Interactional Issues as Determinants of Alcoholism
PETER STEINGLASS M.D.1,
SHELDON WEINER M.D.2, , and
JACK H. MENDELSON M.D.3
1 Clinical Associate with the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institute of Mental Health, William A. White Building, Saint Elizabeths Hospital, Washington, D. C. 20032
2 Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, Vt.
3 Director, Psychiatry Service, Boston City Hospital, Boston, Mass.
The authors describe the patterns of interactional behavior of three familial pairs of chronic alcoholics before, during, and after a 14-day period of experimentally induced intoxication. Their observations have led them to propose that alcoholic behavior can best be understood in the context of how it contributes to the functioning of an ongoing system. Each of the three pairs described split up at the conclusion of the study; the authors speculate that the rigidity of their drinking systems made them particularly susceptible to the "therapeutic" interventions inherent in the study conditions.
