Pubdate: Fri, 25 Apr 1998 Source: Seattle Times Contact: http://www.seattletimes.com/ Author: Kathy Lewis PEOPLE AVOID CONFRONTING ALCOHOLICS WASHINGTON - Alcoholics cannot count on their employers, physicians, clergy or members of their own families to intervene and address their drinking problem, according to a new study. The national survey, conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates of Washington, found that a social stigma associated with alcoholism remains, as does a reluctance to confront the issue. "The study reveals clear evidence that past efforts to reduce the stigma and shame of alcoholism by emphasizing that it is a disease with genetic causes have been only partially successful," said Hart, chief executive of Hart Research. Although recovering alcoholics interviewed emphasized the significant role others played in helping them seek help, the study found that too often such encounters don't occur. It documents the tendency of many people, including those in a professional position to help, to avoid the issue, Hart said. In the survey, 82 percent of medical doctors said members of their profession avoid addressing alcoholism in patients. Only 39 percent of adults with alcoholic family members said the alcoholic's doctor raised the issue. Fifty-eight percent of employers said managers avoid confronting employees. A similar percentage of clergy said their profession did the same. Immediate family members also reported a reluctance to address the problem. Half said they denied its existence for at least a few years. The survey was conducted for the Recovery Institute, a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization that plans to use it as the basis for a communications campaign that includes a four-part, public-television series on alcohol. The institute was established to reduce the social stigma of alcoholism and to conduct educational campaigns that label alcohol as a drug and alcoholism as a disease. The telephone survey covered 711 adults with a current or recovering alcoholic in their immediate family, 400 medical doctors, 400 employers, 200 clergy and 200 family and individual counselors and therapists. The study showed that medical doctors, clergy, employers and family members were reluctant to confront the problem for similar reasons. They include: stigma, shame and embarrassment; and lack of information, training and confidence that treatment would lead to long-term results. Only 7 percent of medical doctors said they had extensive training on alcoholism; 32 percent said it was adequate; 42 percent said it was less than adequate; and 19 percent said they had had no training. R. Stockton Rush, chairman of The Recovery Institute and a recovering alcoholic, said alcoholics also are often "very cunning" and not forthcoming with their doctors. "So, they don't ferret it out," he said. Dr. Jordan Cohen, president of the Association of Medical Colleges, said the profession has long recognized that alcohol abuse and problems related to alcohol are "a very, very large medical issue that accounts for a great deal of disease and disability." He said the issue is dealt with during medical training, but he also noted that physicians come out of the same culture patients do. "And the difficulty that the American society has in dealing with alcoholism and issues related to alcohol abuse, and even social drinking, is brought to medical school by students," said Cohen, a former dean.