OCTOBER 5 -11,1
them feel good. Events such as
a drink after wor , beer at a
ballpm, iDe with dinner or
roc tail partie are all part of
ph two, "seeking the mood
mg."
However, it is here that the
alcoholic and the �cial drink­
er part company. Although,
Scarry expfains, an alcoholic may.
ay in ph two for weeks,
month , even -years before pro­
gressing on to ph three, it
i inevitable that he or she will
move on. And it i here at
ph three, 'harmful depen­
dency ," that the emotional
co s begin to d up.
Prior to thi 51 ge, each time
the alcoholic or non-alcoholic
drank, they mo d from
"feeling normal" to "feeling
euphoric," then ba to "feel­
ing nonn ," again.
"Suppo during a drinking
episode, our friend John puts
the proverbi lamp ade on hi
he and dance on the table.
o harm there," ys Scarry.
"But let's y he gee a little
further and puts the lamp­
ade on the cat' head, then
to s the cat out the indo .
"This behavior i un ccept-
ble and when confronted the
next day by a very angry wife,
John denie his episode with
the cat. But, in ·de he knows
something is wrong and for the
fir time experiences remor
over hi beh �or. This i a
new feeling for John. Rather
than returning to feeling normal
after drinking epi de, he
THE MICHIGA
feels pain," explains Scarry.
Ph three continue and as
John drinks even more - and
he ill becau he i no phy-
·c.uy an demotionally depen­
dent on alcohol -
his drinking
behavior will
continue to get
more bizarre,
even outrageous.
Each time he sobers up he
feels embarrassment, guilt or
remorse over hi behavior.
He still drink to feel
euphoric, but each drinking
episode cau s more negative
feeling.
dra
Alcoholism: The feeling disease
coholisn h been de-
scribed a "feeling" dise
y ho are recov ring x­
pre the onder and a e of
having their feelinp return fter
year of drinkina to m them.
"I c feel 10 e, I can feel
joy, I can feel my H being
my If," exclaim one recovering
alcoholic.
'The be thin to me is
feeling free. And having the
freedom to feel,'
The feeling, joyou y
d ribed by recoverin alcoho­
lic are echoed in treatment
center group on and
Alcoholic Anonymou meeting
throughout the nation, accord­
in to th1 n Scarry, Ex-
. ecutive Director of e Hori-
zons eco ry Center in n-
ton Harbor.
" a result of the emotio
ndrom that
alcoholism, mo
entering treatment are ex per­
. ncin only ne ative feelin
- fear, an er and If-loathing,"
y Scarry. "To e positive
feeling return i one of the
real re rd of our busine ."
coholism pro re
through four emotional ph s,
explain Scarry. They are,
earnin th mood ing, e-
ing the mood ing, harmful
dependency and drinkin to
f el normal.
Both alcoholic and cial
drinkers e perience the fir two
ph However, it i only
the alcoholi ho goes on to
ph three and four.
During their initial drinking
experi nee people learn that
alcohol produce a pleasant
effect. They feel relaxed,
convivial and generally enjoy
the euphoria produced by one
or two drinks. They di 0 r
they can control the extent
of their ood feelin by the
amount of alcohol they con­
sume. This is ph one or
"learning the mood swin ."
ith this informatio in
hand, drinkers can no plan
activities th t include al hol,
which .they know will n e
ua
(D-CA), CBCF chairman and
Rep. Alan Wheat (D-MO), legis­
lative weekend chairman have
joined in the preparation of this
popular annual event.
Democratic Repre ntatives
Charle Rangel (NY) and P rren
Mitchen (MD) will be honored
during the affair, along with
Rev. Alan Boe ,South Afri­
can anti partheid leader, and
Dr. Dorothy Height, pre ident
of the ational Council of
egro Women, Inc.
The changing politic c m­
plexion of the weekend acti­
vity wa emphasized by the
conduct of the Black Republi-
Over time, he ldom feel
"normal." He i rrounded
by a general feeling of anxiety
and u alcohol to m or
kill the feeling of remor ,
anger add If-loathing.
ow the alcoholic has enter­
ed ph four, "drinking to
feel normal." He no long r
feels the euphori a ociated
with drinking, but drinks only
to bring about the ab nee of
pain. S dly, each drinking
episode only cau an increase
in negative emotion until
finally his guilt, remor and
anxiety e so great that he
cannot bear the pain of
briety. Ultimately,
he drinks only not
to feel.
According to Scarry,
all this happen btly
the alcoholic doesn't even
realize it.
"He i amazingly
un are of the pro­
ion of the di a ,"
say .
"There is no turning
bac t this point. If
it is not arre ed, the
di will be fatal,"
says Scarry. "This can-
mean death from a physical
ailment such ga ritis, liver
failure or alcohol-related heart
di a ; death via an ccident
or depre ion-induced suicide."
In me ca s, the alcoholic
will experience what is called
s
CAL
Alcohorcs
Anonymous
for help
Battle Creek
964-7577
Benton Harbor
926-4710 I
Grand Rapids
361-6010
Kalamazoo
349-4410
us egon
798-9930
"hitting hi bottom" an event
or combin tion of events, often
a en that will almost mir­
aculously allow him to the
extent of his problem and re ch
out for help. On even more
rare occasions a family mem­
ber or friend u an interven­
tion technique to help the
alcoholic get the treatment he
need .
It i in the onderful
in tance recovery can begin and
feelings return. Some alcoholics
de ribe the return of these
feelings much like the peeling
of layer off an onion. Others
are more eloquent.
"I fan feel love. I c feel
joy. I can feel myself being
myself."
ore information about
alcoholism and recovery is
vailable through Alcoholic
Anonymous. ew Horizon
also provide free information at
616-925-7433.
o
•
•
By Larry A.
NNPA Correspondent
ASlD GTO - Thou d
of repre ntative of m [or,:
national organization arrived in
the n tion's capital for the
Congre . nal Caucu
Found tion' 16th annuallegi
lative weekend featuring some
50 forums, wor op and fund­
rai rs, October 1-5. ApprOXI­
mately 4,000 dinner gue (at
300 per pi tel and 8,000
p rticipant re exp cted at the
five d y affair.
Rep. ic ey Leland (D-TX),
chairman of the Congre onal
Bl C u u , Rep. Julian Dixon
can Council's annual scholarship
event at the same time the
CB F's predominantly Demo­
cratic reception-gala, prayer
breakfast and di u sions on
Capitol Hill.
The Future t . -BI k
America Surviving the Drug
Crisi " and "The Role of Organi­
zation Leader in Improving the
State of Health in the Blac
Community," were tn topic
of inaugural To n Hall meet­
ing a the conference with
the theme "B America:
Generation in Transition." ey
e er included Rangel, Mit-
chell, Rev. J es J ck on and
ro
CBS-TV commentator Ed
Bradley.
The focu on community
health was heduled throughout
the wee with the 21 Bl c
member of Congre ed to
participate in televi joint
plenary . on on "Surviv
Strategie in Transition" includ­
ing "Braintru orlcshop " on
Agriculture, Labor, Corporate
Affair, Foreign Affairs, Edu­
cation and Criminal Ju ice.
n exp ted highlight i the
Jazz orkshop convened by
Rep. John Conyer (D-Detroit
with the participation of out­
standing arti t performing and
di u g the musi as a
national treasure. cia!
pre ntation of Dizzy Gille pi '
trumpet ill be m de to the
Smith nian tional u urn
of American Hi tory, hi h a!
h been a ed by Rep. Luis
St e (D-OH) to 'collect and
pre rve" the rnusi of Duke
Ellington.
BI
table on
Bl Pre
Economic
Bl