| Blackouts - Retrograde Amnesia | |
By Tex B. Posted Dec. 28, 1999
The "blackout" has the hi-falutin' name of "Retrograde Amnesia." To us drunks it means that we can do, in blackout, what we normally do when we are sober. Except we have no memory of it.
When I was in a blackout, I actually got into less trouble, and was told that I appeared to be relatively sober as contrasted to the reports of being a sloppy, disgusting drunk in the parts of the drunk when I remembered what happened.
Having a blackout doesn't seem to have much relationship to how much alcohol was drunk. Some people blackout on the first drink. For me it took lot more.
A possible explanation of the "blackout" is given by Dr. Randolph, a allergist. He thought that the blackout was due to "allergic shock" after ingesting something to which the subject was allergic. He had patients who experienced "blackouts" after eating foods to which they were allergic. These food induced blackouts were identical to the alcohol induced blackout.
There is more in these references.
Book:
"An alternative Approach to Allergies" Theron G. Randolph M.D. and Ralph W. Moss Ph.D., Lippincott & Crowell, New York 1979, ISBN 0-690-01998-XArticles:
1. Theron G. Randolph, M.D., "The Mechanism of Chronic Alcoholism," J. Lab & Clin. Med, 36:978 December, 1950 (abstract)
2. Theron G Randolph, M.D., "The Descriptive Features of Food Addiction" (subtitled) "Addictive Eating and Drinking," Quart. J. Studies Alcohol, 17:195-224, 1956
3. Richard Mackarness, "The Allergic Factor in Alcoholism," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, Autumn, 1972, p194.
4. Marshall Mandell, M.D., and Lynne Waller Scanlon, op. cit, pp. 114-132.
5. Theron G. Randolph, M.D., "The Role of Specific Alcoholic Beverages" in Dickey, ed. op. cit, pp 321-333.
Tex B., known to many as "TEXBRO" passed away October 5, 2000. He was 81 years old, with 53 years continuous sobriety. Until three weeks before his death, Tex shared his considerable experience, strength, and hope with visitors to the Alcoholism Forum at About.com. Some of those messages are archived here to benefit those of us he left behind, and those will who will in the future find their way into the rooms.
