Is Alcoholism a disease or addiction?

A disease.

They say disease, i say addiction. Maybe the disease is the increased susceptibilty to addiction :O

Not a disease. Just an uninformed choice; a failure to recognize the difference between one's free will and the urges of the body.

http://www.rational.org for more info.

I have no idea really, but my opinion is calling it a disease is a bit of a cop out. Like, it's not my fault, I have a disease. Seems easier than admitting to merely having an addiction.

mcmeekle said:

Exactly; if it's a disease, I can never overcome it.

I'd call it a way of life.

On a serious note, most alcoholics are depressed. They basically self medicate on alcohol. The problem is that alcohol is a depressant, so they only make things worse in the long run.

On the other hand, a little alcohol is great for those suffering anxiety. Of course, providing it is done in moderation.

teller said:

Many alcoholics cannot overcome it, teller. Meaning, they may be able to stop drinking, but they can never start up again and drink socially or even have one drink. That one drink starts them up all over again, even if they have been clean for many years.

AzureStar said:

That could still be an addiction though.

I'm not an alcoholic. I'm a drunk. There's a difference.

chickengrease said:

:LOL: Agreed. I was told to stop, but i thought hell no, i'm no quitter :LOL:




Crocked edit
[This message was edited Tue Feb 18 17:29:59 PST 2003 by SuperC]

mcmeekle said:

Yes, it could be. I look at it as a disease as it runs in my family... on my dad's side. His grandpa, his dad, him, his sister and my brother. I really don't know what it is, but I do know that it is horrible... I've always just looked at it as a disease.

AzureStar said:

Maybe it doesn't matter how you define it. If your viewpoint helps in any way, who cares. It's a fine line.

Now, go on. Have a drink. (You wont get that reference, but trust me, it's dead funny.)

teller said:

Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic...
no-one ever 'OVERCOMES' being an alcoholic.
they learn to deal with their ALCOHOLISM, but it's always there, all it takes is ONE MORE DRINK and it's on.
After a cancer patient has overcome the cancer, they still bare the marks of their desease wheather it be physical, or mental.
ALCOHOLISM IS A DESEASE, it's just not one of them that gets a lot of respect from people not going through it.

mcmeekle said:

You're right... I didn't get it, but that does not surprise me! I will laugh anyway...

AzureStar said:

I didn't mean to overstate your statement :GRIN:

00769BAD said:

You said it better than me anyway...

SuperC said:

well, alcoholism is an addiction. addiction is the disease. a very well reknown medical dictionary defines a disease as "a definite morbid process with a characteristic chain of symptoms, whose course is predictable within a population" addiction meets this criteria. the ama recognized addiction as a disease in 1956. the chain of symptoms and progression of addiction is well documented. the course is predictable and also well documented.

there are volumes of medical research that provide overwhelming evidence that addicts react to intoxicants differently in a definte biochemical way than do non-addicts. twin studies provide evidence of genetic predisposition to addiction.

the "if it's a disease, you can never overcome it" thing is like diabetics saying "screw it i have a disease, blindness and limb amputation are inevitable, more cake" or a cancer patient saying "what's the use of trying to treat this, screw it i've got cancer". addiction is treatable, and addicts can reach a state of remission, like cancer patients. if they continue to treat the addiction, they stay in remission, if they quit treating the addiction, they relapse.
[This message was edited Tue Feb 18 19:05:38 PST 2003 by medoc2003]

medoc2003 said:

Great response...

AzureStar said:

I said that with half as many words. Where is my praise?

SuperC said:They say disease, i say addiction. Maybe the disease is the increased susceptibilty to addiction

SuperC said:

Great response!

(I missed it, I guess...)

00769BAD said:

Well said. Besides, it's not a very useful question, IMO. Disease or addiction? Either one is hard enough to kick, and I couldn't care less if it's a choice or not, since once you've made that choice and your system is hooked, you are too and in some cases you'll be sick from withdrawal.

It sucks when you don't know that you're a alcoholic. I'm not depressed or anything, but I think I might be a alcoholic. I'm not sure though.

