I did not realize until recently that he had had a drinking problem. We all know him from TV and movies of course, and then he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. That diagnosis led him to his worst battles with alcohol, and ultimately his freedom from it. Here is a quote from p. 155 that struck home with me:
"With my diagnosis in 1991 came another shift in my relationship with alcohol. The quantity of my drinking was still down from eighties levels, but the quality of that drinking had changed ominously. I always knew, somewhere in the back of my mind, that my drinking was about filling a void, masking a need to be something more than I was. Now, without the pretense of celebration and camaraderie to veil the abuse, I craved alcohol as a direct response to the need I felt to escape my situation. Joyless and secretive, I drank to disassociate; drinking was now about isolation and self-medication."
The book is a good read and a quick one. I have finished most of it yesterday and today, and I worked all day. I want to get his new one, too (can't remember title). He was just on Oprah last week.
"With my diagnosis in 1991 came another shift in my relationship with alcohol. The quantity of my drinking was still down from eighties levels, but the quality of that drinking had changed ominously. I always knew, somewhere in the back of my mind, that my drinking was about filling a void, masking a need to be something more than I was. Now, without the pretense of celebration and camaraderie to veil the abuse, I craved alcohol as a direct response to the need I felt to escape my situation. Joyless and secretive, I drank to disassociate; drinking was now about isolation and self-medication."
The book is a good read and a quick one. I have finished most of it yesterday and today, and I worked all day. I want to get his new one, too (can't remember title). He was just on Oprah last week.
ray:
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