Calls are picking up As we expected, as the vaccine gets distributed and an end to the pandemic may be almost in sight, those of us who have survived are beginning to take stock of what condition we’re in. That means that lots of you are beginning to wonder if it might not be worth ramping down the drinking that’s expanded to fill the available space Covid created in our lives. Yes, overwhelmed health care professionals who’ve been using alcohol to come down after 18 hour adrenaline fueled shifts are wondering how to get back to some semblance of “normal” – whatever that is.

Three Things Everyone Needs to Know at All Times If you want to make informed decisions in your life then you always need to know where you stand: Medically; Financially; Legally. It’s hard to over emphasize these three basic dimensions of our lives or how rarely people actually know all three. Generally, women are better than men at knowing where they stand medically, an area where men are generally clueless and, worse, unwilling to learn. Financially men are the ones who usually know where they stand and women, particularly married women, frequently are as in the dark as men are medically.

Chaos Around Us Does Not Necessitate Chaos Within. One would be hard pressed to imagine, last January, what 2020 and beyond would hold for all of us. A worldwide pandemic and domestic insurrection. And both inflicting confusion, uncertainty, and danger, and – paradoxically - boredom. Is it any surprise that many of us have turned to alcohol to find respite and relief? The surprise, probably, is that more of us haven’t done so. In response to the predictable benefits of drinking (yes, there are benefits) there also comes a time when we can see these ebbing and the potential for escalating costs. As we look at the upcoming months, we may be able to discern a country moving back to a less fractured life and a more American one, as well as a disease being brought under control.

“How Can You Help Me in Just 4 Days?” We hear this question all of the time, which isn’t surprising given that almost everyone has been brainwashed into the “you have to go away for 30, 60 or even 90 days!” A better question might be, if people go off to rehab for a month or two, why is the “success” rate only 5-10%, if that?

Physicians, Nurses, First Responders and Other Health Care Workers While Covid19 has hit everyone, those on the front lines have experienced stress levels unimaginable to most of the rest of us. Not only is it a war zone, but the hours of engagement are impossibly long, the death toll staggering, and the majority of the public unwilling to abide by even the smallest common sense measures to abate the slaughter. Frightening, disheartening, enraging, and exhausting: physically, mentally and emotionally.

2021 It’s About Time 2020 is toast – so are far too many people and far too few politicians. None the less, those of us still standing are left with wondering how to put our lives together again. I don’t say “back together” as there will be no going back, only going ahead with perspectives we have acquired the hard way.

Happy – and Safe – Holidays to You & Yours Regardless of your religious preference, including none – we hope that the likelihood of the coming year being a much better one than the one we have endured, as well as our sympathy to those of you who have lost loved friends and family [...]

“But First You Have to Go Away and Fix the Drinking Problem! Talking to a therapist recently, I heard the same thing we hear from Counselors and Psychologists: “If the presenting problems include alcohol consumption, then that has to be fixed first before any other problems can be addressed!” The therapist is not to blame for handing out this advice which is part of the curriculum in virtually every graduate program and medical school as well as the “advice” proffered in numerous TV series as well as books and magazines. The problem?

Upper or Downer – What Are You Using Alcohol For? As a bit of an extension on last week’s Newsletter regarding physicians, nurses and first responders, I wanted to elaborate a bit on critical differences between what we use alcohol to accomplish and how that affects correcting problems with self-medication. Over the years, Mary Ellen and I have treated many physicians, lawyers, and other professionals in demanding work. We have noted that the physicians have tended to be E.R. doctors and surgeons. The lawyers, criminal defense attorneys and litigators. The commonality? High stress, adrenaline driven occupations.

Fifty Years Ago and Physicians Assistance Programs Today Fifty years ago, my commercial salmon fishing partner Turak J. Newman and I were drifting back from our nets 18 miles upriver from our homes in the nearly abandoned gold rush town of Rampart on Alaska’s Yukon River. An Inuit from Beaver, Alaska, he had, as a young man, found himself broke and stranded in San Francisco. Desperate, he came up with a plan. He would volunteer for the U. S. Navy, stay in until he’d been paid enough to buy a ticket back to Alaska then he’d quit and fly home.