Bunky’s Doodle
The famous Bunky’s Doodle, or the Progressive Phases of Alcoholism by Dr. E. M. Jellinek, was presented to Jane and George Strachan at the Summer School of Alcohol Studies on July 18, 1950 at Pearson College of Yale University in New Haven, CT. With the passage of time, the ink is now barely legible on the original Bunky’s Doodle. Luckily, the CAS Library managed to digitize its cherished treasure in 2011, saving an electronic copy for prosterity and future research.
The text below the Doodle explains its background. The framed document was passed on as a memento from Dr. Strachan to Dr. Gail Milgram, the former Director of Education and Training at Rutgers CAS. The explanation reads: "The 'Doodle' -- a simplification of the phases -- is the history of concurrent symptoms of behavior during the progression of the illness of alcoholism, which Dr. Jellinek presented for the first time at that Summer School Session. The Phases of Alcoholism are shown in their entirety in my book Alcoholism: treatable illness. They were outlined in detail in the Quarterly Journal of Studies on Alcohol, vol. 13, No. 4 December 1952."
E. M. “Bunky” Jellinek’s fascination with the progression of alcoholism began after the publication in 1946 of his “Phases in the drinking history of alcoholics." The study was controversial: it relied on a questionnaire designed by and given to members of Alcoholics Anonymous, and only a small sample––98 responses hand-chosen by Jellinek from the 158 he received (out of 1600 initially distributed)––figured into the analysis. Still, it was enough to convince him that the progression of alcoholism followed a discernible pattern.
The initial sketch of what the progression looked like was presented to an audience at the eighth annual Summer School of Alcohol Studies at Yale University.
A more detailed questionnaire was then developed and administered to over 2000 male alcoholics. Originally published as an annex to a 1952 World Health Organization report, his “Phases of alcohol addiction” elaborated on what he took to be the four phases every alcoholic experienced with corresponding physical and mental characteristics.
Within a few years, Max M. Glatt, a doctor and founder of the Alcoholism Treatment Unit at Warlingham Park Hospital in England, noticed that former patients recounted similar recovery experiences after leaving the hospital. Glatt revised Jellinek’s chart to include this upswing of recovery. Although Jellinek himself was not responsible for this addition, the “Jellinek curve” still bears his name.
The Jellinek curve has since been widely popularized and is a sine qua non of substance abuse treatment centers. See some varieties of the Jellinek curve below.
