Depth psychological and cultural-ethological aspects in connection with alcoholism.

Various hypotheses as to the definition, cause and consequence of alcoholism have been put forward over the years, but they have only resulted in general confusion. The files of approximately 200 patients from private and State hospitals and mental institutions were therefore examined in an attempt to view the problem without bias. Alcoholics were defined as belonging to one of the following groups : those for whom drink is a primary pleasure, those for whom it is an escape from problems, and a smaller third group with some organic biochemical factor, in which alcohol acts as a release mechanism. In the majority of cases it was considered that moral sado-masochism in our social pattern and education could represent both cause and typology. Many of the subjects as children were unable to establish satisfying relationships with "hammer and anvil" type of relationship with or between their parents, which in turn will lead to the development of sado-masochism in the child, often expressed in alcoholism. The first elements of sado-masochism occur during toilet training, and it is no coincidence that the oral consumption of alcohol is an illusion of the oral stage prior to this sado-masochistic conditioning. When treating alcoholism, therefore, is it possible to react against this conditioning pattern?