Newspaper Page Text
Second In An HHJ Series
Spectre Os Alcohol
Problems Hurts Many
The husband stumbles into
his house at 3:30 A.M., falling
over a chair in the living
room, hauling himself
upright, and then collapsing,
throwing up on the living room
carpet. The wife should get out
of bed, clean up the mess, and
put her inebriated husband to
bed to sleep it off, right?
WRONG!
Chaplain Robert Gray,
director of the Tri-County
Alcohol Problems Clinic in
Warner Robins, vehemently
disagrees. Gray says, “The
wife who meekly accepts the
fact that her husband is an
alcoholic is just making
matters worse. Instead of
“playing his patsy”, she
should just let him lie there all
night in the mess he has
created. It’s better for him,
5 , and better for her, too. People
have to have motivation to
(• quit drinking.”
Gray speaks in plain, for
thright language about people
with alcohol problems, even to
the one with the problem. He
doesn’t try to soft-peddle the
problem , having learned by
experience how to handle and
treat people with alcohol
problems. Two of the clinic’s
staffers, nurse Elizabeth
Giles, and caseworker Chad
Culpepper, are also actively
involved in trying to help stem
the growing tide of people who
do have serious problems with
\
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The Houston Home Journal
SECOND SECTION
LOCAL NEWS - SPORTS - FEATURES - CLASSIFIEDS - LEGAL NOTICES
HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL THURS., SEPT. 26, 1974,
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The Future Teachers of America chapter at
Perry High recently elected 1974-75 officers. Left
to right, seated, are: Debbie Rider, president;
George K. Camp, sponsor; and Terri Goney, vice
alcohol.
“Estimates to how many
people have alcohol problems
range from one in ten, to one
in every twenty people in the
United States," Culpepper
relates. “But we feel that a
closer percentage would be
that one out of every twelve
poeple in the United States has
a drinking problem. But one
out of every four people is
affected by alcohol problems”
If one out of every 12 people
in Houston County has a
drinking problem, that figures
out to be approximately six
thousand (6,000) citizens who
have alcohol troubles, in
Houston County alone. But
when that number is
multiplied by the fact that
each problem drinker
seriously affects at least three
other people (boss, wife,
children), almost twenty-five
thousand (25,000)
Houstonians’ lives are
detrimentally disturbed by
alcohol problems.
Cray emphatically says that
most problem drinkers are
NOT vagrants, skid-row
bums, or “ne’er do wells”. In
contrast, he says, the vast
majority (at least ninety-five
(95) percent) are employed,
married, with children, and
either own, or are in the
process of, buying their own
home. In other words, the
middle-class American.
“But,” Gray affirms, “that
person usually has a problem
in all three areas, in varying
degrees of difficulty. He has
home troubles, job troubles,
and financial troubles.”
Gray is emphatic that his
clinic, located at 1540 Watson
Boulevard in Warner Robins,
is open five days a week from
8:30 to 6:00 to answer pleas for
help. “We’ll talk with
ANYONE with any sort of an
alcohol problem, whether it’s
Ihe person who drinks, or is
the person adversely affected
by the drinker,” he states.
The Tri-County Alcohol
Problems Clinic is assisted by
several agencies who make
referrals to it. One is the
Houston Crisis Centers in
Warner Robins and Perry.
Another large source is area
ministers. The TCAPC is
funded entirely through the
State Department of Human
Resources.
WHEN THE DRINKER
SEEKSHELP
What happens at the Tri-
County Clinic when a problem
drinker finally comes in for
assistance? Gray gave a
rather detailed explanation in
general terms of his standard
operating procedure.
First of all. Gray,
Culpepper, or Liz Giles gets
something of a history of the
person’s drinking pattern --
where and how much is im
president. Standing, left to right, are: Melanie
Soles, secretary; Carol Hancock, treasurer; and
Cindy Peavy, parliamentarian.
bibed; and very necessary,
where and when alcohol with
drawal symptoms are most
likely to begin.
Then the person undergoes a
physical examination that
includes a blood test, for
obvious reasons. Then comes
one of the hardest parts - Gray
and his cohorts ask lor a
treatment contract. They try
to get the person to agree not
to drink for a given period of
time. This varies from person
to person, from as little as four
hours to as long as two weeks.
The Clinic then asks the
person to come to group “rap
sessions” held Monday,
Tuesday, Thursday, and
Friday of each week from 7:30
to 8:30 P.M. each night at the
clinic. Then, as the treatment
continues, the Clinic seeks to
establish within the person
motivational behavior
changes.
Gray says, "We treat the
whole person, and try to see
them as people with problems,
not just as problems.”
“Alcohol is a progressive
type of disease, which if not
treated, automatically gets
worse. If is an “arrested" type
of illness that can be stopped,
but not really cured. We stop
them from ingesting alcohol.
But some people who come to
us 100 late have already
suffered irreversible
physiological changes, such as
to body chemistry or body
functions,” the chaplain says,
(This has been part two in a
series exploring in-depth
alcohol problems in Houston
County and Perry, and
treatment that is available.
The series is written by Home
Journal Editor Bobby Branch
and Associate Editor Joe
Hiett. Next week’s HHJ will
have part three of this series,
which it is hoped, will offer
information needed at this
time.)
PAGE 1-B
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