HOW I WAS TREATED FOR DELIRIUM TREMENS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 10009, 21 December 1895, Page 1 (Supplement)

HOW I WAS TREATED FOR DELIRIUM TREMENS.

[l)V. BACCHDS.] Reader, did you over pass through that stage of "acute alcoholism" known as delirium lumen, or, as it is more vulgarly but very much more expressly termed, the "horrors?" No? Then, if you believe there is any efficacy in prayer, let me earnestly advise you to pr.iy until tho patella* be exposed to view through your excoriated knees, that you may be spared such a horrible experience. Anaesthetics, fevers, hunger, thirst, and other causes may induce <l>J'mum, but nob in such an aggravated form as that produced by the excessive use of alcohol. Mot being a disciple of /E'culapius, I cannot deal with delirium trcmciq from its medical aspects or points of viow. But, as a layman, I possess perhaps the best of all qualifications to speak or write upon tho subject, viz., that of bitter personal experience of its effects. And 1 question very much, indeed, whether thero is any man living who could moro graphically describe the pbantastnagorical delusions and fancies which emanate from tho excited brain of a man in " D.T.s" than the prosent writer. I should bo devoutly sorry to be considered a dipsomania or confirmed drunkard, because I can and do leave tho drink severely alone for months at a stretch; during which periods I have absolutely no craving whatever for alcoholic liquors. Onco I tajto them, however, a taste for moro is engendered within mo, to gratify which I should willingly jeopardise my very existence, or hypothecate my immortal soul. Honce it is that I am carried awav almost irresistibly into that appalling stage of " alcoholism" of which I speak; a condition into which J. have drifted on no less than five occasions, including the one which constitutes the subject of this article. There is a very peculiar feature in my experience oidd'trim tremens, an I it is tho fact that when sober and compos mentis, I can vividly remomber tho horrible and grotesque forms and shapes of fionds, reptiles, etc., that havo assailed me ; and also tho frightful visions that havo attended my fitful slumbers during my temporary insanity. But 1 am digressing ; since it is nob the malady itself but the treatment of it which forms the subject of this article. I know New Zealand pretty well from the Bluff ta Auckland ; and to the best of my belief this city can claim the proud distinction of possessing tho only hospital in the colony humane enough to open its doors for the reception of sufferers from alcoholic poisoning, or "alcoholism,"' as it is professionally termed. "Acute alcoholism," with its inevitable reaction, is one of the most painful, exhausting, and frequently dangerous and fatal forms of illness a man can possibly suffer from. Yet in every town or city in this volcanic colony with which I am acquainted, such sufforers aro relegated to the local gaols, there to be subjected "to a course of medical treatment," which would disgrace even a tribe of New South Wales blacks-and tboy are considered to be ignorance and eavagedom perssnified. This is, I admit, a very strong assertion to make, bub having personally experienced the so-called "treatment" in three different and widely-separated prisons, I can speak authoritatively on the subject.;

The patient, however ill he may be, is simply regarded as an ordinary prisoner not Bontenced to hard labour, an 1 is treated accordingly, All the distinction made in Ilis case is that the gaol medico may order him a dose or two of chloral to induce sleep; and, if violent on his reception, he will be granted the use of a padded coll for a few days—nob aa a privilege or "medical comfort," but as a measure of precaution and restraint. " Medical treatment!" Well, to my certain knowledge four patients have died under tho system during the last two and a-half years in various parts oi tho colony ! Indeed, I caino very ucar—perilously near, in fact—-pilofcting theso unfortunates over the Styx, whilst under " treatment" in Port Lytteltou Gaol. One never-to-be forgotten Sunday morning I lay in the padded cell thero in what is known as tho "collapso"—prostrated or exhausted condition which follows delirium tremens. The prison Galen came into the cell accompanied by the medical officer of tho Spanish warship Nautilus, which was then lying in Port Lyttelton. They both oxaminod me; swapped chunks of professional jargon with each other—and left mo to my own bitter reflections, physical agony, and tho untasted gaol fare which lay beside mo. Two hours later one of tho principal warders visited me, and was so alarmed at my condition that ho hurriedly fotchod the gaoler, Mr. Cleary, who immediately, on his own responsibility, orderort a couple of prisoners to carry me up into one of tho wards of the gaol hospital. Such care and attention was thon shown mo by Mr. Cleary that I rallied, and recovered from what both he and I seriously bolieved would prove a fatal illness. I drew public attention to my " treatment" through tho columns of the Christchurch press, but could not induce tho Government to move in the direction of reforming tho brutal System, which, I am deeply sorry to say, still remains tho same, and is to-day adopted generally all over New Zealand by order (I am givon to understand) of tho head of tho, Government Medical Department, Dr. Macgregor. Thank God, my fifth attack of the "horrors" was not so dealt with at Mount Eden, or 1 am pretty certain this article would havo remained unwritten. Still, I wish ib to be distinctly understood that I don't blame the prison officials, whom I always fouud as kind and courteous as their duties would admit of. I blame tho poison or portions who havo, apparently, established a hard-and-fast system of treatment, which, kill or cure, tho gaol officials are bound to strictly adhere to. What the treatment is I shall briefly explain after dealing with that accorded mo in tho Auckland Hospital.

