At the end of last week, Steve did his follow-up visit at the hospital. I was going to take a picture of his chart (it's eight inches thick; going back only to 2001) but it made the doctor nervous and I didn't blame her. We'd never met before that moment. I wouldn't have let me do it either but the fact is the thing was eight inches thick.
He predicted that he'd be examined and then lectured about drinking, which is more or less, what happened. Two different doctors each took a turn (he's never had the same doctor twice). Both were painfully honest with him, about his condition. There was also the (somewhat) vague offer of inpatient treatment. If he had expressed an interest in sobriety, I believe they would've kept him there but then, he isn't the one running the show (where his options are concerned), alcohol is.
So, I might ask the question, of people who know more than I do about it...why do so many of us continue to believe that alcoholics are capable of making rational decisions? If alcoholism is a disease, then why isn't that the symptom we treat first? Why not a pill or a shot that releases the grip of alcohol long enough for a person to want treatment? Steve's been dependent on alcohol since he was eighteen years old. That's twenty-six years (of the same well-intentioned approach).
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