The Control of Alcoholism

Abstract

Although alcoholism has recently come to be recognized as a disease, this recognition has not resulted in comprehensive, national, control programs. Moreover, the very concept of mental disease, emotional disturbance, and behavior disorder has become unclear. There are many attempts to overcome this difficulty, from those who deny even that mental disease exists to those who still hold to a classic psychiatric classification and approach. In this intensive discussion it sometimes seems as if we lose sight of the raison d'etre of psychiatry, namely, the patient, the person with a behavior disorder, the beneficiary of our protective care, or whatever we may call the person seeking help. The situation is further aggravated by the current crisis in the organization of health and social services. Today, when mental health, like health in general, is conceived as a citizen* s right, just as he has a right to expect water to flow when he turns on the tap, we should be hard put to advocate models of health protection created solely for a selected few instead of the whole of society. Alcoholism, as a particular health problem, also requires such measures as would render the prevention of the disorder and the treatment and rehabilitation of the alcoholic possible throughout society. This, in my opinion, is attainable only if we: (1) gain knowledge of the prevalence of alcoholism; (2) extend the possibility of treatment to all alcoholics;