is an anger management course possible with an alcoholic?

name of artwork: A Legacy of Too Much Anger and Rage
image is ©2014 Lise Winne
(for information regarding licensing any images contact LilacGroveGraphics (att) yahoo.com) 

So, is an anger management course possible with an alcoholic? The answer is a resounding no!

A therapist explains why HERE. Or to explain it succinctly:

I want to stress that anger management is usually ineffective for a person who is angry and frequently using alcohol or other drugs. You can do anger management with such a person until you are blue in the face—and it will not work! ... Now that I know drugs are often the cause for anger, I refer this type of client to a substance abuse program. Once he/she has completed such a program, the anger is often gone. -- Buck Black, LCSW

The lighter side of alcohol; a Thanksgiving joke

I found this via Facebook via "Irish Laughter" through THIS LINK.

On a more serious note, being from a dysfunctional alcoholic family where there is incredible tension (or people not talking to each other), can be a dark time. Here are some things to do if you are alone on Thanksgiving or just don't want to deal with your crazy family:

1. Have Thanksgiving or a potluck with friends who are also alone

2. Work at your local soup kitchen

3. Volunteer to hold some babies who were abandoned at your local hospital from addict/alcoholic mothers

4. Have a list of folks who you can talk to on the phone if you live in a place that is far away from any friends or family

5. Find fellow Alanon members who are also alone and organize a Thanksgiving together

These are just some ideas. There are others you may think of too.

I draw to speak out. Silence is never golden when it comes to being the victim or recipient of abuse or the unprovoked rage of an alcoholic.  

Jenny the Teetotaler with Alcoholics

how drinkers view Jenny, the teetotaler

how Jenny, the teetotaler, views the drinkers

© 2013 (artworks by Lise Winne)

(for inquiries regarding licensing these images contact LilacGroveGraphics ((att)) yahoo.com)

This is my latest cartoon (I finished drawing it last night). My partner asked why Jenny, the teetotaler, had a dark spike over her head in the second picture. My answer was because some alcoholics are angry (and can become belligerent or even violent over the slightest nuance -- from hearing stories at Alanon). Thus, there is no way for Jenny to feel "at home" in this situation!

Note: I realize that alcoholism is a disease and that it is very easy to become addicted, especially if you drink every day. I know it can creep up on the most disciplined among us. So, this cartoon is not about "judging" even though both sides here have "judgmental thoughts"; it is about perceptions, and "feeling out of league" and "feeling like you don't belong".

I think this kind of scene is more typical than most people are willing to admit. 

Here are some close-ups of the drinkers (note: Jenny didn't change much, so she is not represented here):

I draw to speak out. 

cocktail hour: an hour of anger, bombs and missiles that lasts all night

Cocktail Hour
© 2013 by Lise Winne

(for inquiries regarding licensing this image for articles or blogs contact LilacGroveGraphics ((att)) yahoo.com) 

Don't you just have a terrible sense of dread when you hear the ice cubes hitting the edge of the cocktail glass for the beginning of cocktail hour? Bombs away! 

I have heard so many stories (and have experienced it myself) of wanting to get away, hide, lock a door when cocktail hour begins. Ice cubes don't seem particularly scary unless an alcoholic with rage issues is handling them. Kids I have talked to seem particularly traumatized by that sound. If you are vulnerable, it becomes the time to not say a word lest the ambush and punishment unleash. 

This is my latest drawing (finished in July of 2013). I draw to speak out. Silence is never golden when it comes to being the victim or recipient of abuse or the unprovoked rage of an alcoholic.