Review

Ones who got away

GETTING SOBER AND LOVING IT!
Joan and Derek Taylor
Vermillion, 1992, £6.99

This book is ‘primarily aimed at people who regularly step out of their brains and whose lives have become unmanageable. It is also for those who are close to such people, whose own lives have become affected by heavy drinking’. It is written in association with SHARP (Self-Help Addiction Recovery Programme), a charity providing free treatment to people with alcohol and drug-related problems, treatment based on the Minnesota model which is an abstinence-orientated, comprehensive, multi-professional approach based on the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). This treats drug and alcohol dependence as a disease, with the promise of recovery but not cure for those who adhere to it.

The book’s first section describes the difference between a social drinker and an alcoholic, defines alcoholism and the alcohol dependence syndrome, and goes on to sensible drinking limits, denial (the life-blood of addiction), cross-addiction, and co-dependency. AA and the ‘twelve step’ programme is also described briefly.

Most of the book is an enlightening collection of candid, personal stories by 19 recovering alcoholics. Many are famous: Eric Clapton, Anthony Hopkins, Molly Parkin, Ian McShane, Jimmy Greaves, and some are not: Bill, a computer salesman; Nell, a researcher.

Some principles of the AA approach are a common theme: reaching rock bottom; the issue of control and powerlessness over alcohol; avoiding the first drink; taking one day at a time; abstinence; the care and support of meetings; the fellowship. Many of the subjects acknowledge the importance to them of the discovery of God or a Higher Power.

Alcohol dependence affects people from all walks of life. The experience of alcoholism in lower socio-economic groups is not really covered. Nor do any of the large (but hidden) number of people who sustain unhealthy and damaging patterns of chronic heavy drinking without reaching a crisis point tell their stories.

This is not a comprehensive guide to the different approaches to alcohol dependence, but it is a valuable insight into the lives of some recovering alcoholics who have benefited from one particular approach. Ringo Starr and Barbara Bach, themselves ‘rescued from addiction by attendance at a self-help treatment centre’, write in the foreword: ‘Maybe you are just a social drinker, like the majority of people. If so, fine. But if you’re not, or if somebody you love is having problems... then this book is for you.’