Chapter V - WillChapter V - Will
Psychology of Alcoholism, The by George Barton Cutten (1874 - 1962)
A psychological study examines how chronic alcohol use weakens willpower by damaging memory, attention, intellect and emotional control. Through detailed theory, case examples and simple lab experiments, it portrays the alcoholic’s struggle to act on good intentions despite intense impulse and reduced mental energy.
1:05:37•1 Apr 2026
Willpower Under Siege: How Alcohol Weakens the Mind’s Control
Episode Overview
- Will is presented as a complex mental function that depends on healthy brain cells, attention, memory and emotion, rather than an isolated inner power.
- Chronic alcohol use is described as attacking willpower early, turning deliberate choice into impulsive behaviour and making sustained effort extremely difficult.
- Loss of memory and impaired intellect narrow a person’s possible goals, until the urge for more alcohol can become the dominant and sometimes only effective motive.
- Emotional life shifts so that lower, instinctive feelings and appetites grow stronger while higher, moderating feelings weaken, leaving impulses largely unchecked.
- Simple experiments with tapping and finger exertion show that people with long-term alcohol problems struggle to increase effort on command and to keep it going.
“"Alcohol is a puissant will-paralyzer."”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This classic psychology lecture-style chapter asks a harder question first: what happens when that strength has been worn away by alcohol? Working methodically, the author breaks down the idea of “will” – not as something mystical, but as something tightly tied to the brain, attention, memory and emotion.
He questions the old idea of a separate “will centre” in the brain and instead links will to the same areas that control movement, thought, and feeling. As he bluntly puts it, "Alcohol is a puissant will-paralyzer." The episode focuses on how chronic drinking weakens willpower long before people look obviously unwell.
The will is described as the “controlling, guiding, enforcing, or inhibiting agency” of the person – the last and most delicate product of human development, and therefore one of the first things to break down. Alcohol is said to chip away at attention, memory, judgement and emotional balance, until choices shrink and impulse takes over. A striking thread is the gap between intention and action.
The text notes that many people "know that they are Alcoholics and deplore the fact bitterly, yet they are unable to use their wills to correct it." Case examples show respected professionals who clearly see the damage, sincerely wish to stop, but feel unable to resist the next drink, even under supervision. There’s also a surprisingly modern feel to the experimental section.
Simple lab set‑ups measuring tapping speed and finger strength are used to show how people with long-term alcohol problems struggle to sustain effort or control their movements compared to non‑drinkers, even after a period of sobriety. This chapter is ideal for anyone curious about why “just use willpower” is such an unfair instruction in addiction, and how biology, habit, emotion and effort all collide in the struggle to stop drinking.
Does this more compassionate, brain-based view of willpower change how you see your own or someone else’s drinking story?
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