Dr Jekyll & Mr. Hyde a metaphor for Alcohol Addiction

Part 3

Alistair Rhind

Addiction Treatment Consultant

Hyde gained more and more control of Dr J and Dr J began increasingly to fear Mr. H and the power and hold he had over him. Dr J was increasingly unable to predict when Mr. Hyde would come out as Hyde began to dictate and govern his own freedom. Later after a long period of struggle, pain and despair, in an act of extreme desperation, Dr J killed himself in order to kill Hyde.

As time passes (months or years) the drinking\using gets worse. The inner addict gains more and more control. The binges get closer together and longer in duration. The amount consumed becomes greater as the tolerance increases. The drinker\user’s brain becomes increasingly affected by the heavy sedation. His brain chemistry is confused by the presence of high levels of an alien chemical. In common to all who suffer from this addictive loss of control, the thinking and perception is grossly altered. He is unable to cope with ordinary pressures. His life is being affected in different ways; his marriage and family life is damaged. His work performance is poor. He is depressed (probably taking tranquilisers and anti-depressants on top of alcohol or drugs) anxious and fearful. He is angry and full of self-loathing and he is in danger or spiralling out of control. At this point he must stop drinking or using completely before anything else can get better. This process of quitting will necessitate identifying this ‘inner addict’ or ‘Mr Hyde’ and learning how to disempower and ultimately re-employ him as a positive force so that his original purpose is met through more healthy means.

The great difficulty now is that the addict cannot truly see the nature of his problem. He believes it to be the pressures surrounding him and that others are persecuting him and do not understand him. His brain is permanently intoxicated, and deep down, his negative emotions have taken on monstrous proportions. He has powerful beliefs that tell him alcohol is his only friend. Every cell inside his body cries out for him to drink or use. His identity has become intrinsic to his behaviour. Drinking or using is who he is, not just what he does. His brain no longer produces enough feel good chemicals for him to function in any way normally,  and his body and mind identifies the only solution to the terrible pain is to take his chemical or indulge his addictive behaviour again. To add to all this, his powerful auto pilot pushes him increasingly towards the addictive behaviour. This character is an out of control train, aiming to become a train wreck. To pull him back from the brink of destruction will require some Divine intervention, or maybe, just maybe, he might be lucky enough to meet someone who will reach out and touch his heart in a way that will awaken him long enough for him to learn to believe in life again.

This article is an excerpt from “Quit While Your Still Ahead" – The essential guide to recovery from Alcohol Addiction by Alistair Rhind MerlinTranceformations. An Ebook available from http://www.addiction-recovery.co.uk   You may feel free to copy and reproduce this article for non profit making use, provided you identify me as the author, keep the links to my site alive and you make no changes to the txt. You may place it on your own site, copy it for patients or for training purposes.