Normal Drinking by Former Alcohol Addicts

Abstract

In the course of a follow-up of 62 untreated alcohol addicts, 3 men and 1 woman were found who had resumed normal social drinking for between 3 and 8 years. Two had been abstinent for over a year before resuming drinking; the other 2 had never been abstinent and had received no treatment, medical or lay. Detailed histories of each case are presented. No feature was found to distinguish these 4 from other alcohol addicts and the means by which they became able to drink normally are unknown, though religious conversion in the woman and the development of a physical aversion of whisky in one of the men were probably partially responsible. This report provides further confirmation of the possibility of alcohol addicts regaining the ability to drink normally but, at least at this stage, it is believed that this fact should not be allowed to influence therapeutic programs in any way.