According to a 2013 New Yorker article, writer Ian Crouch wrote of a novel that will make a person “never want to drink again.” Naturally, that piqued my interest, and I wondered, which book is this?
Is that possible? Is there a book that would make an alcoholic want to stop drinking?
The novel is Charles Jackson’s The Lost Weekend, and according to the 1944 New York Times book review, the story is about an upper middle-class New Yorker, Don Birnham, an alcoholic that goes through a five-day period of binge-drinking while avoiding his girlfriend, Helen and his brother. While intoxicated, Birnham isolates inside his apartment, and only leaves his abode in search of booze. At one point, unaware that it is Yom Kippur, he tries to hunt down a pawnshop to sell Helen’s coat, which he stole, but much to his despair, all the Second Avenue pawnshops are closed.
Then, Birnham falls down a staircase, and ends up in the alcoholic ward of a hospital, where he partially detoxes, before being sent home where he starts the vicious cycle of drinking all over again.
While at the hospital, a counselor lectures him on alcoholism,
“There isn’t any cure, besides just stopping. And how many of them can do that? They don’t want to, you see. When they feel bad like this fellow here, they think they want to stop, but they don’t, really. They can’t bring themselves to admit they’re alcoholics, or that liquor’s got them licked. They believe they can take it or leave it alone — so they take it.”
The counselor’s look is full of doom and gloom, hinting that ALL alcoholics really don’t want to stop drinking, and the only cure is for them to STOP.
Let’s get real.
This story takes place in the early 1940s, when AA was still a fledgling organization. Maybe alcoholics did not want to get a “cure” because back then, the “cure” was quite depressing.
During that time, alcoholics were committed inside a ward of a hospital, asylum or sanitarium. These wards were often crowded, and included metal cots, where patients were literally packed together like sardines, breathing each other’s sweat, booze and other odors.
That sounds more like a purgatory for lost souls.
During their stays inside the hospital, many alcoholics detoxed cold turkey, which can be dangerous. Other forms of treatment included a seven-day taper, and a prolonged taper with the use of narcotics like codeine.
While The Lost Weekend is a thinly disguised autobiography, Jackson vehemently denied that the story was about him.
But it was.
Additionally, Jackson was sober when he wrote The Lost Weekend, and relapsed when the novel turned into a success, followed by becoming a Hollywood film, The Lost Weekend starring Ray Milland and Jane Wyman.
In 1953, Jackson checked into a drug rehab, and joined AA where he became a circuit speaker. Jackson talked about his drug addiction, as well as his alcoholism, and was one of the first speakers to discuss both drugs and alcohol, which is still a questionable thing to do in the present day, as AA meetings are supposed to focus on alcoholism.
While working on a sequel to The Lost Weekend, he died of barbiturate poisoning. His death was ruled a suicide.
The book is horrifying, and the author’s death a tragedy, but in retrospect, the only book that helped me when I surrendered and realized that I could no longer drink, was the Big Book.
I did not quit.
I surrendered.
I feel so blessed to live in a time when substance abuse and addiction treatment has become comprehensive. Alcoholics and addicts must be treated with compassion, which is something that AA co-founders Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith realized.
As Abraham Lincoln said about alcoholism, upon addressing the Washington Temperance Society, in Springfield, Illinois, on February 22, 1842,
“The victims of it were to be pitied and compassionated, just as are the heirs of consumption and other hereditary diseases.”
Compassion is an important part of substance abuse and addiction treatment.
At Cycles of Change, we offer empathy because we care.
We provide clinical, evidence-based substance abuse and addiction treatment that not only helps addicts and alcoholics recover from substance abuse, but also from co-occurring disorders like depression, anxiety and trauma.
Our hands reach out to any alcoholic and/or addict, as well as their families.
Let us help you regain your life.
According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, alcohol acts like a sledgehammer to the brain. Not only does alcohol cause diminished balance, impaired decision making and motor coordination, but some alcoholics undergo memory loss, which can occur only after a few drinks.
This memory loss is called a blackout.