As to how, when, or by whom I was conveyed to this institution 1 know just about as much as the lc.to Julius Cre-ar. 1 have an indistinct recollection of a brilliant light being Hashed in my lace soveral times; in an endeavour to escape from which I had a determined strugglo with several persons, who overpowered mc, and threw me down on a floor somewhere. Then I can dimly romoiuber having another fierce strugglo in a dark passago, and again being thrown down in a small chamber, where I was stabbed or pricked in the right arm. After that oblivion, Tho next thing I can recall to mind is just escaping "by tho skin of my teeth" from some scores of alligators and other saurian monsters, who were pursuing me with ravenous jaws and relentless pertinacity. It was a most fortunate thing for me that I was confined in a padded cell; for tho terrible fright into which this horrid vision had plunged me caused me to spring up from tho mattress on which I was lying with such a sudden bound, that had tho wall nearest me not been protected, I should assuredly have fractured my skull. Tho apartment was almost dark; the only light being that of a solitary gasjet, admitted through an iron grating set in tho top of the wullovet the cell door. Shivering with terror, and trembling like an aspen leaf from shattered nerves, I sat up against the side of the coll, racking my bemuddled brains in a vain endeavour to decide whether I was in a gaol or a lock-up, when a bolt shot back, tho door opened, and an elderly man entered. Kneeling by my side, ho assisted mo to drink a dose of narcotic medicine, which, in a few minutes, drugged me into an uneasy, stupefied sort of sleep, which lasted until day was just breaking. But again I awoke in a st\te of mortal fear; for this time my imaginary assailants had been snakes of every kind, colour, and size, and I am prepared to swear on oath that a good percentage of the ophidians belonged to classes utterly unkown to naturalists, or natural history! Ugh ! They were so hideous that tho more remembrance of thorn sends a shudder through me. I will not dwell on those appalling visions; I shall stand a decidedly healthy chance of having another attack of "D.T.s" if I do. Suffice it to say that similar visions and delusions attended me during my waking millions of rats swarming all over mo and the cell one moment, an equal number of reptilian creaJ tures surrounding mo tho noxt. Heaven protect mo against such scenes again !

Any medical man will bear me out when I say that during either this stage of tlio illness, or that which succeed." it ("collapse"), the patient's stomach cannot assirailato or digo»t ordinary food; consequently only a fluid diet, consisting of broth, boef-tea, and milk with a little broad soaked in it, is prescribed. Beef-tea and milk were ordered in my caso, and wcro supplied most liberally. Had they not been, I must inevitably have starved ; for something closely resembling a lamp of coid, wet clay lay in the pit of my stomach, and everything I swallowed was apparently speedily converted into acids and bitters. It required several days' treatment to extricate mo from tho "horrors," during which timo I was detained in the padded coll. Then I was removed into No. 8 ward, and placed on a much more generous dietary—"milk diet with extras" it was calledcomprising milk, bread-and-butter, and fish for breakfast; beef-tea, fowl (with vegetables), and (alternately) rico and sago pudding daily for dinner; bread-and-butter aiid milk for tea. On such a diet as this I very soon began to regain my health and strength ; and how thoroughly debilitated and enfeebled I was when removed from tho padded cell may bo inferred from the fact that for a whole week whilst drinking I had not oaten one single meal! I could not stand without support, or walk without assistance when transferred to No. 8 ward ; and how truly thankful I was when the transfer was ordered ! The doctors saw mo once or twice daily, and the Hospital porters who attended mo had so many other duties to perform that they could only visit me at intervals of two or three hours, and then only for a minute or two at a timo. In short, I verily believe twentyfour hours more of such solitude and isolation, in my thon morbid state of mind, would have unseated my reason.

