What School Didn't Teach Us: You Need To Lose Control, by Kat Rosenfeld. Not the usual posting here, but I see the sense of it.
There’s a scene I love, toward the end of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, after the adventure is over and ordinary life has begun anew: Our heroes, Frodo and Sam and Pippin and Merry, are drinking at the local pub, when Sam spots a girl across the room who he’s admired from afar all his life. Something flickers across his face, equal parts desire and determination; this is his moment, his destiny.
But before Sam makes his move, he does one more thing: He throws back his pint.
I was surprised that she did not reference the book Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization.
I worked with alcoholics and addicts for over forty years, and saw how substances complicate mental illness.
She's still right.
GKC pointed out that the most dangerous justification for drinking was that it might promote health; for why wouldn't one wish to be healthy all the time, if it was so easily within one's power?
ReplyDeleteI suppose that's true for mental health as well as physical health. I agree entirely with the author's point, but recognize that 'occasional' and 'moderate' are the hard parts.