The Health bulletin [serial] - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

lack period when he picked up more bar tabs and
penalties than any player in the National Hockey
League, Young says: "Anybody who ever was out
there knows what I mean. 1 had a little disease going,
If I had had cancer, I'd be a hero now. Cancer
is socially acceptable. But if you've been a drunk,
you're a bum."
Young's drinking bounced him from team to team;
his wife divorced him and he was jailed for "dis-
turbing the peace." The only way back into society
for the hockey player was through Alcoholics Anony-
mous. A. A. has helped thousands to arrest alcoholism
—but victims seldom enroll in A. A. until they have ex-
perienced untold tragedy.
Government, science and industry are beginning to
think in terms of preventive measures. Research indi-
cates that it takes from 1 to 15 years of increasingly
steady drinking to become addicted. Congress recently
set up a $5-million-a-year fund to research the entire
problem of alchoholism, from the causes through
treatment and control. By June, Dr. AAendelson, director
of the project, hopes to have five centers where
the problem will be studied and new techniques for
prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of alcoholics
will be demonstrated. The pilot center is in operation
at Bethesda, Md.
A number of companise are establising programs
to spot potential alcoholics and help them before they
become society's drop-outs. Supervisors and personnel
directors are on the alert for telltale signs sach as ab-
senteeism immediately after payday, repeated tardiness
and a pattern of accidents or mishaps. They are being
trained to help the worker recognize his problem and
to gain his cooperation in combating it. The programs
emphasize that alcoholism is a treatable disease, that
recovery is possible, and that it takes teamwork— cooperation
of the alcoholic, his family, employer and
colleagues. The Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company
reports that since the adoption of such a policy,
the firm has reduced firings of alcoholics from 95 per
cent to 8 per cent and has saved an estimated $80,000
annually through decreased absenteeism.
August, 1967 THE HEALTH BULLETIN
Medical, psychiatric, social and educational help is
becoming increasingly available. If you are worried
about you own drinking or that of someone near you,
seek the help of the facilities in your town. As Howie
Young says, it's no fun "out there."— from SIGNA-
TURE, The Diners Club Magazine, May, 1967.