The transforming power of alcohol is marvelous and often appalling. It seems to open a way of entrance into the soul for all classes of foolish, insane, or malignant spirits, who, so long as it remains in contact with the brain, are able to hold possession. Men of the kindest nature when sober act often like fiends when drunk. People commit crimes and outrages, which shock and shame their perpetrators once the excitement of intoxication fades. Referring to this subject, Dr. Henry Munroe says:
"It appears from the experience of Mr. Fletcher, who has paid much attention to the cases of drunkards, from the remarks of Mr. Dunn, in his 'Medical Psychology,' and from observations of my own, that there is some analogy between our physical and psychical natures; for, as the physical part of us, when its power is at a low ebb, becomes susceptible of morbid influences which, in full vigor, would pass over it without effect, so when the psychical (synonymous with the moral ) part of the brain has its healthy function disturbed and deranged by the introduction of a morbid poison like alcohol, the individual so circumstanced sinks in depravity, and "becomes the helpless subject of the forces of evil, "which are powerless against a nature free from the morbid influences of alcohol."
The same poison affects different people in different ways. Indulgence in alcoholic drinks may act upon one or more of the cerebral organs, and, as its necessary consequence, the manifestations of functional disturbance will follow in such of the mental powers as these organs subserve. If the indulgence persists, it could lead to permanent manifestations such as insanity or dypsomania, stemming from either deranged nutrition or an organic lesion. M. Flourens first pointed out that some morphine-like substances, when added to the bloodstream, tend to target one nerve center more than another. This is because these substances have a special affinity for certain ganglia. Thus, the tottering gait of a tipsy man demonstrates the influence of alcohol on the cerebellum's functions, as it impairs its ability to coordinate the muscles.
Certain writers on diseases of the mind make a special allusion to that form of insanity termed 'dypsomania', in which a person has an unquenchable thirst for alcoholic drinks, a tendency as decidedly maniacal as that of homicidal mania; or the uncontrollable desire to burn, termed pyromania; or to steal, called kleptomania.
Homicidal mania.
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Alcohol poisoning often triggers homicidal mania in various individuals. I encountered an individual who, when his mind became extremely agitated, confided in me that he felt an overwhelming urge to harm or murder someone, to the point where he struggled to control the urge and had to abstain from all stimulants, fearing that he might unintentionally end his own life. Before committing the rash act, Townley poisoned his brain with brandy and soda water. The brandy activated specific parts of his brain, gaining the power to suppress his will and force him to carry out a frightful deed that went against both his better judgment and his normal desires.
Regarding pyromania, several years ago, I encountered a laboring man in a rural village who, after a few glasses of ale at the public house, would gleefully laugh at the idea of shooting certain gentlemen's stacks. Yet, when his brain was free from the poison, a quieter, better-disposed man could not be. Unfortunately, he became addicted to habits of intoxication and, one night, under alcoholic excitement, fired some stacks belonging to his employers, for which he was sentenced for fifteen years to a penal settlement, where his brain would never again be alcoholically excited.
Kleptomania.
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Next, I will give an example of kleptomania. I knew, many years ago, a very clever, industrious, and talented young man who told me that whenever he had been drinking, he could hardly withstand the temptation of stealing anything that came in his way, but that these feelings never troubled him at other times. One afternoon, after he had been indulging with his fellow-workmen in drink, his will, unfortunately, was overpowered, and he took from the mansion where he was working some articles of worth, for which he was accused, and afterwards sentenced to a term of imprisonment. Once at liberty, he found himself surrounded by kind-hearted individuals, commonly referred to as teetotallers, and out of conscientious motives, he signed the PLEDGE, now over twenty years ago. From that time to the present moment, he has never experienced the overmastering desire that so often beset him in his drinking days—to take that which was not his own. Moreover, he no longer finds any excuse to taste any alcohol-containing liquor, as he fears he might become a victim under its influence. He holds an influential position in the town where he resides.
I have encountered ladies of high social standing who, following a dinner or supper party and after consuming several glasses of wine, succumbed to the temptation of stealing any small item not belonging to them. In their moments of sobriety, they returned these items, as if they had mistakenly taken them. We have many instances recorded in our police reports of gentlemen of position, under the influence of drink, committing thefts of the most paltry articles, afterwards returned to the owners by their friends, which can only be accounted for psychologically by the fact that the will had been for the time completely overpowered by the subtle influence of alcohol.
Loss of mental clarity.
