February 3, 2006 at 8:51 am ·
Filed under 3 - Dear Doug...
Dear Doug: Concerned for her Sister
Dear Doug:
My sister Lenore has been dating Benjamin for a year. While the family initially welcomed Ben, we have just learned of several pending charges and two convictions for forgery and writing bad checks. At the same time, Lenore discovered that credit accounts were recently opened in her name. When she accused Ben, he charmed her into believing he's innocent.
Although Lenore knows that Ben used her debit card without asking, she has forgiven him. She even asked him to forgive her for having accused him of identity theft. The rest of the family is doing what it must to protect themselves, including banning him"and, because she is forever at his side, her"from their ...
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February 3, 2006 at 8:50 am ·
Filed under 2 - Movie & Book Reviews
Review: A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
Good attitude; flawed analysis
Addict James Frey's story of his own "Leaving Las Vegasâ€-style bottom from which he recovered was originally marketed to publishers as fiction. It has been outed by www.TheSmokingGun.com as fiction. The trouble is that Frey had to call his story a "memoir"in order to sell it. Frey lied, even to Oprah, who is deeply "embarrassed and disappointed"and feels duped for recommending the book and making it the September 2005 Oprah book club selection of the month. While every word could have been real and forms a composite of the young late-stage poly-drug addict, the fact that so much was embellished has created one of the great literary scandals.
I read ...
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February 3, 2006 at 8:48 am ·
Filed under 1 - Top Stories
Bode Miller: Olympian Skier, Party Boy and Likely Non-Alcoholic ENTP
Sometimes, personality type and upbringing explains what may appear to be alcoholism.
Bode Miller, reportedly the most naturally gifted American skier in decades and one of America's great hopes in the upcoming Olympics, recently made news with loose talk and foul language in a "60 Minutes"interview. He essentially claimed he once skied a World Cup event either while drunk or extremely hung over. He often peppers his speech with profanities, which is by itself a frequent early clue to addiction. According to Newsweek, he is an avid partyer and "often grumpy."He is an extraordinary overachiever, which as we know does not preclude alcoholism and may even be driven by it.
By ...
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February 3, 2006 at 8:47 am ·
Filed under 1 - Top Stories
Runners-up for top story of the month:
Actor Kiefer Sutherland, star of the hit series "24"and son of actor Donald Sutherland, reportedly seen downing a lot of booze at the Strand Palace Hotel in London, then refusing more alcohol because he could no longer stand up. Keifer, 39, was convicted of a DUI in 1992, has been involved in several barroom brawls, has been seen drinking at 9 in the morning and has reportedly shown up on the set of "24"hung over. As a strident fan of "24"and one who thinks it's the most suspenseful show ever on the small screen, I'd hate to see Kiefer go head first into the maelstrom of late-stage alcoholism. Unfortunately, he appears perilously close to ...
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February 3, 2006 at 8:36 am ·
Filed under 5 - Amazing Alcoholic Antics
Amazing Antics: Stories of Alcoholism-Driven Behaviorsâ„¢
Stories from "This is True"by Randy Cassingham, with his "tagline:â€
In the spirit of the holiday season, even though it didn't occur during the holidays, here's a classic from August 18, 2002:
"MADE FOR EACH OTHER: A sheriff's deputy stopped a car in Spring Creek, Nev., after it nearly hit his patrol car. As he was pulling the car over, another car nearly hit him"and he got it stopped too. The first car was driven by Lynn Allen White, 31. Deputy Sean Murphy arrested him for drunk driving. The second car was driven by Denean Veronica White, 36"the first driver's wife. She also failed sobriety tests and was also arrested for drunk driving. (AP) '…Watch your ...
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February 3, 2006 at 8:34 am ·
Filed under 4 - Alcoholic Myth of the Month
"Authorities aren't sure why Radzicki allegedly attacked the woman.â€
So said Sheboygan, Wisconsin County District Attorney Joe DeCecco in describing an attack by Nathaniel S. Radzicki on his live-in girlfriend"with a cactus plant. According to the woman, Radzicki "went psycho. He acted like he was possessed, like he was the devil."He faces felony battery charges for the attack, during which he also bit his unnamed girlfriend, leaving her "covered in blood."She had half-inch cactus thorns stuck in her neck, face and arms that had to be removed by hospital personnel.
According to the complaint, Radzicki was upset over phone calls made earlier in the evening. Of course he had been, according to DeCecco, "drinking."While there were no previous convictions for violent ...
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February 3, 2006 at 8:33 am ·
Filed under 3 - Dear Doug...
Dear Doug: Closet Abuser
Dear Doug:
After 30 years of verbal, emotional and even occasional physical abuse, I have finally filed for divorce. I am looking forward to my new found freedom.
The trouble is that I have hidden the abuse all-too-well. Our friends and family, who see my husband as a wonderful, caring man, haven't a clue. I look like the wicked witch and have already lost several 30-year friendships, along with his side of the family.
What should I do with people who judge me without knowing the real story?
Signed,
Closet Abused
. . . . .
Dear Abused,
Other columnists would say that if others were told the whole story, many would believe you. They'd essentially tell you ...
