The holiday season is upon us and controversy exists as to what holiday is the most notorious for the abuse of intoxicants. For some, it is a joyous season and for others, one of fear and despair.  I think I was about 6-years-old when I realized there was such a malady as alcoholism.  Of course at that time, I was aware that when my step-father drank, he acted funny and my mother would get angry. Thankfully, my grandparents rescued me from the chaos.

My first journalism assignment interest in high school was alcoholism, and a ruptured appendix gave me my first hospitalization and inspired a desire to become a nurse.  Initially, it was a desire to care for and fix others, but marriage soon brought the realization that not every sick person can be fixed, especially the alcoholic. I decided to further my education as a Certified Addictions Counselor and went to work as a Detox Nurse Supervisor in a rehabilitation center.  To my dismay, many of my nurse colleagues would make disparaging remarks with regard to my professional choice.  One such remark, I will never forget: “Why would you waste your time with someone who chooses to be sick, when there are so many who have no choice?”

I have to admit, it did take time and education to fully realize the answer to that question.  It is my sincere hope in sharing the following with you that I may enlighten many who currently are or will enter the field of nursing to the complexities of the disease called alcoholism.

The American Medical Association (AMA) declared that alcoholism was an illness in 1956 and defined it as “a primary, chronic disease with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations.” One might surmise the implication here is that excessive drinking is caused by a brain disease and is characterized by altered neurological structure and function. What most do not surmise is the far-reaching emotional effects it has on the alcoholic and the entire family unit.

According to information derived in 2006 from the United States National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Study:  8% of American adults are dependent on alcohol.  However, a more recent study in 2015 raises the rate of dependency to 30%. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and NIAAA reports a Prevalence of Binge Drinking and Heavy Alcohol Use: In 2015, 26.9 percent of people ages 18 or older reported they engaged in binge drinking and 7.0 percent in heavy alcohol use in the past month.

I could write the entire article on the alarming statistics and the far-reaching consequences, but that is not my purpose and they can be found on several websites. My purpose however is to share my journey in learning compassion and unconditional love when treating the alcoholic. Nurse and physicians alike have little education in this field in comparison to other multi-faceted diseases.

In the fall of 1991, I became employed as a Detox Nurse, which is quite different from previous hospital nursing floors. My responsibilities initially involved taking vital signs and passing medications to avert, if at all possible, life-threatening withdrawals.  It was quite a challenge as the nursing station was literally an adapted closet with a square opening cut out through which vital signs were taken and meds were passed to anxious, angry withdrawing clientele. At this point in my career I was well aware of the “Disease Concept of Alcoholism” and understood that many who began as social drinkers progressed very quickly to dependence and addiction. I had studied the chemical changes, the issues with genetic predisposition and THIQ while recognizing that not only environmental, but genetic issues caused many to become addicted quicker, longer and stronger.

I understood the physical and neurological changes. What I did not know was the complexity of the emotional dynamics involved. It was as a Detox Supervisor completing histories and counseling that I began to see in detail.  The awareness that 80% or better of my clients, male or female, had been a victim of abuse, whether it be physical, emotional or sexual.  I found them to be wounded individuals, highly sensitive and desperately seeking acceptance and love. I thus discovered it was a holistic disease needing intervention spiritually as well.

Physical treatment was the easy part, but discovery as to the individual need to overcome the emotional and spiritual issues that led them to dependence, or developed following dependence, was a more difficult task! A main reason for recidivism. Medical personnel often lose patience with obnoxious intoxication, but compassion and tenderness can calm an anxious person under the influence, as I have witnessed many times.  Physical management of detox can be challenging and withdrawal delirium tremens life-threatening, but it’s possible.

Alcoholism is fatal. This figure does not include suicide, car wrecks, homicide and other accidental deaths occurring as a result of intoxication. Why would I choose to spend 20 years of my nursing career in alcohol detox nursing and counsel? It is a difficult position but someone had to do it, for the sake of those afflicted and all their families, loved ones and potential victims. I found I could make a difference, with the help of education, compassion and the grace of God, I could really make a difference. I could encourage them to find treasures in their darkness and to begin to see the light of hope.

I lost a husband due to alcoholic cardiomyopathy at a very early age, another family member to suicide (alcohol induced). The answer is far more complex than to just stop drinking, the need to stay stopped involves mental and emotional reprogramming, but we can with compassion and love to motivate their desire.  At 62, I retired after 20 years of making a difference and for the past 10 years now, I educate medical students and the most important part of that education beyond anatomy and physiology is to become a compassionate, unconditionally loving healthcare worker.