DIPSOMANIA.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 2104, 20 November 1880, Page 3

DIPSOMANIA.

[Communicated bv a Medical Man.] Within the last few years the word “ Dipsomania,” a Greek word (meaning thirst and madness), has been revived, to express that craving for intoxicating liquors, which, according to some physicians, partakes of the character of insanity. Now, although a fit of intoxication is undoubtedly an attack of temporary mania, yet it appears a highly unphilosophical view (and one, too, which is fraught with the greatest danger to society) to regard a dipsomaniac as an irresponsible being ; to look upon him, in fact, as an individual affected by some recognised form of lunacy. . Hard drinking is a degrading vice, and, like many other vices, the more freely it is indulged in the more difficult becomes its discontinuance. It is a cause of insanity and a cause of crime, though X believe its influence in these respects has been much overrated. Lord Shaftesbury says “ From my own experience as a Commissioner of Lunacy for the last twenty years, and as chairman of the Commission during sixteen years, fortified by inquiries in America, I find that fully sixtenths of all the oases of insanity to be found in these realms and in America, arise from no other cause than habits of intemperance.” The drunkard is artful and untruthful; he breaks every promise ho makes, and he is perfectly regardless of the feelings and happiness of others.

But nevertheless, it seems to mo absurd to say that the desire for alcoholic stimulants is a disease —that it is symtomatic of some abnormal cerebral condition, unless indeed we say the same of every act of wickedness or folly. Not only is the experience of the dead house against such a view, but if this evidence be set aside as of little value,weyet know that there is no difficulty in curing the most inveterate sot, provided we are but able to deprive him of his poison. The fact is indisputable that many who drink to excess can be persuaded to abstain temporarily, if only a limit to their abstinence be fixed, so that they may enjoy the anticipation of a debauch; while a few can be so influenced that they renounce this habit entirely. The drunkard is a nuisance to himself and to all who are brought into contact with him ; and it is to be regretted that there are no legal means of controlling him until he is cured of his folly. The man who attempts suicide by some summary process is liable to imprisonment, while he who slowly poisons himself may proceed to certain destruction with impunity. He may ruin himself and his family, but so that he breaks only moral laws and obligations be cannot be stopped in his downward career.

The welfare of society demands some place of detention for such men ; and even if an Act of Parliament cannot be obtained to sanction the necessary interference with the liberty of these misguided people, yet I believe that there are many who would voluntarily enter and submit to the rules of an institution for the cure of drunkenness. Mr Dickens, in his “ American Notes,” mentions the case of a man who got himself looked up in the Philadelphia prison so that he might rid himself of bis propensity to drink, where he remained in solitary confinement for two years, though ho had the power of obtaining his liberty at any moment that he chose to ask for it. Patients have more than once been heard to say that they would gladly submit to any treatment or surveillance; but they have also said that without restraint all else would be useless, for they could not trust themselves. The chief points that demand attention are these : —To enforce total abstinence, since we believe it be more easy for the habitual drinker to renounce all stimulants than to practice moderation, to afford mental occupation and amusement, and especially outdoor recreation in cheerful society. It is often a question as to what shall le substituted for beer or wine at meal times. We generally recommend milk or some agreeable frnit syrup in soda water.