Alcoholism In The 1900's Analysis

The Oxford Dictionary defines alcoholism as, “an addiction to the consumption of alcoholic liquor or the mental illness and compulsive behavior resulting from alcohol dependency. (Oxford Dictionary).

Moderate use of alcohol may have a beneficial effect on the human body. However, when alcohol is consumed in large amounts in a short period of time, and on a regular basis, that person is at risk of becoming addicted to alcohol. (Health Check Systems). One major issue of alcoholism, is when a person tries to quit, they become violent, depressed, or even suffer from anxiety attacks. (The Sobriety Solution). Alcohol is also known to contribute to liver problems, and cancers. Alcoholism may cause many cancers such as, Throat Cancer, Liver Cancer,
Breast Cancer, and Esophagus Cancer. Alcohol consumption while pregnant may lead to Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, this disorder causes birth defects, serious health and development issues for the baby. Being an alcoholic decreases an addict’s life expectancy by 10-12 years. (American Cancer Society). Alcoholism is also known to cause physiological problems, such as hand tremors and blackouts, and can also lead to Dementia. (All Psych). Alcoholism is a very serious health issue that affects 17.6 million Americans, or one in every 12 adults. (National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence).

Another major issue with alcoholism is what occurs after the person drinks, as alcohol consumption impairs a person’s brain and body. Many deaths occur when a person under the influence of alcohol gets behind the wheel of a car, as they are not physically able to drive safely while under the influence. This puts the person under the influence and anyone else on the road in danger. Driving under the influence is the third leading cause of a traffic related deaths. When an alcohol related crash occurs, many people are impacted, whether they knew the person who caused the crash, or they knew the victim. These crashes often take a parent, spouse or a breadwinner away from a family.

Due to the fact that alcoholism may cause many diseases and issues, families with an alcoholic in the family are more likely to suffer from economic hardships. This is because much of the family’s income is going toward purchasing alcohol to support the addiction. Alcoholism may contribute too many issues within a family as well, a few examples are, conflicts between spouses, Infidelity, Domestic Violence, Jealousy, and Divorce. (Alcohol Rehab). If a child has a parent suffering from alcoholism, they are more likely to be very independent as that alcoholic parent most likely is very inconsistent and not there for their child. Alcoholic parents often set unreachable expectations for their child, usually causing lots of stress for the child. (National Center for Biotechnology Information).

Historians have found that alcohol was consumed in Ancient Egypt, as well as Ancient China and India. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the British parliament passed a law encouraging the use of grain for distilling spirits, this caused Alcoholism to become widespread across Britain. The 19th century brought along the movement for moderate alcohol use. This was a major push to enact the law of Prohibition. (Drug Free World). Prohibition was enforced from 1920-1933 in America. (History 1900’s). Prohibition didn’t stop alcoholism in America, as the laws were ignored by many.

Alcoholism in the 1900’s was a very hard disease to treat, because alcohol was everywhere.
Many alcoholics were sent to alcohol addiction centers and alcohol asylums. These places often didn’t make a difference in the patients drinking habits. Soon though, in the 1940’s Alcoholics Anonymous support groups began popping up in major U.S. Cities. Soon these groups began diffusing around America, and many lives were saved because of these groups. Alcoholics Anonymous meetings are still one way that alcoholics receive treatment and counseling for their disease here in the present day. Alcoholism is also currently treated with, both individual and couples therapy, medications, and rehab stays. (William White Pages). However a recovering alcoholic cannot only rely on other people to help them, and must first learn to help themselves. If an alcoholic doesn't want to get sober, it makes the process very
hard.

If you have ever read the classic novel, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, written by Betty Smith, you are familiar with Johnny Nolan. Johnny Nolan is a singing waiter who relies solely on his wife, Katie to provide for his two children, Francie and Neely. Johnny is unable to provide for his family due to the fact that he is a struggling alcoholic, which eventually kills him.

Throughout this novel, we often notice that Katie Nolan will do almost anything to give her children the life that she never had. Katie plans on achieving this by giving her children a fine education. (Smith 207). Katie does this by enrolling her children in school, which in this time period was viewed as a luxury, and having them read one page from the Bible and one page from Shakespeare every night before bed.

But when Francie was not happy at her current school, it was Johnny and not Katie who granted Francie's wish of attending a different school, and made it happen. Johnny knew that even though he could get in trouble, this transfer of schools would be best for Francie in the long run. (Smith 173). This showed that Johnny could be a good father even when dealing with his alcoholism. In order to give her children a good life, without the help of her husband because of his alcoholism, Katie Nolan cleans tenement units in exchange for a place for her family to live. Although it is long, hard work, and it leaves her hands red and scarred, Katie knows it is for the benefit of her family. (Smith 12).

The summer after Francie finishes eighth grade, she gets a job in a factory, but is quickly laid off. She soon gets a job at a Clippings Bureau reading newspaper articles from around the country. Francie got this job to make money for her family, as the Nolan family was in dire need of money after Johnny's death due to his alcoholism. The family also needed money to support Annie Laurie, Katie's third child, born only five months after Johnny's death. Francie became the breadwinner for the Nolan family, while Katie was recovering from childbirth. (Smith 374). However, when Francie Nolan was born, she was a very sickly baby, many people tried to convince Katie to give up on Francie. But Katie would do no such thing. Katie knew that it was better to live than die, and that eventually Francie would thrive. (Smith). Katie Nolan was given even more responsibilities after she gave birth to Neely, because at this point in his life Johnny Nolan thought that he was too young to be a father of two young children, which caused him to turn to alcohol as a way to numb his problems.

Throughout the novel, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn we see Johnny's drinking habits continue to worsen, before they become out of control and kill him.
(Smith). After reading the novel, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, I really understand how misunderstood alcoholics of the 20th century were. In that time period, alcoholism wasn't viewed as the disease that it is now. During the 20th century there weren't programs like rehab and Alcoholics Anonymous to help struggling alcoholics who were trying to get sober. Even in the present day I still see a lack of help for alcoholics. Although many people may disagree, I believe that alcoholism is a serious disease. When alcoholism is consumed in excess, the brain becomes impaired. As this person continues to drink alcohol on a regular basis, these effects may become more severe. A struggling alcoholic usually doesn't view their drinking as an issue, they may need a push from family or friends to help them realize that they have an alcohol problem. This may happen in the form of an
intervention.

Personally I believe that alcoholism is a very misunderstood disease, and not enough is being done in America to help the struggling alcoholics. People need to become educated about alcoholism if they ever want to be able to help someone dealing with an alcohol addiction. In order to help this problem, I believe that more funds should be set aside to help struggling alcoholics overcome their addiction with the help of programs, like the Betty Ford Center, named after first lady Betty Ford, who suffered from alcoholism but overcame the disease. (Hazelden Betty Ford Center). However many critics would argue that alcoholism isn't a real disease because it is technically caused by the alcoholic, and therefore extra funds should not be set aside to help these suffering people. But these people are still struggling and are in dire need of help.

By providing funds to help people dealing with alcohol abuse, many lives would be saved, and countless families will be salvaged. Funding programs similar to the Betty Ford Center would help many alcoholics overcome their addiction. As these alcoholics recover they are more likely to get and hopefully keep a job. If the recovering addict is able to keep a job they are much less likely to suffer from economic issues. This could have a direct impact on relationships between the recovering addict and their friends and families. Although alcoholics are technically ill, there are so many things that we could do to better the lives of recovering addicts, their families, and friends. Although Alcoholism will never be totally preventable, we can minimize its harmful effects.