Oops! I was the person who mentioned blackouts and inlaws. (sorry Sharnina)

I apologize for any confusion my initial statement caused. I don't want to take this topic OT, so I'm hoping that Cygnus may indulge this small diversion so that I can shed some light on what I meant in my original post. I'm not revisiting this to draw any more comments on the subject of blackouts; this is something I should have included in my original post.

Actually, there are valid points all over this thread. In addressing this issue, I was comparing Lisa's assessment of Kim's behavior to the black-outs that I've seen. In reality, none of us will ever know if Kim (or Allison) are really alcoholics. The editing isn't being conducted with accuracy as the prime motivation, lol.

When I mentioned blackouts and my in-law, it was based on what we learned through our involvement in his recovery. This inlaw is my husband's brother and best friend (I'm not divulging anything top secret..he'd be the first to tell his story). When sober, he was intelligent, friendly and engaging. He was an integral part of our family. Unfortunately, when he was drunk, the damage he caused wasn't just emotional. Too many times (starting in college) the end result of his binges included property damage - some of it substantial. One example (and there are plenty), the police showed up at the door one Sunday morning because his car had been found wrapped around a tree (the vehicle plates led them to the owner, my b-i-l). Their pounding on the door woke him up. He had no idea how he got home, that his car was not in the driveway, and he could not account for the bloody gash on his chin. What was most disturbing was the fact that the passenger side of the car's windshield was smashed (by the force of a head). He had no idea who he was with, if they were injured, and where they went. That was a monumental moment for him.

After years and years of sobriety/drunkenness, he finally got serious about ten years ago. Our family tried to support him, and we participated in his recovery as much as possible. That meant we were invited to attend family meetings. So, we listened and learned.

His type of black-outs were called "en-bloc" black-outs. In a nutshell, the theory is that the transfer of information from short to long term memory in the brain is blocked. Despite all efforts to recall the details of the episode, the individual can't recall anything. Oddly enough, they can perform some relatively complicated tasks while in the midst of an en-bloc blackout (driving, conversing, and even appearing coherent). That is where my b-i-l got into major trouble.

The other type of black-out is called a "fragmentary" black-out. This is a partial block of memory formation. The individual may know that he is missing pieces of information, but the events can often be recalled if he is reminded of them. The reminder acts as a trigger. Alcohol is believed to affect the formation and storage of memory to some degree in everyone. It's likely that Jodi and Lisa also had a few foggy images, but did they have black-outs, even fragmentary ones? Who knows?

The brain is so complicated, and this research has been going on for decades. Oddly enough, some researches don't believe that black-outs in and of themselves are proof that the sufferer is an alcoholic.

But that's another thread...

I'm sticking with the general consensus...alcohol has no place in the SO house.

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