The alcoholic within us

This film "The Alcoholic Within Us" (1976) was directed by Noel Nosseck and produced by International Tele-Film Enterprises for Health and Welfare Canada. It presents an allegory in which the emotions in a alcoholic’s mind are portrayed as characters interacting with each other and with maturity. They fall under the influence of immaturity and end up unable to deal with their drinking problems. In the film a number of characters begin to use alcohol to escape or avoid their problems & to see that the only way to cope is to grow up & to understand each other. However a difficult path lies ahead as there is always a drink available. 0:53 - 1:45: The narrator describes the mind as a house with many rooms, each representing different emotions. These emotions are personified as family members living together, sometimes in conflict, particularly in the mind of a potential alcoholic. 1:48 - 2:01: Fearful and Lonely interact, with Lonely expressing a desire for company and Fearful agreeing to take Lonely to a meeting called by Maturity. 2:07 - 3:04: At the meeting, Maturity explains that the emotions need to understand each other to cope with life. Lonely and Fearful express their struggles with feeling isolated and scared. 4:00 - 5:01: The emotions discuss their feelings. Inadequate lives in the basement due to low self-esteem, and Insecure feels superior only to Inadequate. They all agree to talk to each other more. 5:33 - 6:22: Lonely starts sharing feelings of isolation, and others like Fearful and Insecure relate, expressing their own insecurities and fears. 7:01 - 8:01: Resentful and Guilty join the conversation, with Resentful expressing anger and Guilty feeling responsible for everything that goes wrong. 8:12 - 9:01: The emotions argue about their problems, with Maturity suggesting they need to work together and make an effort to understand each other. 10:02 - 11:01: Immaturity interrupts, mocking the idea of effort and suggesting an easier way out, leading the emotions to a secret part of the house where they don't have to change. 11:42 - 12:10: The emotions choose Immaturity's instant solution over Maturity's promise of coping through effort, leading to a worsening situation. 12:13 - 13:19: The emotions move to a new "home" with alcohol, where Resentful becomes the bartender, and they all start drinking to cope. 13:30 - 14:14: The emotions play games and argue, with Fearful and Lonely feeling worse despite drinking. 15:50 - 16:18: Guilty wakes up, and the emotions continue to drink and argue, feeling increasingly worse. 17:59 - 19:00: The emotions realize that alcohol isn't helping anymore and that they feel worse than before. They discuss the possibility of returning to Maturity and trying to cope without alcohol. 19:10 - 20:02: The emotions acknowledge that alcohol initially helped them cope but now makes things worse. They consider going back to Maturity but are afraid to face life without alcohol. 21:00 - 22:22: The emotions are conflicted about leaving alcohol behind. They feel dependent on it but recognize it's not helping anymore. 23:31 - 24:57: The narrator, Elizabeth Kay, reveals that the emotions represent her own struggles with alcoholism. She emphasizes that these emotions can live inside a single person, highlighting her personal experience as an alcoholic.