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The most eminent physiologists now concede that alcohol, whether taken in large or small doses, immediately disturbs the natural functions of the mind and body. Dr. Brinton states: "The action of alcohol so far opposes mental acuteness, accuracy of conception, and delicacy of the senses, such that the maximum efforts of each are incompatible with the ingestion of any moderate quantity of fermented liquid." Indeed, there is scarcely any profession that necessitates the precise and skillful use of both mind and body, or the balanced exercise of numerous faculties, that does not adhere to this rule. The mathematician, the gambler, the metaphysician, the billiard player, the author, the artist, and the physician would, if they could analyze their experience aright, generally concur in the statement that a single glass will often suffice to take, so to speak, the edge off both mind and body, and to reduce their capacity to something below what is relatively their perfection of work.
Carelessly driven into one of the principal London stations, a train collided with another, killing six or seven people and injuring many others. The inquest evidence suggested that the guard was considered sober, despite having consumed two glasses of ale with a friend at a previous station. Psychologically speaking, these two glasses of ale likely played a significant role in softening his perceptions and prudence, leading to a carelessness or boldness of action that would not have happened under the cool, temperate influence of a non-alcoholic beverage. Many people have confessed to me that after consuming even a single glass of ale or wine, they no longer resembled their previous selves and were unable to fully trust themselves.
Impairment of memory.
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An impairment of the memory is among the early symptoms of alcoholic derangement.
"This," says Dr. Richardson, "extends even to forgetfulness of the commonest things—to names of familiar persons, to dates, to duties of daily life. "Strangely, too," he continues, "this failure, akin to the era of second childishness and mere oblivion in the aged, does not encompass the past but rather confines itself to events in the present. On old memories the mind retains its power; on new ones it requires constant prompting and sustainment."
In this failure of memory, nature gives a solemn warning that imminent peril is at hand. If the habitual drinker heeds the warning, the consequences could be dire. Should he not do so, symptoms of a more serious character will, in time, develop themselves as the brain becomes more and more diseased, ending, it may be, in permanent insanity.
Mental and moral diseases.
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Of the mental and moral diseases that too often follow the regular drinking of alcohol, we have painful records in asylum reports, in medical testimony, and in our daily observation and experience. These are so abundant and diverse, consistently capturing our focus, leaving us in awe of men's willingness to take the severe risks associated with even moderate alcohol consumption.
In 1872, a select committee of the House of Commons, appointed "to consider the best plan for the control and management of habitual drunkards," called upon some of the most eminent medical men in Great Britain to give their testimony in answer to a large number of questions, embracing every topic within the range of inquiry, from the pathology of inebriation to the practical usefulness of prohibitory laws. This testimony extensively discussed the impact of alcohol stimulation on mental condition and moral character. One physician, Dr. James Crichton Brown, who, in ten years' experience as superintendent of lunatic asylums, has paid special attention to the relations of habitual drunkenness to insanity, having carefully examined five hundred cases, testified that alcohol, taken in excess, produced different forms of mental disease, of which he mentioned four classes: 1. Mania a Potu, also known as alcoholic mania. 2. The monomania of suspicion. 3. Chronic alcoholism, characterized by failure of the memory and power of judgment, with partial paralysis generally ending fatally. 4. Dypsomania, a condition marked by an irresistible craving for alcoholic stimulants, often manifests in a paroxysmal manner and is prone to periodic exacerbations, which can lead to the craving becoming entirely uncontrollable. Of this latter form of disease, he says: "This is invariably associated with a certain impairment of the intellect and of the affections and the moral powers."
Dr. Alexander Peddie, a physician of over thirty-seven years' practice in Edinburgh, gave, in his evidence, many remarkable instances of the moral perversions that followed continued drinking.
Relation between insanity and drunkenness.
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Dr. John Nugent said that his experience of twenty-six years among lunatics led him to believe that there is a very close relationship between the results of alcohol abuse and insanity. The population of Ireland had decreased, he said, two millions in twenty-five years, but there was the same amount of insanity now that there was before. He attributed this, in large part, to excessive alcohol consumption.
Dr. Arthur Mitchell, Commissioner of Lunacy for Scotland, testified that the excessive use of alcohol caused a large amount of the lunacy, crime, and pauperism of that country. In some men, he said, habitual drinking leads to other diseases than insanity, because the effect is always in the direction of the proclivity, but it is certain that there are many in whom there is a clear proclivity to insanity who would escape that dreadful consummation but for drinking; excessive drinking in many persons determines the insanity to which they are, at any rate, predisposed. The children of drunkards, he further said, are in a larger proportion idiotic than other children, and in a larger proportion become themselves drunkards; they are also in a larger proportion liable to the ordinary forms of acquired insanity.
