"And I’m telling you that thing upstairs isn’t my daughter."

October 25, 2015 8:41 AM

That Thing: A True Story Based on The Exorcist (Adam Sturtevant, Electric Literature)
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome (16 comments total)

(The Exorcist is now on Fanfare.)
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 9:19 AM on October 25, 2015

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posted by Ruki at 9:26 AM on October 25, 2015

I'm pretty psyched about having quit drinking now.
posted by thelonius at 9:35 AM on October 25, 2015 [9 favorites]

Thanks for sharing this.
posted by sevenyearlurk at 10:25 AM on October 25, 2015 [1 favorite]

This was so good. Thank you.
posted by zutalors! at 11:02 AM on October 25, 2015 [1 favorite]

That feeling where I want to click the link, but future me is sending out vibes telling me not to do it.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 12:38 PM on October 25, 2015 [12 favorites]

My dad was (is) an alcoholic, and this was... hard to read. But really good. Thanks for posting.
posted by Weeping_angel at 12:48 PM on October 25, 2015 [2 favorites]

St. Peepsburg it's scary and haunting, but not in the way you think. Really well written and terribly sad. Thanks for posting.
posted by billiebee at 1:31 PM on October 25, 2015 [3 favorites]

My father was an alcoholic but mostly he was depressed and anxious. Alcohol did lots of things for him but it could never make all the problems go away. He kept his family and did his best to beat alcohol but no matter how long it had been since he drank, it lingered near to us. My mother-in-law is terribly obese and a hoarder. She has had health problems that both exacerbate the obesity and are a result of it. The hoarding/shopping addiction doesn't do much harm, the things she keeps are mostly not going to kill anyone (very expired food notwithstanding). It's interesting that my husband and I found each other – crazy Dad, crazy Mom. The older I get, the more I think about that which is at the crux of this piece. Are these things diseases? Diseases of the will? Is it possible to have compassion when destructive behavior is the result of a seeming lack of willpower? Stop sneaking drinks. Stop sneaking food. Get help for your anxiety. Get help for your hoarding. When you're locked in a family bloodbath, it's almost an impossible task to feel compassion at the same time as you defend yourself.
posted by amanda at 2:05 PM on October 25, 2015 [10 favorites]

That was good. Thanks for posting.
posted by persona au gratin at 2:11 PM on October 25, 2015 [1 favorite]

Thanks for this post. Hard to read, but lovely. "Disease of the will" seems to fit. Our bodies, our selves are fragile. Anything could happen to anyone. We need to take care of ourselves and one another.
posted by Bob Regular at 5:13 PM on October 25, 2015 [3 favorites]

It was not until years after my parents divorced that I understood that my dad was always drunk when he was home. He only hit me 4 or 5 times. It was just so random. Dog left a squeaky toy on the couch and I sat on it while he was watching sports on tv = SMACK! Pants caught in bicycle chain= SMACK!

Dad moved out the Summer before I started HS and the house felt so much better. The three of us stayed up late watching scary movies. The Sunday after we watched The Exorcist, Mom drove us into town to look at the house and those stairs. There was an empty shopping cart at the top that made it all the way to the middle of M Street with a little push. I just could not not do that.

My sister was doubled over. Mom was all "Goddammit Jim, you stupid shit, you could have killed somebody! Let's get out of here!"

Mom stayed really angry for hours. Then, at dinner, she apologized for calling me names and I apologized for pushing the cart. She said "Well, it was something that maybe only the three of us will ever see," and we all started laughing.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 6:05 PM on October 25, 2015 [5 favorites]

My best friend's dad drank himself to death, once his family finally left him to rot in his addiction. He nearly killed people by drunk driving more than once, and he didn't care. He raged and was abusive and if he had any redeeming qualities, they were long gone before he had kids, judging by how he treated my friend and her mom. But I don't know if that was the true him, or if the booze killed off who he could have been.

"Disease of the will" is a scary concept, as the author points out. If I had the tendency to booze or drug addiction, would everything I think of as good about myself be tossed out, in the end? Would I stop caring about my loved ones enough to do as this man did? The idea of becoming a burden to others is pretty painful to me. But then, maybe I would lose that fear too.
posted by emjaybee at 6:09 PM on October 25, 2015 [3 favorites]

Wow. That was great. And terrifying in a way that isn't at all what you think. Thanks for sharing.
posted by the_royal_we at 6:13 PM on October 25, 2015 [3 favorites]

I'm sure grateful for the Will to abstain from all the things I am not addicted to!
posted by thelonius at 9:20 PM on October 25, 2015

I think alcoholism is a real illness, not a Disease of the Will, because plenty of people don't have any will to drink to that level and so they don't.

However, recent events have left me with less sympathy for the alcoholic in my life.

This essay made me feel like both of these views are possible and ok and expectedm which I appreciate a lot.
posted by zutalors! at 9:47 PM on October 25, 2015 [1 favorite]