Presented below are findings from an interpretative phenomenological analysis of Sarah Hepolah’s Blackout: Remembering the things I drank to forget.
Theme 1: The divided self
A divided sense of self is a prevalent theme throughout the memoir whereby Sarah described her experience of addiction as providing a route from feeling ‘sluggish’ and ‘stupid’ to ‘strong’ and ‘forceful’. Sarah’s experience of sobriety was evidently challenging. Throughout the memoir there is a common recurrence of conflict about Sarah’s self-worth, with admirable qualities about herself being perceived as deriving from alcohol consumption. Sarah’s attempts to maintain this positive identity consequently led her to become trapped within her addiction, and over time, lose
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From the outset of the extract, Sarah’s thoughts about alcohol were in a constant flux, with conflicting views about alcohol present throughout. Initially, alcohol is perceived as a facilitator for sociability and excitement whereby risky behaviours are valued. Sarah’s comparison of sobriety to a deflated balloon suggests a lack of enjoyment within a life deprived of alcohol, and as a result, Sarah relied upon the substance to experience satisfaction. As highlighted by the previous theme, alcohol had a considerable impact on Sarah’s sense of self. Compared to that of helium to a balloon (a substance that causes a balloon to rise), alcohol is perceived as a substance that uplifts Sarah’s self-worth and enables her to escape from reality. Sobriety, in contrast, is compared to a deflated balloon in that it grounds Sarah, bringing her back to reality where she lacks self-esteem. However, there is an underlying tone of resentment towards alcohol. For example, Sarah’s choice of the word ‘cheap’ to describe sex produces a negative association to a passionate act that should be intimate and affectionate. Rather, Sarah views the behaviour as worthy of no respect and of little value. It is therefore evident that Sarah experienced an internal battle with alcohol, where on the one hand she had attributed positive qualities to it such as enjoyment and confidence, but at the same time acknowledged that it influenced her to behave in ways she scrutinised as being undignified and
Scott Russell Sanders’ “Under the Influence” is about a family growing up with alcoholism, mental and physical abuse. When Sanders was very young, he didn’t recognize that his father was an alcoholic, but as he grew older, he saw the bloodshot eyes, hiding alcohol, the deceptions, and the dual personalities of an alcoholic. “My father drank. He drank as a gut-punched boxer gasps for breath, as a starving dog gobbles food—compulsively, secretly, in pain and trembling.” (215). Sanders story starts at the end, where his father dies from alcoholism. The turmoil and fear this family suffered because of their father’s alcoholism, is a story a lot of families are familiar with.
Drinking, A Love Story, Written by Caroline Knapp: Is an insider’s story about fighting the battle of alcoholism and addiction, victoriously winning sobriety. Caroline Knapp fought her addiction for 20 years before becoming sober. “The Drink” as she called it, was her true love. The most beloved form being a good crisp dry white wine, but any form would do. She fell in love with alcohol at a young age and loved everything about it. The smell, the sound of a cork being pulled from a bottle, the cold liquid anesthesia running down the back of her throat after a long day at the office, the routine of drinking, but most of all she loved the way alcohol made her feel.
In the first chapter, we read about Bill’s story. Bill’s story describes his journey as an alcoholic and the struggles he faced in both his personal and professional life. Bill’s story genuinely gives a true insight into the struggles and challenges of addiction. His story is written in a way in which you are able to feel his isolation, loneliness, hopelessness, and loss. I personally found Bill’s story impactful and insightful. Through Bill’s words, I was able to gain an inside perspective into his thoughts and feelings about his ordeal and how he shifted from having no hope to having an entirely new world of hope revealed to him through what was essentially the start of Alcoholics Anonymous. The second chapter of our text seemed to me to be a call to anyone who was experiencing a
Primarily, Sanders obtains the trust of the audience by establishing a common struggle. The intended audience of Sanders’ essay includes the sons or daughters of alcoholic parents. By sharing his personal testimony, Sanders reveals to the audience to have experienced the same
“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them”, says Maya Angelou, an American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist. This quote reflects to Sarah’s journey in the novel Sarah’s Key by Tatiana De Rosnay, since the main character, Sarah, faces events that affect her well being, as they make her both weaker and stronger. These events causes her to lose her innocence, makes her persistent, and then eventually drives her to be pessimistic. Sarah experiences traumatic events through her journey, which leads her to change both in a positive and negative way.
