ALCOHOLICS IN THE PHILIPPINES

blogged by Noemi Lardizabal-Dado with 22,683 views

Read more: http://aboutmyrecovery.com/2006/08/05/alcoholics-in-the-
philippines/#ixzz1GOjNAq8J

When the high and mighty fall, the road to recovery begins with a public apology. If there is
any redeeming factor that Mel Gibson has given to the world is the media coverage of
alcoholism devastating consequences. In the Philippines, drunken men or women are a
common sight in parties, fiestas or celebrations. Oooh, you can see them falling to the floor,
slurring their words or being just an annoying loud mouth. The party drunk, the life of the
party, right? The San Miguel Beer says it all. The multi-million ad portrays a festive
atmosphere where beer overflows and sexy ladies sashay their bodies or flaunt their
beauty. Such an ad conditions the mind of our vulnerable young kids to associate beer with
lovely women and lure them to a life of fun-filled parties.

The effects of alcoholism are easily shown in the sensational section of the local TV news.
How often do you see wives beaten up by their husbands? Or children being sexually
abused by their biological fathers? What about that actor caught for drunk driving? Though I
don’t have the statistics right now, I bet there are cases of drunk -related accidents or
physical abuse.

Countless families are ruined and being ruined by alcoholism. Family members walk in
eggshells as they pass by the pink elephant snoring in their living room. Not many know that
alcoholics are just in the same level as drug addicts. It’s even harder for alcoholics to
abstain from their addiction because alcohol is available everywhere. San Miguel beer
ads often show a party atmosphere and that a party is incomplete without beer. Oh well,
how else can they advertise right? Still they shouldn’t show bottles of beer on the table.
Drinking alcohol is so much a part of our Filipino culture. In fact , it is “macho” if one can
gulp a number of beer bottles. There is the issue that one is not an alcoholic just because
the person is not rolling in the road or that he doesn’t drink everyday anyway. Does the
person even know he is an alcoholic?

It was Alcoholics Anonymous who

was instrumental in again emphasizing the “disease concept” of alcoholism, the
defining work was done by Elvin Jellinek, M.D., of the Yale Center of Alcohol
Studies. In his book, The Disease Concept of Alcoholism, published in 1960,
Jellinek described alcoholics as individuals with tolerance, withdrawal
symptoms, and either “loss of control” or “inability to abstain” from alcohol. He
asserted that these individuals could not drink in moderation, and, with
continued drinking, the disease was progressive and life-threatening. Jellinek
also recognized that some features of the disease (e.g., inability to abstain and
loss of control) were shaped by cultural factors-  source
I wasn’t aware that alcoholism is a “disease” until my friend confided that her husband was
confined in a rehab center in Tagaytay two years ago. (I asked permission to quote her and
changed some circumstances to protect their privacy. ) I thought only drug addicts get
rehabiliated.

“Alcohol is a drug. Alcoholism is an illness, which is successfully treatable with a

wide variety of interventions. It stems from a genetically mediated biological
predisposition, and for those who are hardwired with the potential for
alcoholism, drinking can prove to be a chronic, debilitating enemy.
My husband wasn’t a social drinker. His drinking bouts got to the point that he
incurred so many absences from work . I felt he would lose his job anytime if he
didn’t shape up. I didn’t want to wait till he had nothing left so I had him
confined at Makati Medical Center upon the advice of a psychiatrist-friend. He
experienced withdrawal symptons like any drug addict like “hand tremors and
rage”. But don’t you know my husband was the only alcoholic among the in-
patients? Even the Alcoholics Anonymous Philippines have very few alcoholics.
In fact, most of its members are drug addicts. That does not deter him from
attending weekly AA meetings for the past 2 years now. I am aware that he can
relapse anytime.

The level of awareness that alcoholism can be treated is still not as widespread
as  drug addiction  rehabilitation. Rehab cost is not cheap. One can spend up to
140,000 thousand pesos ($2800) for a 60 day  program. But his life was at
stake if he didn’t try to recover, right? So it was worth the expense. I am just
taking it one day at a time. I too have my own recovery  program  because
alcoholism is a family disease. Even if I am not an alcoholic, I imbibed some of
his irritating habits. I am recovering. He is on the road to recovery thanks to AA
meetings.

As we continued chatting, I immediately surfed and discovered that there is no Alcoholics

Anonymous (AA) Philippines website nor contact numbers on how to reach this group. But
they are found in the PLDT telephone book. Look for “Alcoholics Anonymous”. , my friend
added. A lot of alcoholics around the world have been saved by the AA program since 1935
but how many alcoholics in the Philippines even know that the group is active?
My friend continued

Word of mouth I guess.  Psychiatrists  even recommend it. My husband also

attended an AA meeting in Boracay during our last summer vacation.
Alcoholics in the Philippines, there you have it. You can recover if you want to. AA is free so
try that first.