Dr. Winslow Forbes believed that in the habitual drunkard, the whole nervous system, and especially the brain, became poisoned by alcohol. All the mental symptoms that you see accompanying ordinary intoxication, he remarks, result from the poisonous effects of alcohol on the brain. Alcohol primarily affects the brain. Temporary drunkenness causes the brain to enter an abnormal state of alimentation. If this habit persists for years, alcohol permeates the nervous tissue, causing organic changes in the brain. This leads to the frightening and dreadful chronic insanity we see in lunatic asylums, which is entirely traceable to habits of intoxication. A large percentage of frightful mental and brain disturbances can, he declared, be traced to the drunkenness of parents.
Dr. D.G. Dodge, formerly of the New York State Inebriate Asylum, and Dr. Joseph Parrish, during their testimony before the House of Commons committee, stated in one of their answers: "Excessive alcohol use invariably leads to functional disorders, with the brain being the organ most severely affected and potentially impaired." The inebriate exhibits a weakened intellect, a general debility of mental faculties, a partial or total loss of self-respect, and a departure from the power of self-command, all of which, when combined, leave the victim vulnerable to a depraved and morbid appetite, rendering him utterly powerless to secure his recovery from the disease that is destroying him. He further states, "I believe there is a significant resemblance between inebriation and insanity."
"I am sure that the first disease, inebriation, has become just as well known as its twin brother, insanity. And I believe that the day will soon come when the first disease's pathology will be fully understood and just as successfully treated as the second's. In fact, I think it will be even more successfully treated because it is easier for people to control. If this control is wisely exercised and scientifically applied, it may keep curable inebriation from slipping into possible incurable insanity."
General impairment of the faculties.
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Dr. Richardson, discussing the impact of alcohol on the mind, paints a stark picture of its destructive effects:
"An analysis of the condition of the mind induced and maintained by the free daily use of alcohol as a drink reveals a singular order of facts. The manifestation fails altogether to reveal the exaltation of any reasoning power in a useful or satisfactory direction. I have never encountered a situation where someone has made such a claim about alcohol. On the contrary, confirmed alcoholics frequently assert that certain tasks, which require thought and attention, necessitate giving up some of their usual indulgences to maintain composure during hard work.
On the other hand, the experience strongly supports the observation that alcohol consumption weakens one's ability to reason, makes weak individuals easy targets for both the wicked and the strong, and leads those who should know better into various levels of misery and vice. If, then, alcohol enfeebles the reason, what part of the mental constitution does it exalt and excite? Alcohol stimulates and elevates the animal, organic, and emotional centers of the mind, which, in the dual nature of man, frequently clash and challenge the pure and abstract reasoning nature that elevates man above the lower animals and, when properly used, slightly below the angels.
It excites man's worst passions.
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Exciting these animal centers lets loose all the passions and gives them more or less unlicensed dominion over the man. It excites anger, and when it does not lead to this extreme, it keeps the mind fretful, irritable, dissatisfied, and captious. If I were to guide you through all the passions - love, hate, lust, envy, avarice, and pride - I would demonstrate that alcohol caters to them all. It paralyzes the reason and removes these passions, thereby elevating man above the lower animals. From the beginning to the end of its influence, it subdues reason and sets the passions free. The analogies, physical and mental, are perfect. That which releases the tension in the vessels that nourish the body with appropriate order and precision, thereby allowing the heart to experience violent excess and unbridled motion, also releases reason and unleashes passion. In both cases, the heart and head momentarily deviate from harmony, disrupting their equilibrium. The man descends closer and closer to the lower animals. From the angels, he glides farther and farther away.
A sad and terrible picture.
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The devastating effects of alcohol on the human mind finally paint the saddest picture of its influence. The most aesthetic artist can find no angel here. Everything is an animal, and the worst kind of animal at that. Someone irretrievably loses memory, forgets words and even the elements of speech, or displaces words to the point of meaninglessness. Rage and anger can manifest as persistent and mischievous, or as recurrent and impotent. There is fear in every corner of life, distrust on every side, grief that merges into blank despair, and hopelessness that transforms into permanent melancholy. No poet could ever imagine the pandemonium that would arise if all the world's drunkards converged into a single mortal sphere.
Observing individuals physically afflicted by alcohol and identifying the fatal diseases, pains, and penalties it inflicts on their bodies, I have witnessed a picture that is sufficiently harsh. But even that picture pales, as I conjure up, without any stretch of imagination, the devastations that the same agent inflicts on the mind. Dr. Sheppard, the learned Superintendent of Colney Hatch, informs us that alcohol's direct or indirect effects contributed to the admission of forty percent of the asylum's patients in 1876. Collecting the facts from all the asylums with equal care would, I fear, tell the same tale. What more evidence is needed to demonstrate the devastating effects on the human mind? The pandemonium of drunkards—the grand transformation scene of that pantomime of drink that commences with moderation! Let those who love their fellow-men never forget it until they, through their efforts, close it forever.
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