Imagine having a few drinks inside your living room and then waking up on horse manure inside a horse corral, several feet away from a hefty mare. Yes that happened to me when I was drinking. The mare was my horse, and she did not step on me.
That was one of my first blackouts.
Blackouts mean losing a period of time, followed by ending up in a strange place and having absolutely no clue as to what happened in the interim.
Usually, people who binge drink are prone to black outs. Because the bodies of men and women process alcohol differently, binge drinking for men is about five drinks in two hours, while for women, that’s about four drinks during that same period of time.
And guess what?
There are different types of blackouts.
According to rehabs.com, the first type of blackout occurs after the consumption of a small amount of alcohol, say half a Woo Woo (that’s a horrible drink composed of vodka, peach schnapps and cranberry juice).
Say you are a woman, and let’s say John Doe, a guy you meet at a bar buys you a drink, and you order a Woo Woo.
You are a seasoned alcoholic who usually drinks wine, but this time you figure you will try a drink with a really stupid name.
After a few sips, in which you wonder why the hell did you order this horrible drink, you start babbling and before you know it, John Doe orders you another stupid Woo Woo, which naturally you drink, because you feel like you must be nice because Doe just spent another five bucks on you.
And then you are really a mess.
You realize its time to go home, and you stumble out the door, but when you get to the parking lot you can’t find your car.
And guess who is following you like Cujo?
Yep.
John Doe.
And then you don’t remember what happens, but somehow you end up in your house. Luckily, John Doe is nowhere to be found.
Blackouts are horrible.
Consequences of a blackout include rape, suicide, death, injury, vandalism and fighting.
The alcohol content for a blackout starts at .14. While they are more common in binge drinkers, they can actually occur with smaller amounts of alcohol.
If a person experiences blackouts, it’s crucial to get help. A clinical, evidence-based substance abuse and addiction treatment program is the key.
Treatment includes detox, residential treatment, aftercare, as well as outpatient options for clients who can’t participate in an overnight inpatient program. A high quality drug rehab includes dual diagnosis support, and 12-step processing.
And that treatment is available at Cycles of Change.
As a woman, I would say that if I could do it all over again, I would have gone to Cycles of Change.
Why?
Not only does Cycles of Change treat substance abuse, as well as help clients heal from co-occurring disorders, but they offer 12-step processing. Doing a fourth step inventory, with the guidance of a licensed professional would have nurtured my recovery early on, and given me a sense of freedom, and relief from all the shameful baggage that I carried.
And this beautiful drug rehab, where clients reside in gender-specific homes, would have made me feel safe.
Let’s put it this way.
I was the alcoholic who ended up with John Doe.
And yes, I was able to piece together the events during the blackout.
I suppose Doe drove me home, using my own car (which was parked about a mile away from the curb of my street) and I believe that my two German Shepherds chased him away, after I got home. I know that he made his way into the house, because I found a cigarette on the floor, and it was a brand that I did not smoke.
I have no idea what happened to Doe after that.
Luckily I never saw him again.
I think it’s important for addicts and alcoholics to feel safe when they go to a drug rehab. Establishing a sense of security really helps. When people are caught in the throes of addiction, the world turns into chaos. There is no need to live a life of chaos.
At Cycles of Change, we offer recovery, which promises a life of serenity.
According to a recent New York Times article, LSD, along with psilocybin, is making a comeback, as a treatment for depression.
This brings to mind the time when AA co-founder Bill Wilson took LSD, in the hopes of alleviating his own depression. And due to the drug’s hallucinogenic properties, Wilson thought that LSD might help suffering alcoholics achieve spiritual awakenings that would make them get sober.
Wilson took LSD during supervised experiments with Betty Eisner, an American psychologist who thought that the drug, along with other hallucinogens, could be used as add-ons to psychotherapy. Besides Eisner, Los Angeles psychiatrist, Sidney Cohen conducted the trials. Author Aldous Huxley participated in the research along with Wilson, since both men were close friends.
While Wilson was searching for a cure for his depression, as well as means of helping other alcoholics, Huxley had his own motive for taking LSD.
