Amy Winehouse found dead....

[welsummerchicks]

Fame is a difficult thing to adjust to, but people do learn to deal with it and there are well established ways to get used to it.

However, for alcoholics, I think all it does is introduce them to a lifestyle where partying is the way of life. And I think it gives them enough money and access to drugs that they are often going to kill themselves, and there are always people around who will help them destroy themselves. Like the doctor giving Michael Jackson an anaesthetic so he could sleep.

Alcoholics appear to have some subtle defects in how they metabolize sugar, and there seems to be defects in their 'reward pathways' in their brain - how they experience happiness.

Something odd that almost all alcoholics have in common - the first time they drink they don't feel drunk.

There's a lot of research on why, and I'll have to get more up-to-date on it before I mention more of the research. The hope is that some day, people could get tested for alcoholism and be given a vaccine to prevent it from every happening. Preventative counseling has a very bad track record.

I talked to a lady last week who told me both her parents were alcholics. When she was about 15 she went to a party, and drank a bunch of alcohol, despite all her statements she would not do that.

SHe did not get drunk.

It scared her to death, because she knew what it meant.

She was able to not drink again, but she said an awful lot of people are affected worse, and can't avoid it.

Like some mental illnesses, I think that alcoholism is going to turn out to be genetic, but the genetics behind it are not going to turn out to be 'blue eyes, one gene' type inheritance.

I feel sad for Amy Winehouse, but I've seen so many people destroyed by alcoholism that I've gotten kind of numb about it. I also had a best friend in grade school who turned out t be an alcoholic, and I learned first hand from him what it does to the people around the alcoholic.

Years ago I went to a party and had about a quarter of a beer. Well since I've never drank much, I got really affected. This is when I found out my friend was an alcoholic. He was the designated driver that night.

I said, 'well I don't feel well enough to drive, so why don't you drive me home'.

He laughed at me. He told me he was too drunk to drive me home, but he was ok to drive the short way to his house.

I was shocked. I'd never seen someone who was a designated driver, get drunk.

What was even more stunning to me, was that he just laughed at me.

I think that is what hurts the most about alcoholism.

That you realize that you are way down on the list, and at the top of the list, is drinking.

Finding out what causes it, finding a prevention, means putting the emotions aside and doing some very, very well designed research.

 

[catdaddyfro]

Quote:
Sorry to see another soul claimed by such a bad disease. I too was also almost claimed at the strange age of 27 years old although I'm not famous ('cept like NGT ANGL quoted in my own mind maybe) was pretty famous at the time of my accident, I had a high speed vehicle accident (120+mph) drag racing on a public highway snockered out my gourd on Zimas(cause they had a higher % of alcohol than beer) was ejected from the vehicle that from the spectators that observed it said it looked just like a text book NASCAR wreck all up in the air, flipping and all. Threw myself out through the ditch, the tail-gate of my truck was laying right beside my head, the driverside door was ripped completely off (that's right where I should have been hanging out of) but guess being ejected out into the ditch got me outta that one, anyway it was a bad deal and most that saw it or arrived shortly thereafter tell me how lucky I was/am still to this day. But that wasn't even enough to get me to stop drinking (probly to the average Joe it woulda woke them up) but not to an invincible fiend, no sir. It was quite a few years later and a whole lot more trouble and bad times before I ever decided I'd had enough, long, looong story. Thank God I'm still alive today, 'cause I sure used up more than 9 lives worth I'm sure of by now.

So to all the regular, normal, people out there it is hard to understand the goings-on in the mind of an addict, and I could see where passing judgements could be easy like saying you have/had a choice, yeah you do but it sure makes it a lot easier if your sane at the time you make choices, so see its a deep subject especially if you are shallow minded to begin with.

So be careful of how you say or phrase things. OK

RIP Amy you don't have to make choices anymore.

Jeff

Edit to add none of my statements are directed (really not directed at anybody in general, just saying) at wellsmmerchicks just using some of her statements for examples and they are some great examples/posts too.