Slippage

by AmericanVirus

Slippage is the sort of terminology you use for building works or some sort of project. But in this case I am using it for Jane and her battle against alcoholism. Actually, is she battling? I don't think she is. All I know is she has started to binge again after about 5 months of no binges except for some fairly minor sessions.

I don't think an alcoholic can keep the devil boxed up for ever. The genie pops out of the lamp at some time. It is bound to. You know...there is one thing that forces her to stop a binge these days. It is the big stick! And the stick is the loss of her job.

She knows that finding work today is hard because of the dire financial state of the country and Europe as a whole, and she likes her job. She is not young. She would struggle to find work. Jane is concerned about finances (everyone is except the rich chief executives and the politicians).

It is these things that overcome her desire to lie in bed and remain totally sloshed all day. As I said in an earlier post it is a form of rational thought overcoming addictive behavior. In that way it is good and it gives some hope for the future.

The trouble is there is a fine balance between the addict and the rational person. In the past the addict always won and Jane would drink until she had to go to hospital. These days, touch wood, her binges are less severe and shorter. The after effects are less damaging health wise and she can recover faster and therefore get back to work faster.

Is this progress? Seems like it. But nothing is predictable when you are a victim of an alcoholic. Anything can happen. When you think things are more predictable and more sane something happens which tells you that you are dreaming.