six years ago. One former board member "found his behavior very troubling and erratic" and says that Cassel was one of the reasons he "chose not to run again." Cassel, the only child of a mother who was a traveling dancer and a father he never knew, is described as a "loose cannon" and has had run-ins with several fellow professionals, including former president of the American Federation of Radio and Television Artists John ...
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