ERNEST HEMINGWAY EXPLAINED: A Guide To Alcoholism & Addiction

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CHAPTERS

0:00 "A Way To End The Day: A Guide To Hemingway and Alcoholism"

2:06 Sponsored Segment

3:23 "The Old Man & The Sea: A Psychological Profile of Hemingway"

7:49 "The Good Medicine: Hemingway & Drinking"

9:37 "The Dangerous Drink: A Guide To Alcoholism"

12:16 "Cueva del Monje: The Tragedy of Addiction"

15:46 Epilogue

SOURCES

Courage of Hopelessness-Zizek

[TheMixCurator]

My brother idolised Hemingway etc and became a heavy drinker due to their romantic view of boozing (Orwell's "Down and Out in Paris and London was a favourite of his) whilst also trying to cope with early life trauma (we didn't have the best childhood).. He's currently in his 6th week in intensive care (one week in an induced coma) and had two life saving operations. He's 36. There's no glamour in alcoholism. It's only a downward spiral.
*Edit. He died in the small hours of this morning (2 days before my birthday) by being administered with morpheme as his liver couldn't be stabilised. Such a waste of potential. It's been devastating for my Mum - there's just me and her left of our family in the UK, and only a few left in Sweden/her country of birth.
I also lost my Aunt 4 days after my brother followed by my other aunt and a cousin a few weeks later. My father died 99 days after my brother, the day after Burns Night (he was Scottish).

[MaaveMaave]

I never realized why people drink until the mess that was 2020. I only drank for entertainment before but recently I see the massive reduction in stress it temporarily brings. From paralyzed with anxiety to "functioning". I'm laying off the bottle but I have more sympathy for alcoholics now

[dreamking]

It makes me happy seeing more and more people bring addiction a little more I to the light. Right on man, right on.

[mrkrabs]

83 days sober today 💪 thanks for sharing man

[chriscoralAloha]

My brother drank himself to death. He was only 56. He had alcohol problems from a young age. He was never at peace. His last days where lonely and sad. It was 5 months ago now. I cry as i write this. I am sorry Phil. I hope you are at peace.

[castaways]

I couldn’t even begin to tell you how well-timed this video was for me. Thank you, sincerely.

[anthonykelly]

I’m a combat veteran. Specifically, a former Infantryman.

Soldier’s Home had a profound impact upon me when I read it.

You live life afterwards numb. If something, anything, makes you feel something, you keep doing it.

I don’t know what he was carrying around, maybe it was his WWI experience.

Hemmingway didn’t care about anyone. Just like Krebs didn’t care about his mother.

But you can only stay ahead of that for so long. Either you deal with it, or it ends you.

I think that played a large part in what ended him.

[zackalvey]

I feel like a lot of the perception of Hemmingway doesn't come from his books because in at least the ones I've read the main character always has a deep sadness that is constantly hovering over their shoulder. I was attracted to Hemmingway because of how I could relate to the characters that were suffering through things and would only allow their feelings to escape in short bursts where they might go crazy until they could once again control it. It's hard to say that those characters have any hope for the future they just continue on because they don't really have much else to do. I kinda thought that Hemmingway was just like those characters, hopeless and suppressing his real emotions. I also can't recall any of his books that I've read having a happy ending. Either most haven't read his books or my interpretation was just different than most.

[mpure]

Finally an explanation as to why I was an alcoholic

[chrisscharf]

As a major Hemingway and Sysiphus fan for years, well done. There is much contained in Ernest's writing and protagonists that exude precisely your thoughts; the core revolving around responsibility being the counterpoint to a daily escape from it. Keep up the absolutely excellent work.
I would absolutely love to see a similar jaunt into Kurt Vonnegut's life, writing, and philosophy from you.

[PravdaKatyusha]

This hits terrifyingly deep to me. I've been a self destructive alcoholic since I was 15, struggling with severe mental illness for years, BPD, Bipolar, etc. Mood swings, feelings of inadequacy, unstable relationships, feeling like your living a nightmare. (I also occasionally write, though not even slightly as well as Hemingway.) Every day is a struggle, and I drowned myself in alcohol to cope. I would be so desperate as to make my own in my closet wine I was younger. Alcohol does nothing but amplifies the misery, but you feel so numb as to no longer care if you live or die. It takes away the filter, the restraint, and you unleash all your pain and frustration. This makes it so alluring, and yet so dangerous. Only this year have I attempted to get sober, in August I was in serious danger of dying from combined drinking and self harm. I've failed 3 times now, but I'm still trying. It's so tempting, but will only seal my fate.

[Lucas-qirk]

This video really helped me better understand how I view the relationship that people around me (and myself) have with mental well-being and substance abuse. It has this strange mixture of emotional response and better understanding that I can't say I usually get watching youtube videos. there are so many great points to take away from this, even re-watching it a few times really reinforced ideas I had missed watching it the first time.

I really love the direction you are taking with this channel and I really excited for more of it.

