ALCOHOL PROBLEMS: DRUNKENNESS VERSUS ALCOHOLISM
It is important to see that alcoholism is not separate from alcohol. The alcoholic does not spring full-blown from someplace in outer space. In general it is a problem that develops over time. Alcohol is available everywhere. A person really has to make a choice not to drink in our society. In some sets of circumstances one could drink for the better part of a day and never seem out of place at all. Some brunches have wine punch, Bloody Marys, or cafe brulet as their accompaniment. Sherry, beer, or a mixed drink is quite appropriate at lunchtime. Helping a friend with an afternoon painting project or even raking your own lawn is a reasonable time to have a beer. Then, after a long day, comes the predinner cocktail, maybe some wine with the meal. Later, at cards with friends, drinks are offered. And surely, some romantic candlelight and a nightcap go hand in hand. For most people this combination of events would not be their daily or even weekend fare. The point is that none of the above would cause most people to raise an eyebrow. The accepted times for drinking can be all the time, anywhere. Given enough of the kind of days we described, the person who chooses to drink may develop problems. Alcohol is a drug and does have effects on the body.
Is alcoholism a purely modern phenomenon, a product of our times? There are no references to alcoholics as such in historical writing. The word itself is a modern one. But there are vague references as far back in time as the third century that distinguish between being merely intoxicated and being a drunkard. In a commentary on imperial law, a Roman jurist of that era suggests that inveterate drunkenness be considered a medical matter rather than a legal one. In the thirteenth century, James I of Aragon issued an edict providing for hospitalization of conspicuously active drunks. In 1655 a man named Younge, an English journalist, wrote a pamphlet in which he seemed to discern the difference between one who drinks and one who has a chronic condition related to alcohol. He says, "He that will be drawn to drink when he hath neither need of it nor mind to it is a drunkard."
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