AzureStar said:

i think a lot of these people can laugh it off as "oh, it's not a disease... that's just a cop-out" because they don't know what it's like... either they've never gone through it, or they don't know anyone who has...

i know that it's a disease... although, i didn't know it at the time, i can trace my alcoholism as far back as 6 years old... i can still remember the first sip of beer that my grandfather gave me... my grandfather tried to keep me away from shit like that by exposing it to me at an early age... i smoked my first cigarette at 5... i vomited... he laughed at me and said, "i bet you'll never do that again"... and i never did...

he gave me my first beer, and i wanted another... and another... until i was smashed... he was completely embarrassed when he had to take me back home to my mom and explain what had happened... and the craving was born... i began drinking with relative consistency at 12... i used to break into my uncle's house and steal his shit...

when i moved out of the house and went to college, i went on a liquor diet... i used to drink vodka (and occasionally rum) from the time i woke up til i passed out at night... i used to carry around a sports bottle of vodka to class with me (everyone just assumed it was water)... i would drink so much that i couldn't eat... .i found a picture of myself about a month ago... i can't remember where it was taken, but from my hair, i will assume that it was taken in 98... i'm standing in someone's living without my shirt on, and all of my ribs are disgustingly visible... i had it laying on my coffee table, and my buddy joe picks it up and comments, "hey dude, i didn't know you had ethiopian ancestry"...

it took a series of events (and court dates) to get me off the booze...

but the craving is still there sometimes... i used to be an antisocial drinker... so, if the wife ever has to go out of town for any reason, i have to surround myself with a ton of people... cause, if i'm alone for too long, i can feel that shit creeping up on me...

with exception of the few times that i've fallen off the wagon (well, few is maybe a little bit of an understatement), i've been sober for about 2 years now... somedays, it's something that you don't even think about... other days, it's the only thing you can think about...

and yes, it also runs in my family... on both sides... ... it makes me worry about having children someday...



edit of the day...
[This message was edited Tue Feb 18 20:16:53 PST 2003 by EllisDee]

AzureStar said:

As an addictions counsellor, I'd have to agree with U.

EllisDee said:
i think a lot of these people can laugh it off as "oh, it's not a disease... that's just a cop-out" because they don't know what it's like... either they've never gone through it, or they don't know anyone who has...

this covers so much shit it ain't even funny...

i know that it's a disease... although, i didn't know it at the time, i can trace my alcoholism as far back as 6 years old... i can still remember the first sip of beer that my grandfather gave me... my grandfather tried to keep me away from shit like that by exposing it to me at an early age... i smoked my first cigarette at 5... i vomited... he laughed at me and said, "i bet you'll never do that again"... and i never did...

we are simular in many ways, except i took to the cigarettes and weed and said fuck drinkin... don't like throwin up

00769BAD and

EllisDee said:

I think you'll find I wasn't laughing anything off. And yes, I've lived with addictions all my life, either alcohol or nicotine, either family members or myself.

Interesting how you brought up cigarettes. How does it differ from alcoholism? I can't think of an -ism to attach to the nicotine addict. They must just be addicts.

As I said in my first post, I don't know what it is, this is only my opinion. It's the attitude to the problem that I reckon is the cop-out. Maybe that wasn't clear.

It's easier for the alcoholic to wallow in the notion that he/she is suffering from a disease than a simple addiction. He/she can then look for someone else to cure them. As would someone with, say, scirosis of the liver. That doesn't mean I think all alcoholic's will do this. But some do.

And as I said in my last post, does it matter what you define it as, whether it be addiction, disease or hat-stand? If your definition helps you, great!

I truly think it tremendous that you have been dry for 2 years EllisDee. It can be done, I've seen it first hand. I have respect for those who beat this, er, affliction! Good luck.

00769BAD said:

:LOL:


yeah... i always thought that maybe i'd used to it eventually... ... never happened...

:LOL:
[This message was edited Wed Feb 19 5:07:41 PST 2003 by EllisDee]