[From alcoholism to the alcoholic patient (author's transl)]

When we consider alcoholism and the alcoholic patient--the phenomenon and the human being--we usually think in out-of-date terms. The criterion for excessive consumption of alcohol has been modified by our changed pattern of life, and what would once have been regarded as modest over-drinking--in a large, closely-knit family in a rural community--and tolerated and accepted as such, is no longer compatible with the demands of our technological age, with its small family units often in cramped conditions in big cities and living a life which demands precision and dexterity at all times, an acuteness of both mental and physical faculties--whether at home, in a factory or behind the wheel of a car. And it is these very qualities which the alcoholic has lost. Doctors, therefore, must be able to detect excessive consumption of alcohol before the dire stages of days gone by are reached and, supported by psychiatrists and the use of drugs where necessary, the doctor can provide the patient with a security and identity all too often lacking in the alcoholic patient, and thus help him to break away from his dependence on alcohol.