JEANETTE F. HUBER,
Sir, - As controversial as John Waters can often be, his perceptive column, "Age will not cure abuse of alcohol" (August 12th)will hopefully not result in your receiving letters criticising him.
Indeed, he is to be commended, for the column, though unstated, also applies to suicide, especially where he writes: "Modern society, by virtue of its rational approach and technological solutions to publiciy-visible programs, has caused us to forget how relatively powerless the individual is to deal with issues which the society at large feels it has all the answers to."
Further, his statements that "alcohol becomes ... an analgesic and substitute for meaning," as well as "alcoholism ... is essentially a disease of the spirit," are relevant to depression and suicidal thoughts. Sadly, unless changed through intercession, the result of those feelings that underlie alcoholism too often is suicide. As with so many other self-defeating behavioral problems in Irish society, education must begin with the child. Buying your first pint must no longer be an Irish rite of passage. - Yours, etc.,
JEANETTE F. HUBER,
Kinsale,
Co Cork