Huxley, who is best known for his dystopian novel, Brave New World, was searching for a drug that could help him escape from his inner self. But Huxley wanted the drug to be harmless, and legal, and in the 1950’s, LSD (also known as acid) was indeed legal, and many thought it safe.
Besides Brave New World, Huxley wrote The Doors of Perception, which detailed his mind-altering experiences with mescaline, another hallucinogen. Interestingly, enough Jim Morrison, lead singer of the The Doors, was inspired to name the band after the book’s title.
Oddly enough, when Huxley was dying of laryngeal cancer at the age of 69, he asked his wife to inject him with LSD, so that his death could be an intensive divine experience.
Was his death a spiritual happening?
We will never know.
But Cohen, who was a leading expert on mood-altering drugs, warned about the damaging side effects of LSD, which was first synthesized in 1938 by Albert Hoffman, in Switzerland.
The experiments that Huxley and Wilson participated in were just a small percentage of 116 government-funded experiments revolving around LSD, and other hallucinogens. Even Hoffman, who thought LSD was “medicine for the soul” gave away large quantities of the drug to research.
There were many participants in the acid experiments including individuals suffering from mental health disorders, as well as alcoholics and even children of alcoholics. Theology students, who thought acid would connect them with God, volunteered to take LSD, as did artists who felt, like Huxley, that acid could help them find inner freedom, and connect with their Muses.
During the late 1960s, acid made its way into mainstream culture, and who can imagine the hippy era without acidhead Dr. Timothy Leary? Leary was the most prominent LSD researcher, and its aficionado. In the 1960’s, he was a lecturer in psychology at Harvard University. During his residency, he not only experimented with the drug by self-ingestion, he used several students as guinea pigs.
Needless to say, Harvard was not happy.
He was fired.
Besides Leary, acid affected other famous people, including musicians. Many rock bands like the Grateful Dead, the Beatles, the Doors, guitarist Jimi Hendrix, and the Jefferson Airplane experimented with acid. After the Beatles song, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds was released there was hearsay that the song, of which several words from the title form the acronym for LSD, was about an acid trip. However, John Lennon who wrote the song denied the allegations, but Lennon, and his fellow Beatles popped a lot of acid during the late sixties.
LSD has gained a unique reputation as being the drug for artistes, as well as a drug that has the potential to help depression, and other disorders.
The truth is that acid is a dangerous and potent drug.
Why?
Because an acid trip takes the user to a life-threatening destination, where he or she becomes completely disconnected from reality.
Acid comes in the form of a small piece of paper, capsules, or gelatin squares. Besides acid, other LSD street names include blotter, California sunshine, boomers, dots, hippie, yellow sunshine and ironically, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.
An acid trip can last up to 12 hours or longer, and the “trip” can cause the user to be in heaven or hell, or a combination of heaven and hell.
As a person who once took acid, I must say that my “trip” was horrifying. Not only did I undergo terrifying thoughts and feelings, but also I felt like I was losing control of my sanity. At one point, I thought there were rodents trapped between my ribs and eating me up alive, underneath my skin while David Bowie singing Space Oddity sounded like a demon chanting. And that is quite freaky because I love David Bowie’s music.
Towards the end of my “trip,” God granted me mercy. Somehow I saw a bunch of dried purple flowers that were in a vase on top of an end table. I find myself walking over to the flowers, and stood like the hunchback of Notre Dame, staring at the purple colors. Once in a while I found myself talking to the vase.
I remained in that position for hours.
That acid trip served no artistic purpose whatsoever, except to give me flashbacks, and a weird affinity for purple flowers. Acid flashbacks are experiences where a person has a short-lived psychotic episode, and even though I did acid once, I had flashbacks.
And while acid is under study, as a potential antidote for depression, the risks are too great. Short-term effects of taking LSD include dilated pupils, higher body temperature, sweating, tremors, and loss of appetite. And addicts who abuse LSD are at risk for psychosis, suicide, harming themselves or other people, and believe it or not, chronic depression. After prolonged LSD use, a tolerance is developed, and addicts ingest more blotters to get the same effects that they used to have when they just took one microdot.
The bottom line is that acid does not lead to actual enlightenment.
