Marty Mann Alcoholics and Their Families

De: History of Recovery

Narrado por: Marty Mann, A. Bill Friend

Marty tells the short version of her recovery story.

This is followed by a codependency story.

Before crossing the line into alcoholism, she was married to an out of control alcoholic.

"I've always had a more than average interest in Al-Anon. The main reason why I like every once in a while when I have the opportunity to go to an Al-Anon meeting or to talk there is because whether you know it or not, I have a perfect right to belong to Al-Anon. I divorced my husband for drinking."

She then talked about how much of her work as an Alcoholism Educator and director of the National Council on Alcoholism was directed at the families of alcoholics, putting accurate information in their hands.

Very often we don't realize that most of us spend most of each day reacting to other people or what we read in the paper or what we hear on radio or see on tv.

There are few things we initiate.

We take action and other people react to us, but we spend an awful lot of time reacting.

When the families have been totally ignorant of the real nature of alcoholism, they tend to blame their alcoholic for being weak.

He reacted to that by drinking more.

I think one of the reasons is that in his heart, he agrees with it.

We are inclined to forget that alcoholics are brought up just like everybody else, and that these pieces of myth, misinformation, and prejudice were what all of us who are adult today grew up with.

So the alcoholic thinks in his heart he is no damn good.

He doesn't like that. He wants to forget it, and the only medicine he knows that'll make him forget it is another drink.

So if this attitude and this kind of action toward him by his family reaches him, and it usually does, his tendency is to help himself forget it by drinking more.

If, on the other hand, the family comes to learn about alcoholism.

©2026 Thomas Laperriere (P)2026 Thomas Laperriere