Bill Wilson Research Paper

The Life of Bill Wilson Alcoholism is a world-wide disease that affects millions of people. In the early years, alcoholism was viewed different, more of a weakness and disgrace. Any strong motivated individual could stop drinking if they wanted. Bill Wilson, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, struggled mentally and physically with alcohol. The use of alcohol damaged Bill’s health, tanked his career, and brought upon anguish to his wife and friends. Alcoholism is a disease that infiltrates the brain and physically plagued the human body. The first effect of alcohol links to health problems that resulted in Bill Wilson having mental and physical complications. Wilson started drinking at the age of 21 while at a party in 1917. The amount ofalcohol that Bill consumed in his body led to him having blackouts. Blackouts occur when the blood is not circulating properly. Alcohol dilates the veins in the abdomen causing the blood pressure to go down because there is less blood circulating. The brain responds by a feeling of light-headaches, and the body shuts down. (Hadgraft). According to Professor Gordon Fulde, director of the emergency department at St. Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney, “Alcohol on its own is a toxin. We put it on skin to kill bugs. It kills your brain cells.”
Wilson became a stock speculator and traveled the country to find potential investors. Wilson was making good money on Wall Street until the stock market crashed. Bill Wilson got a second change on life, and decided to start a therapy session. In May of 1935, he co-founded Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A) after he was released from the hospital with Bob Smith. At first, A.A was a small organization and then became worldwide. Wilson wrote a book titled “Alcoholics Anonymous,” which is about a Twelve Step program. Now the Twelve Step program is not only for the alcohol addiction it is also for a variety of recovery groups.