About Alcoholism - Alcoholism Information, Research and Treatment

According to Sen. Harold Hughes, part of the problem for public education is to make people understand that an alcoholic who remains sober for six months and then gets drunk has not failed. "It's the only disease I know of where, when the treatment fails, we blame the patient. If you break up a 20-year drinking pattern with six months of sobriety, you have helped the patient improve. The alcoholic who has a brief relapse should be welcomed right back and encouraged to take up his treatment program where he left off. He didn't fail--something went wrong for a moment. In this country, we haven't had any interest or any national conscience regarding the alcoholic."