Good Morning!

We're at paragraph 1, page xxvi, right after the first
letter. "...the body of the alcoholic is quite as abnormal as his
mind." This was a radical idea for 1935. The primary reason for the
lack of signature by Dr. Silkworth was his reluctance to attach his
name to such radical ideas; it was The Depression and he, too,
was lucky to have a position. Further down it is restated, "...any
picture of the alcoholic which leaves out this physical factor is
incomplete."

Throughout the book, Bill will restate the same idea in several
different ways to reinforce the importance or significance of the
idea. He does this with the allergy theory. Having an allergy means
that we react abnormally to something; in this case we react
abnormally to alcohol. (Some drunks claim to break out in handcuffs
when drinking. Other claim to break out in strange spots – like
another town, some strange neighborhood, or jail.)

Dr. Silkworth continues to expand on his ideas on page xxviii.
Paragraph 2 is important here:

"...the action of alcohol on these chronic alcoholics is a
manifestation of an allergy; that the phenomenon of craving is
limited to this class and never occurs in the average temperate
drinker."

We are different than other people. Average or normal people do not
develop the phenomenon of "craving." We metabolize alcohol in a
different way than the "normal" drinker. They don't experience the
physical craving which comes after the first drink is taken. They
can have the one or two that we, as a class, cannot. They don't have
the mental obsession that precedes the first drink.

Paragraph 3, at the bottom, is where "...restless, irritable and
discontented" comes from.

Continuing at the top of page xxix, "the sense of ease and
comfort...drinks they see others taking with impunity" (without
repercussions). Normal drinkers don't have this physical malady;
that's why they can drink and we can't.

The last sentence of the top paragraph gives us an example of what
we will see throughout the book – what the spiritual awakening is –
"...unless this person can experience an entire psychic change (also
known as a "spiritual awakening") there is very little hope of his
recovery."

Strong words. Over and over we will see that CHANGE is the hallmark
of recovery from alcoholism.

Turn to page xxx - Silkworth describes five types of alcoholics:

"the psychopaths who are emotionally unstable..."
"There is the type of man who is unwilling to admit that he cannot
take a drink..."
"There is the type who believes that after being entirely free from
alcohol for a period of time he can take a drink without danger."
"There is the manic-depressive type..."
"Then there are types entirely normal in every respect except in the
effect alcohol has upon them."

Here's the important point: "All these, and many others, have one
symptom in common: they cannot start drinking without developing the
phenomenon of craving...the manifestation of an allergy..." That
first drink does get you drunk - that's the how and why of it.

With our next post we'll start with Chapter 1 - Bill's Story. Until
then think about this: there is only one place in the main text of
the Big Book where the word "pot" appears. No, it isn't the kind you
smoke. What is it's meaning? We'll reveal its meaning with our next
post.

Have a great day!

Jim