Positive Mental Attitude: Season 2 – Episode 17 – Alcoholism & Mental Illness

“But a cure for alcoholism is not so easy to come by as education in hygiene. Alcoholism ranks as the fourth largest health problem in the nation. It follows mental and moral disease and is one of the greatest contributors to those two diseases. The economic cost of alcoholism is 25 billion dollars per year. The greater portion of this is loss of time to industry, followed by hospital costs and physical damages—caused mainly by automobile accidents. But the money loss is negligible compared to the loss of physical, mental, and moral health, and the loss of life attributable to alcoholism.
An alcoholic has a mental illness which lies dormant until his first drink. If he doesn’t start the habit, liquor doesn’t have the power of attraction for him. If he drinks, the affinity is strong, and he will drink to excess. If he drinks to excess, the attraction may become irresistible, or seem so. And when he tries to resist and doesn’t succeed, he may believe he cannot be cured.”

Excerpt From: Napoleon Hill. “Success Through A Positive Mental Attitude.” iBooks. https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/success-through-a-positive-mental-attitude/id381618319?mt=11

This resonates probably within a lot of readers.  This is brutal for me to read because I saw my brother becoming just that.

After coming back from Australia in 2012, my brother had balls in his back.  No one knew what the balls were, but they were hurting them.  He was working for a company called Stanley Steamers, a company that cleans the rugs of citizens’ homes. It got worse and worse over the next month with my brother becoming an irritable, angry, 26-year-old guy who went from being at the pinnacle, to collapsing back down to zero.

He had surgery and was in a tremendous amount of pain for the next couple of months.

Now, his habits were betting and alcoholism.  After he came home from work, he would go out and drink — five nights a week.  Who knows what else he did, but that’s what I saw.  He would always say “I’m hungover,” and again, he was turning more into an animal.  My youngest sister didn’t like being around him because he got angry quickly.  He bossed my mother around and he would always aggravate my sister.

Could it be because of alcoholism? It’s definitely one of the factors.

“What happens to excessive drinkers? Alcohol is known to alter the brain waves as recorded by the scientific instrument known as an electroencephalograph. It has a most potent influence on nerve cell metabolism which results in slow rhythms and eventual suppression of voltage and brings about a change in the level of consciousness.
A human body is alive only as long as its subconscious mind functions. It can be kept alive for a long time without the functioning of the conscious mind. There are degrees of consciousness.
Sanity is that healthy state of mind when the activities of the conscious and the subconscious are in proper balance. And while they work together, each has its specific duties; each has inhibiting factors. While sometimes it is healthful and wholesome for a person to do the things he wants to do but which are forbidden, judgments and actions should be the result of the conscious and subconscious working in balance.
The intellect and other powers of the conscious mind act as a governor regulating the subconscious when a person is in a conscious state of activity. As the activity of this governor slows down, the machine begins to run wild, and[…]”


In Las Vegas, anytime I would walk down the streets of Las Vegas Boulevard and Owens, there would be a lot of alcoholics roaming the streets, homelessly and wearing USA Veteran hats.  At night, I would be acosted by some angry drunks saying, “ey, man, you got any change?”

“No, I have food though.”


“Alcoholism is indeed a dread disease. If allowed to control a person’s life, it can render that person physically, mentally, and morally ill and send him to a living hell. Once alcohol has gained control in a person’s life, it does not readily relinquish its hold.
But there is a cure!
There’s always a cure! What’s the cure? Stop drinking! For the alcoholic, this is more easily said than done. The important thing is that it can be done. He can do it!
When you develop a positive mental attitude, you don’t give up trying because you have previously failed or because you know of cases where others have failed. You can be motivated and receive hope from successful experiences. A baby learning to walk isn’t criticized for falling after taking the first three steps. It is given credit for the progress it makes in response to its conscious effort.”

Five Strategies for Eliminating Bad Habits


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