Good morning!


While we continue to study the forwords and the Doctor's Opinion, remember
that we are using the 4th Edition. (The page numbering prior to Chapter 1
differs from edition to edition, since forwords are added.)

We're at paragraph 1, page xxiv, right after the first letter written by Dr.
Silkworth.

"...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 face his peers with such radical ideas. It was
the Depression era, and Dr. Silkworth was lucky to have a position. No sense
jeopardizing it. Further down, it is restated: "...any picture of the alcoholic
which leaves out this physical factor is incomplete."

Throughout the book, notice that Bill expressess certain points in several
different ways to reinforce the importance or significance of that point. He
does this with the allergy theory. Having an "allergy" means that we react
abnormally to something. In our case, we react abnormally to alcohol.

(Some drunks claim to break out in handcuffs when drinking. Other claim to
break out in strange spots – another town, a strange neighborhood, or jail.)

Dr. Silkworth continues to expand on his ideas on page xxvi. 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. Normal drinkers 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 suffer from 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 xxvii, "the sense of ease and comfort...drinks
they see others taking with impunity" (without repercussions). Normal drinkers
don't have this physical malady; they can drink "with impunity" 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 xxviii. 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 gets us drunk.

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 the meaning with our next post.

Karen



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