Posted on 02/09/2011 1:43:14 PM PST by truthkeeper
Former television personality Laurie Dhue says she no longer knew who she was and was tired of suffering in silence from alcoholism when she decided to quit drinking and get help four years ago.
Dhue, who turns 42 tomorrow and was an anchor for the Fox News Channel, MSNBC and CNN, battled her addiction to alcohol for "at least" a decade and a half, she told the "Today" show Wednesday.
"I hid my alcoholism for many, many years," she said. "I was probably a high-functioning alcoholic, as so many people are. But there were cracks, certainly, and there were definitely times when people asked me what was wrong, and I just -- I didn't even know, myself."
Dhue remembers the day she realized she had a terrible problem and decided to get help...
(Excerpt) Read more at aolhealth.com ...
I have a lot of sympathy and empathy for alcoholics. It just breaks my heart when I see young people who are clearly alcoholic, but who don't realize it ... yet. I know so much how they feel that it's just crazy. And I know how helpless I am to anything but convince them that they are strong, worthy, and smart enough to do right by themselves someday. I don't even mention alcoholism -- it just raises their hackles and makes them defensive. I just let them know that I don't drink anymore because I got banged up and/or tossed in jail too much.
Great to hear that she’s getting help, although I tire of alcohol dependence being referred to as a “disease”.
That's ridiculous.
Eating is required for survival. The body does not need alcohol, so all the alcoholic has to do is stop drinking.
A diabetic can't very well stop eating altogether.
Alcoholism is caused by behavior and only behavioral modification can fix it. It's not a disease any more than meth addiction or porn addiction is a disease.
It's insulting to people who have real diseases.
You need to do some research....As I said before, since the 1950s the medical profession has had the information. Why do YOU think they don’t want the general population to have it?
She turns 42 tomorrow and she gave herself the best present: sobriety. She is intelligent and beautiful. I wish her the best of luck and hope she has family and friends to support her during this trying time.
Denial and guilt (created because it's not socially acceptable) keep people from getting the help they need whether it's a twelve step, counseling or other help.
I never said AA was the only way to go. You don’t seem to understand or notice what I’m saying. The alcoholic s way of doing things is what brings him to his knees and being so driven to near insanity and alone they’re chances of become sober alone are almost nil. And AA doesn’t lie and I take offense at that. Ours is a program of rigorous honesty and constant moral self-inventory, some people are capable of that and some aren’t, those are usually the ones who fail . AA doesn’t see anyone as ‘’weak’’, only powerless over alcohol. Our steps are suggestions as a means of recovering and you feel AA isn’t for you, your misery can be refunded at the door.’’ The 12 Steps of AA are a set of principals, , spiritual in their nature which practiced as a way of life can expel the obsession to drink and enable the sufferer to become happily and usefully whole’’. AA has been success since 1934. It’s been a success around the world for that matter. In fact AA 12 Steps are used by every addiction group from gamblers to narcotics. I’m proof of that. When you quit drinking, did you change the person you were when you drank? You’re a success? So am I, for 21 years a day at a time. The 12 Steps work, again, because of rigorous self-honesty.
Thank you. Maybe you can help ‘’Finny’’. They seem not to understand what AA is all about.
Alcohol, Prozac, Paxil, nobody wants to talk of the underlying causes. I’m here to tell you that I just skipped a meeting of a “men’s group” at my local HMO, $7 co-payment, where two of the regular participants have been going and whining for over two years (I attended 4 weekly meetings myself), and for all I can tell, nothing in their lives has changed, just as nothing has changed in my own miserable existence, alcohol or no alcohol, Prozac, Paxil, men’s group, vitamin B12, fish oil supplements. And so, this evening I drank most of another bottle of BV Riesling instead. Good luck and God bless you all.
In the end we all find our own way. Good luck friend.
Hey!
Thank you with all my heart. I don’t wish to diss the AA or the 12 step method (Scientologists and Moonies, that’s another matter altogether), only to share my own experiences and observations for whatever it’s worth, and it ain’t much, I know. It ain’t easy, I tell ya.
Good luck to her as well. I would imagine given her figure it wouldn’t take alot of alcohol to effect her. Maybe she got enticed by the same Atlanta nightlife that once appealed to Steve Bartkowski & Brett Farve.
