Chelsea Clinton’s husband, the Braves Derek Lowe and a story where not even I saw an alcoholic in someone who I never knew sober.
Marc Mezvinsky, 33, Chelsea Clinton’s husband, who friends fear is headed for a mental breakdown after reportedly quitting his Wall Street banking job and becoming a ski bum in Wyoming. Some suspect that the Clinton clan’s insistence that Marc break ties with his father, Edward Mezvinsky, is the cause of the mental “crisis.” The senior Mezvinsky, a Congressman from 1973 to 1977, was convicted in 2001 on 31 charges of swindling investors out of $10 million and spent five years behind bars; he still owes $9.4 million in restitution to his victims. He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder shortly after his indictment, but the judge disallowed a mental illness defense. There is no word as to whether the junior Mezvinsky has been diagnosed with this disorder, but as described in Myth # 64, “Personality disorders are more common than alcoholism” in Alcoholism Myths and Realities: Removing the Stigma of Society”s Most Destructive Disease, alcoholism mimics bipolar disorder and can precipitate other “mental crises.” The evidence reported in Drunks, Drugs & Debits shows the odds alcoholism as the root of misbehaviors are about ten times that of a mental disorder. Due to genetics, chances are either both father and son have bipolar disorder or, more likely, both have alcoholism.
Pitcher Derek Lowe, 37, a squamous-cell carcinoma survivor who started in the 2002 All-Star Game and signed a four-year contract with the Atlanta Braves in January 2009 for $60 million, arrested for DUI after being spotted racing another vehicle down an Atlanta street by a Georgia State Patrolman and then failing a field sobriety test. Coincidentally, Braves pitching coach Roger McDowell was recently accused of cursing, crude and threatening behavior before a game in San Francisco and was placed on administrative leave. One behavioral indication of alcoholism in each doesn’t guarantee the disease, but I have repeatedly found that even one incident should make our antennae go up. All-too-often, when able to delve deeper, we find many more behavioral manifestations of alcoholism before finally getting proof of addictive use.
Sometimes, however, outsiders won’t see any such indications, much less the drinking or using itself. A terrific example from my personal life involved a lovely woman who headed up an organization to which I belonged until a few years ago. Since there were several problem people we encountered over the years and she was the effective CEO of the group, I occasionally shared my work with her and suggested the problems (including a few glaring ones for which there was no question about addiction as the root cause) almost always involved alcoholism. I recently ran into her and she pulled me aside, telling me she had something to share: she’d gotten sober a couple of years ago. Stunned, I responded, “I didn’t even know you drank.” She replied, “You never saw me sober. I was drunk morning, noon and night for a decade.” I told her I didn’t recall observing any misbehaviors and quickly asked, “Where were they?” “Behind closed doors. My husband and son finally gave me an ultimatum: they told me to head to rehab or leave our home. I went to rehab, but suffered delirium tremens, was rushed to the hospital and told by my doctor good thing I was there because my liver had six weeks to go. You’ve been right all along about tough love: it’s what got me sober, and just in the nick of time. Of course, my personal relationships were largely destroyed but at least I can start over and rebuild what I can.”
Families and friends might save the lives of Mr. Lowe and Mr. McDowell and prevent them from ruining the lives of others, as addicts so often do, by considering the possibilities and offering appropriate consequences.