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wHFmy FRE PREsSI WEDNEsDAY, AuGuer 29, lm,0,PAGE-15. Brooklin rofl Phone 668-6111 Treat ment centre a sobering xprence By Truidie Zuvadovlcs Just over a year aoRen- cent opened the PaulJ.,Sll=a Centre in Brooklil. Since then over 450 men have stayed at the centre ln an effort to gain sorey. Seet-flve per cent of them have been succossful. They corne from ail wa]ka of 1f.. Pro- fessionals doctors, lawyers, laborers, 1Ïactory workers, rich, poor - there are no social, politi- cal, racial, religlous, or- financial bounds. Alcoholism hita every- where. The Renascent treatment centre first oponed in Toronto i 1970. Soon it expanded to two housea for men snd one for women. May 1 1989 they opened the house li rookl. Accordlng to Gordon Newman, assistant manager of the centre, Brooklin was chosen becausee price was right and it hadcls pro- ximity to Oshawa and WHitby to use the services of the com- munity based self-help groupa. "Mo-n corne fr-om aloverthe provinc,' says Newman. "Over half of them are from Durham RoeÈon.' le explains that i order for men ta b. takèn into the centre, the>y must b. dependent on alco- hol. Althoulgh some mon have other drug dependencies as well, the. bottom lie is they must have a prcblem with alcohol. Many men are referred, some cail on their ow1M. Newman' emphasises that it la hnportant that the client reogmâze h. needa help. The. client la then given a date ln which he-will start the 28 day live-lu treati>ient program. Men are requireçlrto abstain from any alcohol at least 72 hours before enterina the centre. "They are treated by recovered alcoholics," says Newman. «We 1o11ow the methode of com- miinity-based self-help groups. We deal with feelings and emo- tions. When you take alcohol out of the lfe of an alcoholic, you are left with a lot of raw.emotions. W. deal with them in a very pragrnatic way; a- huniane, com- passionate process of peer coun- cilling.» Newman says that many lengths of treatment time were triedl but that the 28 day cycle seerns ta work out the best. "It's long enough ta, get the message acros, but not too long to become lnstitutionalized." Newman emphasizes that alco- holism la a disease and not a bad habit. "We look at. it like a disease very similar to diabetes or can- cer. The alcoholic drinks because he muet drink. He can put it on thie shelf for a Deriod of time. but" he has no control. H. drinks bocause he muat drink. It la always in the body, mind, and spiritto b. an alcoholic. "Xt'san addction as fierce as it ever was, and the alcohélic must continue ta maintain a preOsonc at community-based self.-help groupe. People who don't, usually return ta drming» Newman sq thie youngsst man to corne thi-ougli the centre waa 16 years whfLe the oldeet was in bise80'. "Weve had umiona=res, and those destitute and broke corne here.' Although some mon do r.turn ta the centre,, Newman saye tthe' percontage is very low. "w. inst that on. year passes b.fore a man is re-admltted. We RJENASCENT'S PAUL J. SULLIVAN CENTRE IN BROOKLIN got hlm a contact sud«see that he às a regular member of a self- help group. W. want toa sme effort on the part of the indivi- dua. Newman- says that thoy con- aider an alcoholie or addlct reco- vered as long as ho or se.nover returna ta boomo or drugs. -Thoy recover their lives, their families, their jobsi, and their self-esteem. An alcoholic will always b. an alcoholic, but can recover lost aspects of their Newman saye there la a huge demand for treatrnent and that thev could fill ton more contres next week if they had them. There is no charge ta the poinentering the. centre. Tii. ntroDepartment cf Health pay the operation cast ansd the. Conte relies heavily on cor- porate and private doniations. .For more information caM 655- 8484 Pùeèt shares battie of the booze By Trudie Zavadovica honestly. Ho watcho h is fathers, an alcoholic. Pérhýps he's mak- Two years ago, poet and song- an alcoholic, sufer à slow, incidi- ing up for that,,, gr peniiaps ho writer ou Bruiff turned hae back ous; death. The. son was power- wants ta give thé, he p ho nover on bis beat friond1 of 15 yoars. lsse to do anythi'g but watcii, in gt Each day h. celebrates that silent pam in, bs h. hWhen I go to achools, I see break-up, yet ho also misses that Bru&fwasagea1t2 whlin lo was carbon4roief of, myself, says friend, somoetimes longingly. But forced to trade thel id llic New- Bruif. eWonwe're very young, ho is determlued ta nover crss foundland countryside Ïor a stark we have no problems with our paths again. basement ajpartrnent in lower- feelings. Wihen we start ettig For 15 yoars. Bruf found clease Bro okhn.geI older, we start losin tauéh wth warmnth, compassiond friend- "iepoeceo lg-o a our feelings. B t f9e tme we sbip in a ottle. Ajnilttedl transportd on a ship, sud sbip- reach higli achool, w. have a wall booze la what ho lived fer, an~ ped to Brooklin. I hated my aro<und us. almost diod for. Booze is whýat ho mother for this,» Bruf tells the «I lived 15 years'of my 1f. in a sacrificed the. all-An4erican crowd. «And I w'atched my dad lascag.