Most addicts and alcoholics who achieve spirituality have often become clean and sober, and have worked their steps, and are of service to others.
While Wilson was intrigued by the “spiritual potential of LSD,” other AA members were not too keen on the fact that the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous was tripping out on acid. But in defense of Wilson, the drug was legal then, and I think that his motives were altruistic. When he detoxed in Towns Hospital in New York City, he had a spiritual awakening, which his physician, Dr. Silkworth confirmed to be real. Dr. Silkworth ascertained that those occurrences could cure alcoholics.
So that was one reason why Wilson took acid.
He wanted to help other alcoholics obtain spiritual awakenings, and as a result, achieve sobriety.
But when Wilson had his spiritual awakening, he was not under the influence of LSD. And the best way that he could help alcoholics was through an accomplishment that he, along with Dr. Bob had already achieved, which was the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous.
The bottom line is that spirituality occurs by working the 12 steps of AA, and by healing the mind from substance abuse, as well as co-occurring disorders through clinical, evidence-based treatment. And the physical body needs to heal, by proper nourishment and exercise.
At Cycles of Change, we offer a holistic approach by treating the mind, body and spirit. Our clinical evidence-based treatment, along with a comprehensive 12-step program is designed to help clients learn that true inner freedom comes from recovery.
As if the opioid epidemic couldn’t get any worse. Besides fentanyl, heroin and opioid painkillers, there is another opioid foe out there, and according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, this opioid is about 10,000 times more potent than morphine. In 2012, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) even issued a nationwide warning to law enforcement and the public about this drug, which is used as an animal tranquilizer for large animals including ox, buffalo, moose, and elephants.
The DEA reports that Carfentanil is 100 times more potent than fentanyl, another deadly opioid, and 2500 times more potent than heroin. This drug comes in the form of white powder, sometimes mixed with heroin, blotter paper, tablets and even spray, in which the addicts absorb the drug by inhaling the airborne residue.
Not only does Carfentanil resemble heroin, but it also looks like cocaine, and unwary addicts who think they are getting heroin and/or cocaine end up with a death sentence. Dealers mix this noxious drug with heroin, because it increases the potency, and they can sell larger supplies and make more money.
It sounds sick because it is.
First responders who arrive at the scene of an overdose from Carfentanil put themselves in serious danger, especially if the addict was getting a high from inhaling airborne powder or if the powder is absorbed through the skin. And only a small amount can kill.
Symptoms of exposure include clammy hands, pinpoint pupils, respiratory depression and/or arrest, drowsiness, disorientation, and sedation.
When veterinarians administer Carfentanil to animals, they wear appropriate and protective attire including gloves, aprons and masks. According to an article in the Washington Post, one zoo vet treats the drug as if he was handling “uranium.”
Besides Carfentanil, exposure from handling fentanyl-related overdoses can also harm first responders, as well as their trusted drug canines.
In the event of exposure or overdose, naloxone, a drug that reverses the effects of an overdose or exposure, must be immediately administered to the victim. Sometimes several doses of naloxone must be given for the victim to regain consciousness.
The DEA issued a video, as well as an officer safety alert, to make law enforcement become aware of this hazard. Newsday reports that in Long Island, New York, free training and information sessions are being scheduled in April and in November, 2017, for first responders so that they can learn how to safely treat individuals who have overdosed on Carfentanil, and other deadly opioids, without putting themselves, and their drug canines in danger.
The DEA does not know the exact lethal amount of Carfentanil for humans, but two milligrams of powder can kill a human being, and two milligrams of this drug can knock out a 2000-pound African elephant.
In August 2016, there were 60 overdoses across two states in the span of 48 hours. Law enforcement suspected that carfentanil was mixed in the drugs.
Drug addiction appears to have no limits.
While some addicts are unaware that the heroin or cocaine they bought from their dealers are laced with Carfentanil, others go out of their way to acquire the drug, including one man on a pro-drug forum who said that he wanted to experiment by taking the elephant tranquilizer. Other people on the forum responded in alarm, asking the man if he was insane or suicidal.