With the return of health, strength, and appetite, I had fondly hoped to have been fib for dischargo within a week or so ; but another dreaded result of " acute alcoholism" had still to be oncountored and vanquished, viz., " insomnia." And here lam to-day (Gth of December), after moro than a fortnight's treatment, unable to command more than a couple of hours' natural sleop each night. Every night a narcotic draught is administered, which should, under ordinary circumstances, induce at least six or soveu hours' yleop. In my case ib gives from two to two and a-half hours only, and loaves mo with dry and burning eyes, a head which feels as if made of kauri pine, and appears to be, figuratively speaking, about the sizo of an elephant's. lam consoling myself with the doctor's assurance that this aggravating sleeplessness "will woar off in a few days," ami I can, therefore only await that blessed result with patience, and in Masonic phraseology say, "So mote it be."

I have shown that a man suffering from "acute alcoholism" cannot digest ordinary food, and, if humanely treated, would be given nourishing broth, soup, beef-tea, or milk. When sent to gaol the poor unhappy wretch has bo struggle back to health as best he can on the following diet :-Dry bread, and a pint of what the prison officials call " tea" for breakfast, and tho same for supper; twelve ounces of potatoes, and three ounces of boiled beef or mutton, together with a pint of the water said meat was boiled in, constitutes the midday uioal. The " tea" is a black insipid liquid, guiltless of milk and almost entirely so of sugar. This essence of sorrow ia about on a pt\r

with the solution of misery which is unjustifiably called "soup"-both are equally palatable and nutritious. If tho patient cannob sleep and is delirious, tho foregoing luxuries are— I have said before—supplemented with a dose or two of chloral, and tho uso of a sumptuously-furnished padded cell pro Itm. And this is the alleged "medical treatment," for which, if his constitution bo strong enough to enable him to survive it, and appear bofore tho magistrates, he is called upon to pay from £1 to 30s! Apart from any question of humanity it is downright) robbery to charge such amounts for " treatment," the outside valuo of which would not exceed five or six shillings, exclusive of travelling oxpenscs. Bub "alcoholism" cases ought never bo bo sent to a gaol at all; and that for another reason. Tho official staff is too small in nineteen prisons out of twenty, to admik of a warder being told off to watch over and attend to the patient, who is locked up and left by himself all night, and may just as likoly as not be found dead in his cell tho next morning ! Prison records would show a dozen such fatalities during the last docade or less. Sufferers from alcoholic excess should always bo treated at a hospital; a fact which is recognised by Australian police and magistracy, and, I am glad to find, by those of Auckland, too.

A few words of grateful acknowledgment, and I have dono. am a stranger to Auckland, and, until my admission to the institution, to every member of the Hospital medical and nursing staff. But had I boon a prince of royal blood I could nob have been accorded kinder, more courteous, or attentive treatment than I havo ex perienced during my stay in the Hospital — treatment which I shall over feel deeply grateful for. And I take thi3 opportunity of tandorinff my heartfelt thanks to bis. Erson, Ramsay, and Pabst; to tho portersubordinates who attended to my wants in tho earlier stages of my illness; and to the nurses attached to No. 8 ward, who so kindly ministered to my needs ivhon on the high road to recovery. As a pressman I havo visited many hospitals, and as a patient I have been treated in several, but I consider the Auckland institution one of the best managed I havo ever met with. And when I solemnly aver that I would sooner succumb to an accident in tho latter than die a natural death in any other I know of, I have given the local infirmary the highest praise I can possibly bestow upon it.