Discusses the symptoms, stages, and treatment of alcoholism. Focuses on the disease as physiological, rather than psychological, condition.

More than 100 widespread myths about drug and alcohol abuse are enumerated and then dispelled in this book about the reality of addiction. Questions such as Does proper parenting and involvement prevent alcoholism? and Do alcoholics lack willpower? are addressed, and a myriad of addiction-related falsities that the general public and even medical professionals have considered true are identified and refuted. Specific attention is paid to defining and understanding alcohol addiction, including guidelines on identifying symptoms of alcoholism in social settings and detailed information on the biological difference between the disease in its early and late stages.

Fifteen million Americans a year are plagued with alcoholism. Five million of them are women. Many of them, like Caroline Knapp, started in their early teens and began to use alcohol as "liquid armor," a way to protect themselves against the difficult realities of life. In this extraordinarily candid and revealing memoir, Knapp offers important insights not only about alcoholism, but about life itself and how we learn to cope with it. It was love at first sight. The beads of moisture on a chilled bottle. The way the glasses clinked and the conversation flowed. Then it became obsession. The way she hid her bottles behind her lover's refrigerator. The way she slipped from the dinner table to the bathroom, from work to the bar. And then, like so many love stories, it fell apart. Drinking is Caroline Kapp's harrowing chronicle of her twenty-year love affair with alcohol. Caroline had her first drink at fourteen. She drank through her yeras at an Ivy League college, and through an award-winning career as an editor and columnist. Publicly she was a dutiful daughter, a sophisticated professional. Privately she was drinking herself into oblivion. This startlingly honest memoir lays bare the secrecy, family myths, and destructive relationships that go hand in hand with drinking. And it is, above all, a love story for our times—full of passion and heartbreak, betrayal and desire—a triumph over the pain and deception that mark an alcoholic life. Praise for Drinking “Quietly moving . . . Caroline Knapp dazzles us with her heady description of alcohol's allure and its devastating hold.”—Los Angeles Times Book Review “Filled with hard-won wisdom . . . [a] perceptive and revealing book.”—San Francisco Chronicle “Eloquent . . . a remarkable exercise in self-discovery.”—The New York Times “Drinking not only describes triumph; it is one.”—Newsweek

'I deserve this.' 'This is my reward.' 'I'm allowed to treat myself.' Ever uttered these statements to yourself as you opened a bottle of wine at 5pm? If so, you're not alone.

For those who may have alcoholics in their personal or professional lives, this book describes the indicators of alcoholism, many of which seem too subtle and innocuous to suggest addiction. Listing more than 80 alcoholic forms of behavior and clues, such as the supreme-being complex and mental confusion, this guide links physical signs and behavioral changes to the various stages, explaining the brain chemistry that impels the afflicted person to drink addictively and act destructively. A compelling case for awareness and identification of alcohol-related symptoms and an attempt to avoid tragic and unsatisfactory events and outcomes, this behavioral examination is supplemented with endnotes, a bibliography, and recommendations for courses of action. The research conducted for this book incorporated extensive interviews with medical professionals and hundreds of recovering alcoholics.

Essays on the use of alcoholic beverages within diverse societies and cultures

Who is the typical alcoholic among the 12.5 million living in the United States now? Many, if not most of us when asked that question, would envision a skid row bum or someone at least out of work or with little education locked into a low-skill, low-paying job. But that is not accurate, according to the results of a national study released in June, 2007 by the National Institutes of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. The NIAAA determined that alcoholics in the United States really fall into five subtypes, including nearly 20 percent who are highly functional alcoholics, well-educated with good incomes. They include corporate presidents, powerful politicians, police, lawyers, doctors, scientists, and other highly-skilled, highly-educated people who are middle- to high-income and by most accounts successful. In this unprecedented book, mental health counselor Sarah Benton takes us into the worlds and minds of so-called high-functioning alcoholics, to understand how people so intelligent and achievement-oriented get drawn into states in which they secretly cannot control their liquor consumption but still manage to excel in their careers. The book includes a look at celebrity alcoholics like singer Eric Clapton and actor/comedian Robin Williams, as well as alcoholics in high positions including Chris Albrecht, former Chairman and CEO of HBO. Other high-profile people included in this book are Miss USA 2007 Tara Conner and football legend Joe Namath. With her own story of alcoholism and her recovery woven into the text, Benton takes us into the lives and challenges of these well-educated and successful people, seeking to understand how, when, and why they became addicted, as well as the reasons their alcoholism is, for most, so hard to admit, cope with, and recover from.