Understanding the High-Functioning Alcoholic: Professional Views and Personal Insights

by Sarah A. Benton

Overview

Who is the typical alcoholic among the 12.5 million living in the United States now? Many, if not most of us when asked that question, would envision a skid row bum or someone at least out of work or with little education locked into a low-skill, low-paying job. But that is not accurate, according to the results of a national study released in June, 2007 by the National Institutes of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. The NIAAA determined that alcoholics in the United States really fall into five subtypes, including nearly 20 percent who are highly functional alcoholics, well-educated with good incomes. They include corporate presidents, powerful politicians, police, lawyers, doctors, scientists, and other highly-skilled, highly-educated people who are middle- to high-income and by most accounts successful. In this unprecedented book, mental health counselor Sarah Benton takes us into the worlds and minds of so-called high-functioning alcoholics, to understand how people so intelligent and achievement-oriented get drawn into states in which they secretly cannot control their liquor consumption but still manage to excel in their careers.

The book includes a look at celebrity alcoholics like singer Eric Clapton and actor/comedian Robin Williams, as well as alcoholics in high positions including Chris Albrecht, former Chairman and CEO of HBO. Other high-profile people included in this book are Miss USA 2007 Tara Conner and football legend Joe Namath. With her own story of alcoholism and her recovery woven into the text, Benton takes us into the lives and challenges of these well-educated and successful people, seeking to understand how, when, and why they became addicted, as well as the reasons their alcoholism is, for most, so hard to admit, cope with, and recover from.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780313352805
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	02/27/2009
Series:	The Praeger Series on Contemporary Health and Living
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Sarah Allen Benton is a licensed mental health counselor and therapist at McLean Hospital in the "McLean Residence at The Brook" transitional living program for substance abuse and dual diagnosis treatment in Waltham, MA.

Table of Contents

Part I: Active Alcoholism
1. Introduction: High-Functioning Alcoholics
2. In the Beginning: High-Functioning Alcoholics in High School
3. Freedom: High-Functioning Alcoholics in College
4. Adrift: High-Functioning Alcoholics as Emerging Adults
5. Falling Uphill: Professional, Intelligent and Alcoholic
6. Attempts to "Cure" the Problem: Out of Control and Hitting Bottom
Part II. Recovery
7. A New Start: The Paths to Sobriety
8. Spirituality, Religion and the Bottle: Filling the Void
9. Transformation: The Twelve Steps
10. The Challenge: Life in Recovery

What People are Saying About This

Edward J. Khantzian

"Through telling case examples, interviews with recovering alcoholics of all ages, accomplished professionals and executives, and through her own reflections, Sarah Allen Benton brings to awareness that the largest majority of alcoholics are high functioning and, too often, go undetected. Drawing on the experience of high functioning alcoholics, including her own experiences, this book is both instructive and inspiring."

—

Edward J. Khantzian, MD Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School at the Cambridge Health Alliance

David Treadway

"Sarah Benton's book Understanding the High-Functioning Alcoholic is a gift to both clinicians and clients alike. It is a thorough and insightful discussion of an often misunderstood and mistreated clinical group that frequently does not respond well to traditional psychotherapy, or psychopharmacology, or simply Twelve Step approaches. Sarah presents an integrated treatment approach in a highly personal and engaging way that truly bridges the gap between research, clinical work and moving personal experiences. Despite 35 years of working with this population of substance abusers, I was delighted to see how much I learned from Sarah's book. The highest compliment that I can pay her for this accomplishment is that I immediately thought of many clients and therapists that I could give it to."
— David Treadway, Ph.D.

David L. Rosenbloom

"Alcoholism has many faces and high functioning alcoholics are invisibly among us every day. Congratulations and thanks to Sarah Allen Benton for the courage she displays by showing her face and telling her story."

—

David L. Rosenbloom, PhD Director, Join Together, Boston University School of Public Health

Edward J. Khantzian

"Through telling case examples, interviews with recovering alcoholics of all ages, accomplished professionals and executives, and through her own reflections, Sarah Allen Benton brings to awareness that the largest majority of alcoholics are high functioning and, too often, go undetected. Drawing on the experience of high functioning alcoholics, including her own experiences, this book is both instructive and inspiring."

