Character Overview
Drinking: A Love Story is Caroline Knapp’s 1997 memoir about her alcoholism and recovery. In her memoir, Knapp discusses her early alcohol exposure, family background, teenage fears, and how drinking affected her for 20 years before taking control of her life. Knapp found recovery through the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and an inpatient rehabilitation program. However, given some of the underlying concerns revealed in her background, Knapp would also benefit from psychiatric assistance.
Knapp witnessed her father, a functioning alcoholic, unwind every evening with a drink. She suffered from social anxiety as she grew older, which caused her to start drinking heavily. In this book, Knapp looks at how her connection with alcohol evolved into a dangerous love affair that posed a life threat to her. She also discusses significant facets of her family and love relationships, both of which were influenced and hampered by her drinking and led to her addiction.
Knapp, who had a demanding career as a writer and swiftly developed alcoholism, continued to drink. At the same time, she was a student at an Ivy League university. Knapp claimed that her early drinking served as a liquid armor to shield her from her own hardships at work and lying to her friends, family, and even herself.
Knapp maintained her alcoholic lifestyle while enduring a horrible life in denial about her drinking. She talks about several difficult times when she deceived her parents, who were dying, and justified her drinking to herself. She entered a rehabilitation facility and started going to Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings, where she met other people who would support her in recovering from alcoholism.
Diagnostic Impression
As depicted in her account, substance use may be the most visible of Knapp’s psychological issues. The risk of developing a drug use disorder is eight times higher in families with a history of parental alcohol misuse (Lander et al., 2018). Knapp’s father was a respected professor and psychiatrist at Boston University. She saw him raise a family, teach classes, and accomplish all that while sipping evening martinis with a dash of sake. As Knapp grew older and started to experience adolescent troubles, she recalled how her father used alcohol to escape, which worked for him. Knapp’s father continued supporting her increasingly drunken lifestyle by offering her a martini when she came home from college on a break as if teenage drinking were normal.
Behavioral Evidence Supporting the Diagnosis
Knapp has demonstrated anxiety disorder symptoms, which can take many different forms. She first showed signs of social anxiety disorder when she spoke about using alcohol to socialize with others during her adolescence and college years. Knapp continued to exhibit anxiety as she grew older by having low self-esteem and dating multiple guys concurrently to boost it. She battled anorexia as well, which might have been brought on by body dysmorphic disorder. Her drinking and melancholy can also be signs of anxiety, and multiple anxiety disorders frequently coexist.
Knapp described her approach to treating her alcoholism as a combination of a two-week inpatient rehab program, frequent attendance at psychotherapy, and fellowship with Alcoholics Anonymous. Knapp claimed that the aspect of her treatment that was most beneficial was establishing connections with other alcoholics and coming to terms with her distorted thinking as she learned from others (Knapp, 1997). Because alcohol is depressive and can also create anxiety during detoxification or as a withdrawal symptom, Knapp’s depression and anxiety decreased as she managed her substance use disorder.
As a result of the addiction, many people with substance use disorders experience “rock bottom”—losing their houses, jobs, savings, and even their families. Knapp successfully continued to work, keep a home, friendships, several relationships, and ties to family. During her journalism career, Knapp never missed a deadline and was consistently seen as being in total charge. She was prompt, organized, and polished. Nevertheless, as Knapp reached her 30s, alcohol played a central role in her life (Knapp, 1997). Knapp arranged her life so that drinking was an expected component of nearly every element.
Denial is frequently a sign of substance use disorder and might discourage people from getting treatment for their condition. Knapp excelled at concealing her drinking. She spent time, for instance, with coworkers who enjoyed going out to bars and drinking. After leaving her employees to go out to dinner and drinks with other friends, she would later drink with a partner or enjoy a bottle of wine herself at home. Because of these safety measures, none of her friends understood how much she was drinking, and she was seriously deluding herself.
It is obvious that Knapp’s substance use disorder, notably her alcoholism, was her most pressing problem. Knapp also showed signs of bipolar disorder and depression. However, it is most probable that her drinking contributed primarily to these episodes.
Recommended Treatment Plan
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Knapp’s book reveals that, in addition to her drinking background, she also experiences considerable remorse and worry. These problems can be resolved once sobriety has been attained. Thus, my initial treatment strategy will concentrate on anxiety and substance use disorders. Knapp would need cognitive-behavioral therapy, or CBT, to deal with her underlying difficulties with anxiety and her substance use disorder. Evidence-based CBT is beneficial for treating many psychiatric illnesses, including those that Knapp describes.
Knapp’s psychologist would need to conceptualize Knapp’s cognitive model in order to apply CBT. This would entail understanding how Knapp views herself and her drinking and how these perceptions affect how she reacts to anxiety and drinking. An analyst can examine Knapp’s early schemas, especially those that caused her to drink. Knapp’s psychologist hoped CBT would enable her to reprogram her automatic thoughts away from anxiety and substance abuse and toward healthier coping mechanisms. If Knapp can develop a new mental response, her approach can be more effective at preventing recurrence than purchasing a drink.
Cue Exposure Therapy
Cue Exposure Therapy (CET) is a component of CBT that may aid Knapp in avoiding relapse. While Cue Exposure Therapy (CET) draws inspiration from Exposure Therapy, it aims to lessen the impact of some triggers that frequently cause relapses in patients with addiction disorders. CET might assist patients in relearning how to react to particular circumstances and objects; for example, Knapp would learn to react differently than through drinking.
CET can be very beneficial for Knapp because she typically responds to stress by drinking, a habit she picked up from her father when she was young. Social situations and bedtime rituals can also be considered triggers, in addition to learning how to respond differently to stress factors. Regarding habits, Knapp should keep writing because it has been therapeutic and a part of herself that she is comfortable with.
The narrative of Caroline Knapp felt incredibly transparent and honest; Knapp guided her readers through both the distorted thought processes of an alcoholic and those of a sober, healthy lady. Understanding them is the first step in using cognitive behavioral therapy to alter these mental processes and move toward a healthy existence.
References
Knapp, C. (1997). Drinking: A Love Story. Random House.
Lander, L., Howsare, J., & Byrne, M. (2018). The Impact of Substance Use Disorders on Families and Children: From Theory to Practice. Social Work in Public Health, 28(3-4), 194–205. Web.