[McDingus]

For the longest time I was a genuine substance abuser. My drug of choice is marijuana, for so long I told myself I would quit and never did it. Now I’m fully sober even quitting nicotine. It’s still incredibly hard tho, so many people around me still use it. And so many relationships were built upon it. I love the metaphor of the people in the cave, it fully encapsulates the feelings I have. It’s hard tho because I want the people around me to quit as well, but it’s impossible to show them the truth so I no longer try. Some people may say that marijuana is not a drug, and if that’s what you think then you obviously don’t understand it’s implications. Just like anything else it allows you to avoid your problems, it allows you to hide them behind a wall of smoke. It draws you in with its intense feelings of euphoria and keeps you there with the social anxiety it brings you. In my case it made me isolate, for the longest time I searched for why my personality had seemingly changed. I was in denial of the truth, I still don’t feel “normal” yet. But it takes time. Thank you for this wonderful video

[prophet]

I'm not addicted to alcohol, but after watching this video I've made the decision to pour out the rest of what I have in the house. It's horrifying the power alcohol could have over me, and I'm watching this after a night of binge drinking. My grocery list of mental health issues aside, I don't want to put my parents or any of my loved ones through having to deal with my addiction. Hell, I'd be disappointed in myself if I went down that road.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for making this video.

[jonathanhebert]

I recently quit drinking. I come from a culture of alcoholics and a family of particularly serious alcoholics. the absolute ruthlessness of my anxieties and depression and trauma are literally crashing down on me at all times. I want nothing more than to have a drink and crawl back into platos cave. thanks for making this video and getting me through one more day.

[nate.]

as somebody with an addiction, this really helps a lot.
thanks Sisyphus!

[oreos]

Seeing someone struggling with alcoholism is extremely painful. Recently, I almost ruined myself trying to be there for someone, who I loved very much, who couldn't even be there for himself because of his drinking. To see the very essence of who someone is, slowly deteriorate before your eyes and no matter how hard you try to help them in the end, there's no way you can pull them out of that hell unless they are willing to do something to help themselves.

He was the one who broke things off with me, once he realized that it was a journey that he would have to embark on on his own. He realized how badly his drinking was hurting me before even I did. Many sleepless nights of hospital visits where the nurses would warn him that he had the possibility of dying from withdrawl. I probably would have ended up ruining my own mental health trying to stay with him and help him through his demons before I would have decided to cut things off to save myself. Ultimately, he did me a great kindness by insisting that he try to work through it on his own, so that he wouldn't end up dragging me down with him.

It just hurts so much when you know that they are an amazing person, with a cruel cruel addiction sucking the life out of them like a parasite.

Needless to say, I hate alcohol and I hate how it is capable of completely ruining the life of someone you care about so deeply. The nights are still sleepless, because I've spent the past several months since our relationship ended, praying to the universe that he doesn't end up drinking so much that he won't be able to recover. The thought haunts me, and it's even more painful still that there is just nothing that I can do for him, even as his friend. It's just not fair.

[heavymeddle]

Addiction is the worst and most tiresome $hit that's ever happened to me. And the crazy part is that even though I've been heavily addicted to amphetamine, opiods and benzodiazepines for about 25 years I just find something else to abuse. All the time. Now I'm 50 and don't touch anything heavy but I live in Thailand since 8-9 years and now I'm addicted to something I didn't even know existed 10 years ago. Kratom. It's not like heroin or speed in any way, but still an addiction. What baffles me the most is the fact that when I have been clean for a, relatively speaking, long time, I'm at it again. Just another substance. So tired of me, myself and my life as an idiot

[TheLightningScience]

I had a similar rekindling of my appreciation for Hemingway. When I first had to read "Old Man and the Sea" in high school, I didn't enjoy it and thought it was boring. I picked up "Farewell to Arms" later on and loved the tragedy of it. My ideas around masculinity changed and I saw a lot of the ideals shown in that book as counterproductive because, really, they are. Hemingway changed for me again when I read his biography and other works on his life. His books changed again for me too and he became this deeply tragic figure, obviously trying to create a hyperbolized version of himself in his books where he always comes away emotionally unscathed and resilient, because in real life, he couldn't do that. It makes all of his works better not because of the ideas they espouse but because of the truth and the fear that is behind them. His books still find a new way to break my heart after all this time.

Edit: I know it's unlikely people will read this full comment, but I feel like I'm on a roll, so this is really just for me to get my thoughts out.

As brilliant as I think Hemingway is, I can't help but imagine what his works could've been if he was able to be honest with himself and with his readership. To put those fears of rejection, inadequacy, and annihilation into words could've helped so many people suffering in the same silent way. Makes it all the more tragic, in my opinion.

[Meemeeseecoo]

Wow, great video. I’m only 37 but have been drinking daily for at least the last 7 years. Never had anything life altering in a negative way happen due to alcohol and as far as I know I’m still in good health, but I feel like it’s time to stop or at least significantly cut back. Just becoming more & more dependent and my tolerance is thru the roof. Supposed to see a psych next week, optimistic for what the future may hold.