*Iwas n30 different drealn for- hia home, bis $amily, di.e very single day of a disease institutions 25 *notor vehicle his friendls, bis faith; sud lus I know now as alcoholism. accidents. f have five beautiful uinty-alipensable for the. "Had I beon told it was cancerkdsdabu Ilywh saiôf a cheap bottle of booze. 1,o nyn le would have are ee.Te aéai 1ongwl ToiyBruf 53 is' a recover- dlon. suythlng ta 1Ëelp hlm. But without me - sad,1ut te.. ingalco olic. li road té reco- intadpople called hlm. a buni. B _ifqupa," e i a great very as been a hard one and ho In that cellar lu Brooklin I sta- remover. t remo iwves, chli- lias iËe scrstaoveit. Penhaps ted ta die,i my head.and lin y dren, familles frends, houses, thaV' i wyvsBuug' good at heart. cars, and th ii.d nty of a human what h. do«s. Ho pends - ise" I had bleeding ulcers byth being. And there' no way out days- visiting echools'sud othor time I was 13, Iost 65 per cent of unleas youre wil ig ta ask for organizations ta talk about bis my stomachi by the. time I was 18 helip." battle with booz., a battle h. sud lost my teet yrnja l raff turned f lcoholics says hIi.rnenver win util h. dies. twenties. I a't even. ,e ita Anonymous, Jes ,music sud And he intenda ta, die sober. drink. 1 was an alcoholic waiting otîy focr heILp d h.ý shares Rec nt -lyspoke to agroup of for myfirst drink.",his story. And 1s otry. adulte sud cliîrna t Bruf! equates his disease of Eight months àohoe started Andrew's Preshyterian Church in alcoholism toa a pilot ligit !on a up a group called IiiJ!e Ralnbow Wiiitby. wt gas stove. « As long as I didn't Buncli'for kids ar d adulte of al Amidat bis charimasd wt h. drink. I was okay. As soon as I ages. "When they're wearing the. expoeedtth. group ta the hma-eh took adrink -poof." pm - tii. are wilbing ta b. realite of bis 1f., the. 1f. of Ian It's importanit for Bruf ta talk du-re says Brui!. '"I love alcoiiolic ta bIdde. nve aeSd ta1 hie, r ws. .People cafl. mzeýth Bruf came by bis alcoholiem own fiv. cMidrenimieueiîè ' n Big rVa;nbo-m*n,. Me aliglt man, wlth a har? laugli, sud music in bis so0u, playe hie harmonica for -the group. Ho got hie firet harmonica when h. was nine sud used it ta, pla out bis soruow. Hie music lias a clear, cbild- like innocence that's both moving sud mesmerizing. Ho shares bis music, lie shares hie poetîy. And ho ehares more of hie stary. "Alcoholism le tth. most frus- trating disease you wiIl ever corne acrose in your whole 1f., says Bruif. When I was actively drunking, I had no control over what I would do. I could not drink in safety. I spent a lot of tme, not knowing what I had done. I lost 10 daye of my 1f. ta blackout drinking. It can happen for five minuter, it cen happen for a week. "I was a drunk for 12 years sud no one knew it. I was a pillar. of the. community. 1 brog4t the. gutter inta nyhomo. I M arsii- out of mM c *ldren sudofmy wife. She leae bettercoen man than I *as. Alco- hl isa0 faznlly disoe. Bru seos btergsaiead but i honest witii self sud with *e audience. 4011 sh 1could tell youpeplelI dorn't of a drink. Tat'e a Be. I of adrink alIot e&I edont Jb.ae: bihers bô*êt âM 'àbIMf6er7lIe*.' W' ini the boattowJtke hell -and let hlm steor.» For Bruiff hie higher power was Jésus. lie acknowledges it can b. anything. Thaes what worked for hmm. 'Tve neyer ta]ked to a recover- ing alcoholic who did it on their own. rve lived in a cardboard box and ate out'of McDonald's garbage. Tm at nmy worst when Fm at my beat. When ]Pm succesaful, I want to celebrato with a drink When things are bad, I want a drink. Itfs 1ke an itch you can't scratch.» Bruif says that being an alco- holic ia 1k. the difference bet- ween a cucumber and a picklo. «'Once a cucumber becomesaa pickle, it can neyer become a cucumber again." In January, Bruf is flyinto Lars-arforco base in West Geor- many to talk to Canadians there. In the mantime he's visiting a9chools and organizationsi thoé greater Toronto area. it iCANADA I1 ImmS