Do you think you have problems with your drinking?
If anyone who is showing inability to control his drinking can do
the rightaboutface and drink like a gentleman, our hats are off
to him. Heaven knows, we have tried hard enough and long
enough to drink like other people!
Here are some of the methods we have tried: Drinking beer only,
limiting the number of drinks, never drinking alone, never
drinking in the morning, drinking only at home, never having it
in the house, never drinking during business hours, drinking
only at parties, switching from scotch to brandy, drinking only
natural wines, agreeing to resign if ever drunk on the job, taking
a trip, not taking a trip, swearing off forever (with and without a
solemn oath), taking more physical exercise, reading
inspirational books, going to health farms and sanitariums,
accepting voluntary commitment to asylums, we could increase
the list ad infinitum.
We do not like to pronounce any individual as alcoholic, but you
can quickly diagnose yourself, step over to the nearest barroom
and try some controlled drinking. Try to drink and stop
abruptly. Try it more than once. It will not take long for
you to decide, if you are honest with yourself about it. It
may be worth a bad case of jitters if you get a full knowledge of
your condition.
Though there is no way of proving it, we believe that early in our
drinking careers most of us could have stopped drinking. But the
difficulty is that few alcoholics have enough desire to stop while
there is yet time. We have heard of a few instances where
people, who showed definite signs of alcoholism, were able to
stop for a long period because of an overpowering desire to do so.
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