Alcoholics and Faces
In a recent Globe and Mail article, (August 20, 2009, Globe Life - Facts and Arguments) it said...
"Of the many things that long-term alcohol addiction can steal – careers, lives, health, memory – one of its most heartbreaking tolls is on relationships," Melissa Healey reports in The Los Angeles Times. "Alcoholics, researchers have long known, have a tendency to misread emotional cues, sometimes taking offense when none was intended or failing to pick up on a loved one's sadness, joy, anger or disappointment. The misunderstandings can result in more drinking, and more deterioration of relationships and lives. How does alcohol do all that? A new study finds that the brains of long-term alcoholics, even those who have long abstained, often differ from non-alcoholics' in ways that make them poorer judges of facial expressions. In particular, alcoholics register less intensity in the amygdala and hippocampus (collectively known as the limbic system) when observing faces."
This article seems to explain much in respect to why so many alcoholics and addicts seem so overly sensitive in early recovery. What are your thoughts and experiences about this?
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By working the principles of Steps 4 and 5 I can recognize jealousy and suspicion as my character defects. I use the principles of Steps 6 and 7 -- I ask God to remove my suspicion and to strengthen my ability to suspend judgment and trust others. With this approach I tend to have fewer mistakes and less amends to make.