Laurie,
Give me a call. I can keep you preoccupied, and you won’t have time to think about getting drunk.
PhiloBedo
Legal considerations
In 1988, the US Supreme Court upheld a regulation whereby the Veterans’ Administration was able to avoid paying benefits by presuming that primary alcoholism is always the result of the veteran’s “own willful misconduct.” The majority opinion written by Justice Byron R. White echoed the District of Columbia Circuit’s finding that there exists “a substantial body of medical literature that even contests the proposition that alcoholism is a disease, much less that it is a disease for which the victim bears no responsibility”.[30] He also wrote: “Indeed, even among many who consider alcoholism a “disease” to which its victims are genetically predisposed, the consumption of alcohol is not regarded as wholly involuntary.” However, the majority opinion stated in conclusion that “this litigation does not require the Court to decide whether alcoholism is a disease whose course its victims cannot control. It is not our role to resolve this medical issue on which the authorities remain sharply divided.” The dissenting opinion noted that “despite much comment in the popular press, these cases are not concerned with whether alcoholism, simplistically, is or is not a “disease.””[31]
The American Bar Association “affirms the principle that dependence on alcohol or other drugs is a disease.”[32]
Current acceptance
The current mainstream scientific and medical view is that alcoholism is a disease, although some debate on this topic still occurs.[33][34]
In 2004, the World Health Organisation published a detailed report on alcohol and other psychoactive substances entitled “Neuroscience of psychoactive substance use and dependence”.[35] It stated that this was the “first attempt by WHO to provide a comprehensive overview of the biological factors related to substance use and dependence by summarizing the vast amount of knowledge gained in the last 20-30 years. The report highlights the current state of knowledge of the mechanisms of action of different types of psychoactive substances, and explains how the use of these substances can lead to the development of dependence syndrome.” The report states that “dependence has not previously been recognized as a disorder of the brain, in the same way that psychiatric and mental illnesses were not previously viewed as being a result of a disorder of the brain. However, with recent advances in neuroscience, it is clear that dependence is as much a disorder of the brain as any other neurological or psychiatric illness.”
The American Society of Addiction Medicine and the American Medical Association both maintain extensive policy regarding alcoholism. The American Psychiatric Association recognizes the existence of “alcoholism” as the equivalent of alcohol dependence. The American Hospital Association, the American Public Health Association, the National Association of Social Workers, and the American College of Physicians classify “alcoholism” as a disease.
In the US, the National Institutes of Health has a specific institute, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), concerned with the support and conduct of biomedical and behavioral research on the causes, consequences, treatment, and prevention of alcoholism and alcohol-related problems. It funds approximately 90 percent of all such research in the United States. The official NIAAA position is that “alcoholism is a disease. The craving that an alcoholic feels for alcohol can be as strong as the need for food or water. An alcoholic will continue to drink despite serious family, health, or legal problems. Like many other diseases, alcoholism is chronic, meaning that it lasts a person’s lifetime; it usually follows a predictable course; and it has symptoms. The risk for developing alcoholism is influenced both by a person’s genes and by his or her lifestyle
This lady would join us at a bar around 7 PM, drink up and be on TV at 11. Amazed us all.
We never figured she had a problem. She could handle it.
BTW, she was just a great lady. Never seemed drunk.
He did.....but that’s when the alcoholism started.
He did.....but that’s when the alcoholism started.
You are counting on the AMA to determine what is and what is not a disease? The same AMA that had homosexuality as a disease until the gay lobby organized and put pressure on them for it NOT to be a disease? THAT AMA?
Social acceptability really isn’t the reason alcoholics don’t go to AA, it’s only an excuse. Their not wanting to quit drinking is the reason. When an alcoholic wants to quit, s/he doesn’t give a damn about social acceptability.
In 1988, the US Supreme Court upheld a regulation whereby the Veterans’ Administration was able to avoid paying benefits by presuming that primary alcoholism is always the result of the veteran’s “own willful misconduct.” The majority opinion written by Justice Byron R. White echoed the District of Columbia Circuit’s finding that there exists “a substantial body of medical literature that even contests the proposition that alcoholism is a disease...
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