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February 3, 2006 at 8:33 am ·
Filed under 2 - Movie & Book Reviews
Review: "My Name is Earlâ€
I admit to having seen this hilarious new TV show only a few times and to a gross failure to take notes. Hey, even I like to relax a bit sometimes.
For those few of you on Pluto who don't know the storyline, Earl was hit by a car, survived, and realized that by spreading bad Karma he was often on the receiving end of it. The spreading of good includes not only reforming himself, but also paying amends to victims of his prior misbehaviors. He carries a list of some 260 amends he must make, of which he gets to cross off one per episode. Hopefully, we'll get to see him right his wrongs for ...
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January 15, 2006 at 8:52 am ·
Filed under 4 - Alcoholic Myth of the Month
"McCowan has no answer for why he threw away his second chance. ‘I really want to give you a reason, but there's no good explanation.'â€
So said a Los Angeles Times report on defensive back Howard McCowan, on track in 1990 for starting position with the USC Trojans and a likely NFL draft pick, now in High Desert State Prison in California for life for committing a third strike felony offense. After spending seven years in prison for a one-night crime spree and almost completing his degree at USC afterwards, he robbed a liquor store with a handgun. He has no idea why. If the criminal justice system focused on prevention, it would have monitored him for alcohol or other drug ...
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January 15, 2006 at 8:31 am ·
Filed under 1 - Top Stories
Runners-up for top story of the month:
Kevin Federline, who was allegedly dumped by new-mom Britney Spears because of his continuing marijuana use and reversion to partying and nightclubbing. Federline is reported to have recently been arrogant, rude and critical of Britney in front of others. (Let's see…pompous, inconsiderate behaviors and making disparaging remarks…How to Spot Hidden Alcoholics mentions these and other behaviors as indicative of early-stage alcoholism.) Britney had a prenuptial agreement requiring that she pay Federline, who was unemployed when they met, $300,000 for every year they stay married. Anyone who'd care to send Britney my books will help save her a lot of money….(although she was smart…it could have been far worse.)
Purported good-girl actress Kirsten Dunst, admitting ...
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January 10, 2006 at 8:32 am ·
Filed under 1 - Top Stories
Competition Freaks, the Super Bowl and Alcoholism
The link between winning and alcoholism proves elusive for the media
In a recent piece in the Los Angeles Times, "Competition Freaks,"writer Marianne Szegedy-Maszak addressed the question of what motivates those who just have to win. By the fourth paragraph, she connected out-of-control soccer moms screaming at referees, those banned from playing family board games because they ruin the entire evening when they lose, obsessive compulsive disorder, narcissism, road rage, drunk driving and addiction. Hoping she would explore the connection further, I looked for more mentions of DUI or alcohol/other-drug addiction somewhere"anywhere"in the following 48 paragraphs. Alas, I looked in vain.
In asking, "How many people do we walk over to be successful?"and "When ...
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December 6, 2005 at 10:05 am ·
Filed under General
Daniel writes:
Dear Doug,
I started dating a girl who's an alcoholic and then stopped seeing her before anything happened. She asked me to buy her vodka because she's underage. I asked her what that was for, and she said she just wanted it to drink by herself, and it wasn't for a party or anything. When I mentioned that it's a rather bad sign to want to drink a bottle of vodka alone, she said, "I have to drink alone because I have blackouts, and it's dangerous for me to drink with boys especially if I don't know what I'm doing." Wow, that was really reassuring, wasn't it? Also logical to conclude that she should drink alone rather than, say, NOT ...
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December 6, 2005 at 10:00 am ·
Filed under General
Michael asks:
What do you think of "functioning alcoholics?" For
example, my father always drank. He seems to have
slowed down since I was a kid, and since his DUI and
maniacal fights with my mother when they were married
during the 70's and 80's, he never appears to exhibit
any of the behavioral cues associated with alcoholism.
He still drinks, I'm sure, more than once a week.
Enjoys drinking "fraternities" such as the Moose and
Eagles. His current wife is not an alcoholic....maybe
she takes up some of the slack such as driving.
I theorize that my family is shot through with
"functioning" addicts. On my mother's side, I've
noticed pompousness and grandiosity in her one (over
achieving) brother, with arrested development in the
other. ...
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December 6, 2005 at 9:54 am ·
Filed under 3 - Dear Doug..., General
My good friend, Bob Savewe, wrote the following response to "Dear Doug: Monster Boy":
"Monster Boy" was incredibly instructive. Here alcoholic behavior is
revealed in the behavior of a non-alcoholic, and he's only 5 years old.
Every shrink should read this.
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December 6, 2005 at 9:38 am ·
Filed under 5 - Amazing Alcoholic Antics
Amazing Antics: Stories of Alcoholism-Driven Behaviorsâ„¢
The case of Duke Cunningham reminded me of some recent antics reported in Randy Cassingham's "This is True"that are perfect for posing the question, "Just what was he or she thinking?"In the first, we have proof of addiction and evidence of relapse; in the second, no proof but, well, "Just what was he thinking?"if he wasn't under the influence?
Stories from "This is True"by Randy Cassingham, with his "tagline:â€
"LEADING BY EXAMPLE: Florida state Sen. Mandy Dawson wanted to join fellow legislators on a trip to Africa. The others paid their own ways, but Dawson ordered an aide to solicit donations for the trip from lobbyists. When her aide told her that was against the law, ...
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