Holidays, Jerry adds, are a time when people fondly recall other times. This inclination to remember adds to the addict's dilemma. Emotional conflicts are created for families, as well as dependent individuals. While progress has been made in public understanding, many still wrestle with a social stigma, unwilling to face the fact that a family member has a problem. Facts are a primary tool in recovery programs, Neal said, pointing out ADA is the nation's No. 1 health problem today, accounting for one in four hospital admissions.
Spiritual values are among tools.
A social revolution is helping. No longer are the drunk jokes such as Red Skelton's Swisher's Gin or Foster Brooks' routines considered funny. They've gone the way of ethnic jokes. Movies avoid playing up the Humphrey Bogart macho image as a man who can hold his liquor. Recovered individuals who have left Broadway House are not tracked, but Neal says there are numerous success stories.