— Edward J. Khantzian, MD Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School at the Cambridge Health Alliance

David Treadway

"Sarah Benton's book Understanding the High-Functioning Alcoholic is a gift to both clinicians and clients alike. It is a thorough and insightful discussion of an often misunderstood and mistreated clinical group that frequently does not respond well to traditional psychotherapy, or psychopharmacology, or simply Twelve Step approaches. Sarah presents an integrated treatment approach in a highly personal and engaging way that truly bridges the gap between research, clinical work and moving personal experiences. Despite 35 years of working with this population of substance abusers, I was delighted to see how much I learned from Sarah's book. The highest compliment that I can pay her for this accomplishment is that I immediately thought of many clients and therapists that I could give it to."

—

David Treadway, Ph.D.

Robert M. Klein

"Sarah Allen Benton's work brings to life and thoroughly examines the risks and challenges that confront one-fifth of our nation's alcoholics, an often seemingly invisible element of our dysfunctional adolescents and adults, the high functioning alcoholic. This work will be a useful resource for lay person, professional and trainee interested in a realistic and professionally informed understanding of high functioning alcoholics and the Twelve-Step recovery process. Those whose loved ones are suffering and living the effects of high-functioning alcoholism as well as HFAs themselves will find important identifying information and resources for hope and change."
— Robert M. Klein, MD, MBA Director of Behavioral Health, Northeastern University Health and Counseling Services Assistant Clinical Professor, Tufts University School of Medicine

Jeffrey Fortgang

"I hope this book will help to puncture the myth that alcoholism/addiction is a condition associated with those with less education or lower incomes. Too often, individuals in powerful or highly respected positions suffer much longer than necessary because they and those around them (including their treatment providers) are blinded by their social status. Professionals may delude themselves despite facing a higher-than-average risk, seeking help only after their careers are coming apart."
— Jeffrey Fortgang, Ph.D., CAS Psychologist/Addictions Specialist for Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers

Robert M. Klein

"Sarah Allen Benton's work brings to life and thoroughly examines the risks and challenges that confront one-fifth of our nation's alcoholics, an often seemingly invisible element of our dysfunctional adolescents and adults, the high functioning alcoholic. This work will be a useful resource for lay person, professional and trainee interested in a realistic and professionally informed understanding of high functioning alcoholics and the Twelve-Step recovery process. Those whose loved ones are suffering and living the effects of high-functioning alcoholism as well as HFAs themselves will find important identifying information and resources for hope and change."

—

Robert M. Klein, MD, MBA Director of Behavioral Health, Northeastern University Health and Counseling Services Assistant Clinical Professor, Tufts University School of Medicine

David Treadway

"Sarah Benton's book Understanding the High-Functioning Alcoholic is a gift to both clinicians and clients alike. It is a thorough and insightful discussion of an often misunderstood and mistreated clinical group that frequently does not respond well to traditional psychotherapy, or psychopharmacology, or simply Twelve Step approaches. Sarah presents an integrated treatment approach in a highly personal and engaging way that truly bridges the gap between research, clinical work and moving personal experiences. Despite 35 years of working with this population of substance abusers, I was delighted to see how much I learned from Sarah's book. The highest compliment that I can pay her for this accomplishment is that I immediately thought of many clients and therapists that I could give it to."

Jeffrey Fortgang

"I hope this book will help to puncture the myth that alcoholism/addiction is a condition associated with those with less education or lower incomes. Too often, individuals in powerful or highly respected positions suffer much longer than necessary because they and those around them (including their treatment providers) are blinded by their social status. Professionals may delude themselves despite facing a higher-than-average risk, seeking help only after their careers are coming apart."

—

Jeffrey Fortgang, Ph.D., CAS Psychologist/Addictions Specialist for Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers

David L. Rosenbloom

"Alcoholism has many faces and high functioning alcoholics are invisibly among us every day. Congratulations and thanks to Sarah Allen Benton for the courage she displays by showing her face and telling her story."
— David L. Rosenbloom, PhD Director, Join Together, Boston University School of Public Health

Editorial Reviews

[E]xplores in depth a hidden class of alcoholics that are professionally successful; topics include High-Functioning Alcoholics (HFAs) in high school, college, and as emerging adults.” —ForeWard Reviews

From the Publisher