Kafli 17 – The Voyage of Hardship and Suffering
Obsessed by a fairy tale, we spend our lives searching for a magic door and a lost kingdom of
peace.
Eugene O’Neill
Drugs will turn you into your parents.
Frank Zappa
Drugs are a waste of time. They destroy your memory and your self-respect and everything that
goes along with your self-esteem.
Kurt Cobain
All the perfect drugs and superheroes wouldn’t be enough to bring me up to zero.
Aimee Mann, “Humpty Dumpty”
A 100 years ago, Addiction was viewed
as a moral weakness. It wasn’t that
alcoholics or drugs abusers simply made
bad choices – THEY WERE OFTEN
SEEN AS BAD PEOPLE! Today, the
notion of addiction as a moral failing has
been abandoned.
The concept of addiction as a
progressively incapacitating disease
(“journey to oblivion”) originates from a
series of lectures presented by Jellinek
(1952) at the Yale Summer School of
Alcohol studies in 1951 and 1952. On the basis of a questionnaire study of more than 2.000 male
alcoholics, Jellinek formulated his 4-phase concept of addiction.
• Jellinek distinguished between 2 categories of
problem drinkers -
– Alcohol addicts – after a period of
problematic drinking they lose control over
their alcohol intake (applies to disease model)
– Habitual symptomatic excessive drinker –
1 pathologically use alcohol to cope/ to relieve
conflict for many years, but never lose control
, First phase…Due to…. Although his 1. First phase…Pre-alcoholic Symptomatic Phase –
tolerance for alcohol exceeds that of his – The person begins to experience an
inordinate amount of tension reduction
peers – he can drink a good deal more than
through drinking and drinking related
they before reaching a desired level of activities.
intoxication – his excessive drinking remains – Due to tolerance usually within 6 months
to 2 years they/ the subject starts to drink
relatively inconspicuous and undetected. nearly every day to relieve stress.
2. Prodromal Phase…. The prodromal drinker
2. Prodromal Phase –
may be observed to gulp drinks while – Sudden emergence of alcohol related
increasing guilt leads to more obvious signs blackouts of the alcoholic addiction (loss of
memory of behaviors while drinking)
of covering up. For example, the drinker may
– Soon after the onset of blackouts, the
conspicuously avoid any reference to alcohol drinker Starts to notice that their drinking
during conversation. is different than others
– Begins to sneak drinks at social gatherings
and becomes preoccupied with when they
will get their next drink/ when and how to
get high
– Depending on the drinker’s physical,
psychological condition and the nature of
his social network, This stage can last 6
months to 4 - 5 years
2
Obsessed by a fairy tale, we spend our lives searching for a magic door and a lost kingdom of
peace.
Eugene O’Neill
Drugs will turn you into your parents.
Frank Zappa
Drugs are a waste of time. They destroy your memory and your self-respect and everything that
goes along with your self-esteem.
Kurt Cobain
All the perfect drugs and superheroes wouldn’t be enough to bring me up to zero.
Aimee Mann, “Humpty Dumpty”
A 100 years ago, Addiction was viewed
as a moral weakness. It wasn’t that
alcoholics or drugs abusers simply made
bad choices – THEY WERE OFTEN
SEEN AS BAD PEOPLE! Today, the
notion of addiction as a moral failing has
been abandoned.
The concept of addiction as a
progressively incapacitating disease
(“journey to oblivion”) originates from a
series of lectures presented by Jellinek
(1952) at the Yale Summer School of
Alcohol studies in 1951 and 1952. On the basis of a questionnaire study of more than 2.000 male
alcoholics, Jellinek formulated his 4-phase concept of addiction.
• Jellinek distinguished between 2 categories of
problem drinkers -
– Alcohol addicts – after a period of
problematic drinking they lose control over
their alcohol intake (applies to disease model)
– Habitual symptomatic excessive drinker –
1 pathologically use alcohol to cope/ to relieve
conflict for many years, but never lose control
, First phase…Due to…. Although his 1. First phase…Pre-alcoholic Symptomatic Phase –
tolerance for alcohol exceeds that of his – The person begins to experience an
inordinate amount of tension reduction
peers – he can drink a good deal more than
through drinking and drinking related
they before reaching a desired level of activities.
intoxication – his excessive drinking remains – Due to tolerance usually within 6 months
to 2 years they/ the subject starts to drink
relatively inconspicuous and undetected. nearly every day to relieve stress.
2. Prodromal Phase…. The prodromal drinker
2. Prodromal Phase –
may be observed to gulp drinks while – Sudden emergence of alcohol related
increasing guilt leads to more obvious signs blackouts of the alcoholic addiction (loss of
memory of behaviors while drinking)
of covering up. For example, the drinker may
– Soon after the onset of blackouts, the
conspicuously avoid any reference to alcohol drinker Starts to notice that their drinking
during conversation. is different than others
– Begins to sneak drinks at social gatherings
and becomes preoccupied with when they
will get their next drink/ when and how to
get high
– Depending on the drinker’s physical,
psychological condition and the nature of
his social network, This stage can last 6
months to 4 - 5 years
2
