cold turkey

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"Cold turkey" is a slang expression describing the actions of a person who gives up a habit or addiction all at once. That is, rather than gradually easing the process through reduction or by using replacement medication. Its supposed advantage is that by not actively using supplemental methods, the person avoids thinking about the habit and its temptation, and avoids further feeding the chemical addiction. The supposed disadvantages related to the abuse of drugs such as alcohol, benzodiazepines, and heroin are unbearable withdrawal symptoms from the total absence, which may cause tremendous stress on the heart and blood vessels and -- in a worst case scenario -- possible stroke or heart failure.

The etymology derives from the phrase talk turkey, in which someone deals matter-of-factly with a subject^[1]. Some, however, believe the derivation is from the comparison of a cold turkey carcass and the state of a withdrawing addict — most notably, the cold sweats and goose bumps.^{[citation needed]} It is often preceded by the verb "to go," as in "going cold turkey." Yet another suggestion of origin is that cold turkey is a dish that needs little or no preparation. "To quit like cold turkey" would be to quit in the same way a cold turkey is served, instantly just as you are without preparation.

Sudden withdrawal from drugs such as alcohol, benzodiazepines and barbiturates can be extremely dangerous, leading to potentially fatal seizures. In long-term alcoholics, going cold turkey can cause life-threatening delirium tremens and thus is not an appropriate method for breaking an alcohol addiction.^ Hughes JR (February 2009). "Alcohol withdrawal seizures". Epilepsy Behav. doi:10.1016/j.yebeh.2009.02.037. PMID 19249388. http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1525-5050(09)00093-6.

In the case of dependence upon certain drugs, including opiates such as heroin, going cold turkey may be extremely unpleasant, but is not dangerous^{[citation needed]}.

Use in popular culture

• In the 1955 film The Man With The Golden Arm former card sharp, heroin addict and reformed convict Frankie Machine (Frank Sinatra) is slipping back into old habits, struggling to kick his heroin addiction once and for all and quits in his own words "cold turkey", suffering the tortures of heroin abstinence including muscle cramps, chills, tremors and profuse sweating in a legendary performance.
• In the 1975 film, French Connection II, Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle (Gene Hackman) is kidnapped by the antagonist Alain Charnier (Fernando Rey) and repeatedly injected with heroin. An addicted Doyle is freed and he quits cold turkey. In a haunting sequence, he goes through heroin withdrawal symptoms that include muscle cramps, chills, tremors and profuse sweating.
• John Lennon and The Plastic Ono Band made the term famous with the song "Cold Turkey," which was about Lennon breaking his addiction to heroin.
• In the 1996 film Trainspotting a heroin addict, Mark Renton, is held in his room by his parents making him go cold turkey rather than going to the rehabilitation clinic.
• In the movie Christiane F. - Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo there are many frightening cold turkey scenes.
• In the book The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King, the character Eddie Dean and his brother talk about going "cool turkey" before going cold turkey, where they try to take less drugs than usual instead of completely quitting.
• In the book Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, the author (Roberts himself) describes in detail his own harrowing experience of going cold turkey off heroin in Mumbai, India.
• In Norman Lear's 1971 movie Cold Turkey, Dick Van Dyke tries to convince an entire town to give up smoking for one month.
• An episode of the TV series M*A*S*H focuses on a nurse whose secret drinking problem gradually becomes public knowledge; when she quits cold turkey, she suffers a severe attack of delirium tremens.
• An episode of the TV series Shameless shows Paddy being forced by his sons to go cold turkey from his heroin addiction.

References

1. ^ "cold turkey". Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc.. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/turkey. Retrieved on 2006-12-20. 

2. Cold Turkey - Dictionary References & Etymology
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3. Cold Turkey - Etymology
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