Barely a Spirit, Not a Demon

Alcohol’s spiritual legacy.

Stuart Walton noted historical spiritual connections to alcohol in his 2002 book, Out of It: A Cultural History of Intoxication:

Alcohol … is the free-flowing blood of Christ in the Transubstantiation, the elusive elixir of eternal life to the alchemists trying to isolate its soul or spirit (and thus giving the name of “spirits” to their earliest rudimentary distillates), … implicated in religious ritual … from the polytheistic carnivals of the Egyptians and the Greco-Roman cults to the benignly providing Yahweh of the Old Testament.

Stanton Peele points out, in Diseasing of America:

The image of “demon rum” was born in the 1800s, the result of [the] discovery of the dangers of drinking. …the idea arose that America could be perfected if everyone ceased drinking alcohol (or, originally, distilled spirits). The temperance movement dates from the formation of the American Temperance Society in 1826…

The temperance ideology differed from the modern alcoholism movement in that it maintained that alcohol is inevitably dangerous and inexorably addictive for everyone. That is, some people might believe they can drink moderately, but it is only a matter of time before they encounter increasing problems and completely lose control of their drinking.

A spiritual aura surrounding alcohol persists in suggestions that its use is not subject to pragmatic, rational control. An AA slogan:

When a person tries to control their drinking, they have already lost control.

Even asserting control over drinking is considered a problem by some experts. Questions from an alcoholism screening questionnaire for senior citizens, where yes answers increase the probability of being told you have a problem:

• Do you have rules for yourself that you won’t drink before a certain time of day or night?
• Have you ever made rules to manage your drinking?

Drawbacks to visualizing a powerful spirit.

When my drinking moved into problematic territory, I was intimately acquainted with the warning signs. At the same time, knowing the “attempted control = loss of control” concept created a Catch-22 for me.

• If I took responsibility for changing my behavior, but didn’t succeed effortlessly, that logic said that I was out of control, and if alcohol hadn’t robbed me of my power, it was probably lurking nearby, waiting for the opportunity to propel me down a slippery slope to an early grave.
• And yet, doing nothing also ceded power to something I was determined to control.

Compared to pragmatic approaches that had worked well for me in handling stress and episodic depression previously, that struck me as magical, uncritical thinking. It did nothing to move me toward healthier choices.

Helpful imagery, not fact.

It makes sense to me that personifying alcohol as a jealous mistress or the desire to drink as a beast have been helpful techniques for a lot of folks. Imagery like that embodies the role drinking had come to play in their lives, and helps them focus their energy on abstaining.

But the simple fact is that alcohol is a molecule with no more inherent power over me than a sugar or fat molecule. Each affects me uniquely, and each has created unique challenges for me.

If I am to be proactive about preventing problems with alcohol, my first line of defense need not be to assume the worst. I need to start with common sense and a pragmatic approach.

I started making progress toward better health related to alcohol when I started demystifying it. Setting aside my fears, I framed it as a habit which had become excessive and needed to change.

Neutering the demon.

Drinking a beer became a choice that offered both plusses and minuses, risks and benefits, not an epic drama between the forces of serenity and lunacy, salvation and damnation, life and death. Abstaining for a day became a good and simple thing to do, not a step in a personal purity campaign. Having a less-than-optimal day with alcohol didn’t mean black clouds were gathering ominously on the horizon, it was something to learn from like a day when I overate.

Drinking habits can become problematic, and habits — any habit — can be hard to change. Like eating, exercise, study or self-care habits which resist change (good ones are difficult to start, undesirable ones a challenge to let go of), many drinking habits can be redirected with common sense and practice.

Apart from a conscious decision to frame it otherwise, alcohol has no mystical powers, no evil tentacles. Taking up healthier habits with alcohol (including abstinence) is not always easy, but the process is similar, and in many ways as simple as, figuring out how to take up new exercise habits.