While it appears that many addicts are unaware that their dope or coke is mixed with Carfentanil and/or fentanyl, the truth is that even if they knew, their desire for a fix is stronger than fear of death from an elephant tranquilizer.
And the opioid epidemic is getting worse. Not only are opioids highly addictive, but also each time addicts buy dope, their chance at dying from a horrible death increase. And the people who try to rescue them are also at risk.
Recovery is the only answer to this heart-wrenching epidemic. And while opioids have destroyed the lives of many addicts, and their families, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
At Cycles of Change, we offer that light.
Our clinical, evidence-based treatment includes detox, inpatient and outpatient care. Many of us are in recovery, and have been there ourselves, but our team is comprised of licensed professionals.
While in our care, you will recover from the damaging effects of opioids, and feel lightness, as opposed to the darkness, which often happens to individuals caught in the throes of addiction.
Our drug rehab is not just the light at the end of the tunnel.
We offer the beginning of a new life, outside the tunnel.
According to the New York Time’s editorial board, the victims of the opioid epidemic are not just the addicts. Young children, and babies are victims, as well.
The Times writes about a Pennsylvania couple that died from a heroin overdose.
Authorities found their bodies a week later. Not only was the couple found dead, but also the police discovered the couple’s young infant inside a bassinet. The baby had starved to death.
Sometimes, children whose parents are addicts are usually taken away from the Department of Social Services. Unless they are placed under the care of a loving relative, they end up in foster care.
While living in a foster home can save their lives, being removed from their own home can be very traumatic for children. Some youngsters struggle with guilt and blame themselves for a parent’s substance abuse. Even if children were abused at home, often they struggle with feelings of sadness and loss.
So substance abuse does not just affect addicts, but it destroys the lives of children.
While there are many wonderful foster parents out there, the children are left with serious emotional baggage. And not all foster homes are healthy alternatives. Some kids end up worse than they were before. And then some children get bounced around from foster home to foster home like pogo sticks.
Back in the 1980s and 1990s, thanks to the crack-cocaine epidemic, the number of children in foster care in New York City was a staggering 42,100. Across the United States, there were between 300, 000 and 570,000 children in the system!
These days the numbers are almost as bad. Across the nation, there has been an increase in the number of children who are taken away for their homes by social workers and put in foster care.
In 2013, there were 401,213 foster children. The numbers increased to 427,910 by September 30, 2015.
One reason for these large numbers is the nationwide opioid epidemic.
During his campaign, President Trump promised to end the opioid epidemic. He said he was going to build a wall to stop drugs from coming into our country from Mexico. Later on, Trump said that he was going to have naloxone more readily accessible. Naloxone is a life saving drug that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose. Usually, naloxone was reserved for ambulances and emergency rooms, but now in light of the rising opioid pandemic, many civilians are being trained to use naloxone, as well as administer CPR to addicts who have overdosed on heroin and other opiates.
However, if the Affordable Care Act is repealed, many addicts will lose treatment for their substance abuse disorders. Additionally, the ACA helps addicts get help for co-occurring disorders.
So while President Trump might feel that a wall is going to help the war against drugs, the addicts behind the wall are going to continue suffering.
And if Trump ever watched the show, Narcos, he will see that during the 1980s, cocaine was smuggled into the country from Columbia. And today, Fentanyl, a deadly opiate is making its way from China!
And guess what?
Some of these drugs come from our own backyard.
Purdue Pharma, a privately held company, which is based in Stamford, Connecticut, produces the highly addictive opiate painkiller, OxyContin. The state of Kentucky filed a lawsuit against Purdue Pharma, stating that the company had deceived the public about the drug’s addictiveness. Although the case was settled, and Purdue Pharma handed 24 million over to Kentucky, OxyContin is highly addictive.
During the hearing, the courts ruled that Kentucky used the money towards drug addiction programs.
One solution for the opiate epidemic is clinical, evidence-based treatment.
Not only will proper treatment help addicts get clean and sober, plus help them mend from depression, anxiety, trauma and other co-occurring disorders, but also they will have a second chance at a new life.
And their children will get a chance to be with their parents and have happy and healthy lives.
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