Hi, James!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:

[re the guy who thanked God for his addictions]
JB>  - where today he could call a distress line - perhaps
JB>  in his day, this initial step of sensitivity was hard/
JB>  impossible to come by.


          Yes... I've also found it beneficial to tackle mental/emotional
issues head on.  But before judging others who haven't done that, or who
take longer to arrive at a similar point, I think it's important to
consider the context.  If a person's behaviour has affected *me* adversely,
I find it much more difficult to invoke a compassionate response.  You may
feel the same WRT your father....  :-)



AH>  brewer's yeast is an excellent source of B vitamins.
AH>  IIRC alcohol interferes with the absorption of B vitamins,
AH>  however... and a deficiency of B12 may resemble (or even
AH>  cause) Alzheimer's, psychotic depression, or schizophrenia.
AH>  Since the B vitamins work together, a lack of one might
AH>  render the others less effective. My mother's "dementia"
AH>  improved in tandem with her nutrition, anyway....  :-)

JB>  Korzicoffs (The spelling HAS to be wrong.) is a psychosis.


          Korsakoff's psychosis.  You had the first three letters, and a
general idea of the rest... we have the medical dictionary.  Teamwork! 
Reminds me of an incident in the oncology ward while Nora was in treatment.
 She had to have some procedure which required an overnight stay, as did
her roommate.  The downstairs clinic had been experimenting with a new
sedative which worked a lot better than anything else which was available
up to that time.  I knew how to spell the name but I didn't know how to
pronounce it.  The roommate's Mom knew how to pronounce it but didn't know
how to spell it.  When Doctor Dramatic swept in, with a group of juniors in
tow, and announced breezily that he was going to use such-and-such
sedatives I said (in a firm Schoolteacher Voice) "No you won't!" 
While he stood with his jaw hanging around his knees I found the entry in
my notebook where I'd written that Nora received this same combination on
March 15th & it didn't work. I asked for the new sedative... whereupon
the other Mom chimed in & asked for it too.  There was bit of
kerfluffle because the ward didn't have permission to use it yet, and they
had to get a doctor from the clinic to show them the procedure. But the net
result was that the use of Midazolam is quite standard now....  :-))



JB>  Often a thump on the head, can bring it to the forefront,
JB>  but it is the B12 receptor that is shielded by alcohol
JB>  abuse, that keeps the patient from returning to reality.
JB>  Oddly, dad looked and acted like he was getting over a
JB>  bad thump on the head for about three months. He shook
JB>  that diagnosis, but remained entrenched in denial.


          Hmm... sometimes it does take awhile to figure out that's going
on.  A lot of older folks evidently try to hide an overuse of alcohol
because they have been taught to regard such behaviour as shameful.  They
may also be reluctant to talk about their feelings... my parents certainly
were!  Years ago, I could have explained how a character in a novel felt
but couldn't verbalize my own feelings because I wasn't allowed to do that
when I was growing up.  I learned along with our daughter.  Nora was three
years old when I realized it was something we both needed to learn.  It
still doesn't come easily to me sometimes.  That's why it's taken me so
long to answer, I guess.  Be patient... I'm a work-in-progress.  ;-)




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+