Alcoholism – An Occupational Disease of Seamen, JIF, Quarterly
Journal of Studies on Alcohol, Vol.8 (3), 498-505, 1947
“The
marine hospitals have always had the problem of the alcoholic seamen,
but he was usually admitted under a diagnosis other than alcoholism,
for it was not until recently that the United States Public Health
Service recognized the alcoholic as a sick person. The seaman who
found himself broke and sick as the result of his "bender” was
dependent on shipmates to carry him until he got a ship. The public
health and welfare agencies were not interested in the seamen who was
sick from a spree, although it was common knowledge throughout the
maritime industry that a great majority of seamen drank to excess.
In
the minds of most people the seamen who drinks to excess is typical.
The man who has been going to sea for a number of years and does not
drink is, indeed rare. The life a man leads aboard ship builds up
inner tensions that have no outlets such as are available to the
person ashore. Family and social connections are missed and their
influence becomes remote. Consequently, once he reaches port the
seaman turns to alcohol and uses it as a first thought safety valve.”
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