Alcoholism and Suicide

The movie When a Man Loves A Woman starring Meg Ryan and Andy Garcia clearly represents some psychological concepts discussed in class (cause, effects, denial, recognition and rehabilitation). I had seen the movie before and enjoyed it, but now, since taking this class, I understand so much more about the movie and the characters. This movie is one that clearly depicts the many and varied effects of alcoholism on a family. Emotional, psychological, and even physical effects are felt by Alice Green and her family members. Alcoholism is not an easy thing to deal with especially when combined with depression and/or some bipolar or manic aspects.

Alice Green is the main character in this movie and the person that the movie revolves around quite literally. With her, everyone is happy (even when they aren't) and without her the situation is miserable and the family unit falls apart even further. Alice is typical of a white female alcoholic in many ways, but in other ways, she breaks the mold. Alice drinks both inside the home and outside. She is almost as likely to go out for a drink after work with friends as she is to drink from the many bottles hidden all over the house. She says that she began drinking in high school and never quit. She is almost rather manic in her actions and moods, but the diagnosis is not bipolar disorder; it is alcoholism.

Alice's children adore her, even when her alcoholism negatively affects them. Her children are young enough to where they don't really know what's happening. They only know that mommy sleeps a lot and slurs her words. When she is sober, she is the perfect mom-fun and exciting. Her children are thrilled just to be in her presence. In many ways, Alice is like a single parent, which obviously contributes to why she drinks so much. Every parent needs "me time," and Alice really doesn't get much of it. While her husband flies all over the country, piloting planes, Alice works as a high school guidance counselor and takes care of her children. Ironically, she counsels troubled teens and is good at it. As we know in counseling, Alice may be trying to work her way through some of her own issues while counseling others. In many ways, Alice is trapped in her high school years or has regressed to them. She is all about fun, not very responsible, and life revolves around after work. After Alice goes into treatment, Jess tries to take on the role of her mother by cooking breakfast for Kasey and trying to do her hair.

She lies. She is depressed. She engages in risk-taking behavior. She is dependent. She is aggressive. She is avoidant. She is anti-social. The real problem is that it is so hard for the viewer to understand what characteristics are part of her real personality, and what characteristics are a part of or akin to her alcoholism. Not having any experience with this disease, I'm not sure. Meg Ryan does a really good job of portraying a raging alcoholic and making us really feel what it is like and what it does to a family. She also portrays the uneasiness of recovery and the need to develop a whole new personality to compensate for the lack of alcohol

The children of alcoholics witness many events where their parents display their alcoholism and they feel that they can stop it themselves. There is one particularly disturbing scene in the movie when Jess is supposed to finish her homework, and Alice is at her wit's end. Jess watches her mother down aspirin with Vodka then attempt to shower and fall through the shower door. The full ramifications of seeing this horrifying event will never fully be able to be measured. Children of alcoholics often display a host of effects, like unwillingness to commit, abandonment issues, or alcoholism or drug abuse themselves in adulthood. These children are alternately showered with attention and then neglected by Alice. She has even committed some rather abusive offenses, like slapping Jess really hard in the face and driving her kids around drunk. Habitually, she is not abusive or neglectful, but I certainly think on occasions, she could be charged with child abuse and/or neglect.

Supposedly, there are no marital problems between the couple other than drinking although as the movie goes along we begin to realize why. Michael is a full-fledged enabler and often in a caretaker role for Alice. When she is sober, she runs the household. When she is drinking, she becomes Michael's third child. Michael has some control issues or feels the need to be needed because he simply takes on this caretaking for his wife. He enables her and yet makes her feel horrible about herself for drinking, which leads to more depression on her part. Michael enjoys, in many ways, playing the role of the big, strong man who rescues his damsel in distress. In fact, when Alice begins to get sober, he clearly is not as enamored of her.