Page 15 - The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous

annals of alcoholism. These men may well have a remedy
for thousands of such situations.

You may rely absolutely on anything they say about
themselves.

Very truly yours,

William D. Silkworth, M.D.

The physician who, at our request, gave us this letter, has
been kind enough to enlarge upon his views in another
statement which follows. In this statement he confirms
what we who have suffered alcoholic torture must
believe—that the body of the alcoholic is quite as abnormal
as his mind. It did not satisfy us to be told that we could not
control our drinking just because we were maladjusted to
life, that we were in full flight from reality, or were outright
mental defectives. These things were true to some extent,
in fact, to a considerable extent with some of us. But we are
sure that our bodies were sickened as well. In our belief,
any picture of the alcoholic which leaves out this physical
factor is incomplete.

The doctor’s theory that we have an allergy to alcohol
interests us. As laymen, our opinion as to its soundness
may, of course, mean little. But as exproblem drinkers, we
can say that his explanation makes good sense. It explains
many things for which we cannot otherwise account.

Though we work out our solution on the spiritual as well as
an altruistic plane, we favor hospitalization for the alcoholic
who is very jittery or befogged. More often than not, it is
imperative that a man’s brain be cleared before he is