Am I a Man or a Mouse?

A mouse is put in a cage and given food, water and a liquid drug. There is a button to the side of a metal funnel where the liquid drug is dispensed and, in order for the mouse to get the drug, it must hit a button with its nose. There is food and water but, out of curiosity, the mouse hits the button. The mouse has its first dose of the drug. It squeals loudly and its body reacts horribly to the poison in the same way a human does when experiencing its first dose of a liquid drug. The scientist then removes the food and water and the mouse is left only with the drug. Having no choice, the mouse then hits the button and drinks the liquid drug. After a while it goes back and hits the button again during the withdrawal period, in other words, as the drug is leaving the mouse’s body. The mouse does not have the same reaction to the drug. This time it does not squeal and appears to have no adverse physical reaction to it. In truth, the mouse now feels slightly better than it did a moment before as the drug has now momentarily suppressed the feeling that it caused. The mouse has no idea but the liquid drug is designed to destroy its central nervous system. The mouse hits the button again during the withdrawal period and feels better than the moment before.

The scientist then puts the food and water back into the cage. The mouse takes some but then goes straight for the button. After a while the mouse ignores the food

and water altogether and just continues to hit the button . In no time at all you start to see the mouse’s body shaking. When it hits the button, it stops shaking and very quickly its nervous system begins to be affected again. When the shakes start again, what does the mouse do? Hits the button! Does the mouse feel better ? Yes, but only better than it did a moment before and nowhere near as good as it felt before it started to push the button in the first place. The poor mouse has no idea that its central nervous system is slowly being destroyed by the drug and is tricking the mouse into thinking that it is helping. The more it shakes, the more it hits the button; the more it hits the button, the more it shakes. The mouse builds up such a tolerance to the drug that even when it hits the button it still shakes, just slightly less than before. After a while the mouse just continues to hit the button, hit the button and hit the button, until it dies.

This is an actual experiment routinely carried out in drug tests. I do not condone this type of practice but when I saw this experiment it dawned on me that this was exactly what I was doing when I was hooked. Once you hit the button a couple of times you really do become the mouse but, just like the mouse, you cannot see it while you are pushing the button. The drug appears to have the opposite effect to what it is really doing. The alcohol was suppressing my nervous system so much that in the end I believed I could not enjoy myself or be as confident without a drink. The insecurities I had were caused by the alcohol. It was the drug and only

the drug that had done that to me. Now I am out of the cage it is easy to see. This book is about stepping outside yourself so you can see what is really happening . If the mouse had that opportunity to see what it was actually doing, do you think it would continue? The mouse doesn’t have the rational sense to analyse its actions but human beings do.

So the question really is, are you a HuMan or a Mouse? Well then, it’s time to …