“Alcohol addiction stunts the spiritual, emotional and mental growth of a person”~Anonymous. Sherman Alexie’s novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, is a book based off the author’s teenage life. The novel is about a poor 14 year old named Junior who faced numerous challenges in his life. Junior has experienced bullying, he was called a traitor for following his dreams, got in a huge fight with his best friend and lost three very important people in his life because of alcohol. Fortunately in the end, Junior got through the pain and lived on but he learned many lessons. One of the lessons Junior learned was that the fall into addiction, in this situation alcohol, leads to a great deal of misery for the individual and those
Alcoholism is defined as an addiction to the indulgence of alcoholic liquor and the compelling behaviour which results from alcohol dependency. In the novel “Medicine Walk” by Richard Wagamese and the essay “Mother’s Milk” by Christie Blatchford, the reasoning behind and dire repercussions of alcohol abuse are evident through the characters Eldon Starlight and Christie’s mother. However, Eldon’s reason for alcoholism is much more traumatic and its effect on both himself and those around him is of greater severity as opposed to Christie’s mother. As a teenager Christie’s mother suffers from social nervousness and uses alcohol as a means of reducing her anxiety, whereas Eldon begins drinking after he was forced to leave his home as his mother chose her abusive husband over him. After Christie was born her mother began drinking at a higher degree while Eldon’s alcoholism heightens after he must kill his only friend to ensure his own survival. Occasionally Christie’s mother would quit alcohol for around a month’s time and her health would improve, contrastingly Eldon’s attempt to abstain from alcohol lasts only a couple of days and results in the deterioration of his health. Despite her alcoholism Christie’s mother lives past the age of 80 and even outlives her husband by 15 years, on the other hand due to his alcohol abuse Eldon suffers from liver failure which results in his early death. Her mother’s
Upon entering high school Sarah was very self- conscious about her image , she had very low self-esteem and self-confidence. One day a group of boys at her school called her fat, so she decided to do something about it. After that event Sarah became anorexic. While on a school field trip, she experienced an earthquake and a tsunami, she was really in shock. The heavy drinking started after she experienced that awful event. Her older friends from school introduced her to alcohol. They purchased it for her because she was underage she could not by it herself.
After reading the memoir titled The Heroin Diaries, in which the author, Nikki Sixx, presents a first hand account of his battles with heroin addiction over the course of one year, we must incorporate certain concepts in order to better understand his condition. In this essay I will explore concepts such as empathy, self responsibility and personal identity as identified in Identity and Agency: Conceptual Lessons for the Psychiatric Ethics of Patient Care as well as the concepts of detached and affective blame brought forth by Hannah Pickard in Responsibility Without Blame: Philosophical Reflections on Clinical Practice. Through exploration of these concepts I will show how they apply to Nikki Sixx and his seemingly endless battles with addiction.
(2.) Nic Sheff is a chronic slipper when it comes to staying sober. He has gone in and out of rehabs faster than you would think possible. Finding excuses to use drugs again and eventually hit rock bottom seem to be his only skills in life. After what seemed to be an infinite struggle with himself, Nic finally pulls through and stays sober. His book shows these hardships and how he deals with them on the road to recovery. Some of his decisions are well thought-out, and others, not so much. He keeps the story alive by believing in a higher power, his passion for living and his love of others. While sober, he continues to be painfully aware of how much he has hurt others by using, especially his mom. "Sometimes I think she would just
We all have our escape mechanisms in this world, in order to block out our lives and reality itself. For some of us it is humor, sublimation, or suppression, but for others a mechanism most commonly and easily found is substance abuse, through hiding the person’s problems behind an intake of large amounts of drugs or alcohol, which not only invokes harm to ourselves but also the people around us who we care about. For Malachy, this was the case as he did know his limitations and Frank himself knew that his father was physically and psychologically unable to stop after a single pint. Now in Ireland, alcohol has been a strong part of its history and social
The journalist Amy, was torn as someone who was both a journalist, somebody who had to be skeptical when taking into account the story of the French doctor, and as somebody who had personally witnessed the effects of alcohol on a loved one in a past relationship, she wanted to believe in a cure or a treatment that could resolve the addiction issue associated with alcohol use. She wanted there to be a treatment for this wide-spread issue that plagued lots of people, but she also had to be skeptical as professional, because she was a journalist.
In Jean Rhys’ novel “Good Morning Midnight” the reader is introduced to Sasha Jansen. Sasha is a run of the mill alcoholic who has seemingly been handed the most dreadful hand in life. Her husband deserted her, her child died, she is poor, and mostly—she is isolated and alone. Her viewpoints on the world, and herself, are very cynical and pessimistic. Sasha’s story details her downfall in a stream of consciousness narrative that takes the reader from one thing to the next and back again. It tells of the things she has sensed which leads to the inevitable end of hopelessness which causes her to suffer severe disconnection from the world around her. The problem is, absolute hopelessness is the best thing that Sasha could find for herself.
On the morning of December 12, 2010, I found myself sitting in a room with 50 other bright-eyed, vibrant women. In typical Alcoholics Anonymous fashion, each woman 's voice traveled around the room introducing herself one by one. a single voice traveled around the room introducing itself one by one. The names would be different, but the qualifying identity would be the same. "The girl who lives next door with the cute dog, alcoholic." "The girl who makes my latte at Starbucks every morning, alcoholic." "The woman who sits next to me in my dreaded 8 a.m. calculus class, alcoholic." My turn- "Gabrielle, alcoholic." Two simple words, barely spilling out of my mouth, brimming with fear, shock and relief. I was 22 years old and scared of living, dying, and absolutely everything in between.
In “The Boarding House,” we are introduced to a family that has been affected negatively by alcohol. We start off with