Alcoholism a disease??

I would truly like others opinions on this subject! I do not understand why alcoholism is considered a disease. I honestly don't.
My reason being, it runs in my family if you will, and I can take it or leave it. I choose not to drink everyday...I can buy a 12 pack of beer and drink on it for weeks...becauseI choose to... I have been known to throw them out because I have had them so long...I am a smoker...I have tried several times unsucessfully to quit ...does that mean smoking is a disease? My insurance company can charge me more because I smoke...but because alcoholism is classified as a disease then the premium stays the same? I am not bashing anyone that drinks, as I said, I myself like a beer or a glass of wine on occasion..but in my mind it is choice, not an illness! What do you think?

IMO alcohol is a disease. I have seen it first hand. My dad was an alcoholic and I saw it eat him alive basically. He finally sought treatment and is now sober...Isnt a disease something that eats at you in a way basically? Well at least that's how I always looked at it. Alcoholism has destroyed lives. It is a choice yes but what it does to you is different IMO from smoking. Yes smoking is bad for you but I dont see people needing interventions over smoking like you do for alcoholism. It's deadly on more than one level and for people who have it it's scary. One of my best friends is a recovering alcoholic and I also watched her get destroyed by it. Now she is married with 3 kids and doesnt drink anymore. It took years for both my dad and friend to recover from their alcohol addictions.

Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean its not there, It's a mind disease, just like depression (usually brought about throught that) Depression is a disease, it's not a choice, noone I've ever met, WANTED to be depressed, although a small portion did, but later didn't want to.

I've been to many maybe 1,000 AA meetings, it's a disease alright. From what I've noticed it's also very, extremely heriditary, about 99 percent of people in there, had parents and grandparents who were alcoholics.

I think its more of a sickness, or a desiese of the mind and soul if you will. Calling it a disease makes it easier to accept and lessen the shame that addiction suffers live with. Its nice to hear that your a sick person that can get well, not a bad person getting good. There is treatment for disease just as there is treatment for addiction.But only the patient can choose too take the medicine and want to get better. Thats assuming the disease doesn't have them in complete denial.

[edit on 19-5-2009 by The Great Day]

I think its more of a mental addiction, something that you use to ease pain cause by other events. That being said its a preventable and curable disorder

reply to post by Republican08


Thank you, and that is part of my point. It runs in my immediate family...why do I not have this disease? Believe me, I have seen it ruin lives...it has certainly touched mine...I like to drink, but I choose not to...so are you saying that for some people it is not a choice? I am just trying to understand...

Originally posted by phi1618
I think its more of a mental addiction, something that you use to ease pain cause by other events. That being said its a preventable and curable disorder

True

the physical addiction only takes 1-2 weeks to overcome depending on amount abused.

It's a disease. But here's the rub: You're either born with the predisposition to be an alchoholic or your aren't. What that means is that if it runs in your family you may or may not be born with that predisposition. You may be the one that can drink with impunity and quit whenever you want or you may be the one that drinks and then can't stop, has black outs and gets arrested and wrecks every car you drive.

Originally posted by Greenize
reply to post by Republican08

 

Thank you, and that is part of my point. It runs in my immediate family...why do I not have this disease? Believe me, I have seen it ruin lives...it has certainly touched mine...I like to drink, but I choose not to...so are you saying that for some people it is not a choice? I am just trying to understand...

i believe its passed on as a behavioral problem and not genetically. I think it is passed on in the same way dysfunction is perpetuated from generation to generation. Consider yourself fortunate.

reply to post by Greenize


For some, but look at it this way, my parents, mom has blonde hair blue eyes, my dad had brown hair brown eyes. My mom's a functional alcoholic, and my dad would drink to get drunk, but was by no means an alcoholic, he had started his own business and was very sucessful.

I have brown hair, brown eyes. I don't have blue eyes nor blonde hair, its specific to the way genes were passed on.

For some it's not a choice, but remember the first drink, is definately a choice, the last one may not always be a choice if you get my wording.

Originally posted by Greenize
reply to post by Republican08

 

Thank you, and that is part of my point. It runs in my immediate family...why do I not have this disease? Believe me, I have seen it ruin lives...it has certainly touched mine...I like to drink, but I choose not to...so are you saying that for some people it is not a choice? I am just trying to understand...

i guess it comes down to personal choice. But "liking something" which you do not need doesn't classify it as a disease, no more a disease than any other addictive substance. Staying clear of it is the best choice you can make if you feel you have a tendency to abuse or overuse such a substance. In my opinion its all mental and comes down to mental state.

reply to post by Republican08


Physical I shouldn't of put in, i'll say my dad loved mountain dew, I love mountain dew, my mom hates mountain dew.

My mom has anxiety, I have anxiety issues, my dad had no issues of that.

Originally posted by Greenize
I would truly like others opinions on this subject! I do not understand why alcoholism is considered a disease. I honestly don't.
My reason being, it runs in my family if you will, and I can take it or leave it. I choose not to drink everyday...I can buy a 12 pack of beer and drink on it for weeks...becauseI choose to... I have been known to throw them out because I have had them so long...I am a smoker...I have tried several times unsucessfully to quit ...does that mean smoking is a disease? My insurance company can charge me more because I smoke...but because alcoholism is classified as a disease then the premium stays the same? I am not bashing anyone that drinks, as I said, I myself like a beer or a glass of wine on occasion..but in my mind it is choice, not an illness! What do you think?

It's a disease because you may become dependant on alcohol. An addiction. Yes, just like cigarettes, drugs, ummm fried food?
Wait. Not 100% on obesity being a disease, but u know what a mean.

Diseases infest the body and mind.

Just like a cancer, sometimes you can cure the disease (alcoholism, addiction, chronic diseases, depressions etc.), and sometimes you can't. With whatever treatment methods fits best, regardless.

It's hard for me to argee that alcohalism is a disease, I think it is more like an addiction similar to a smoker. It is right there with drug addiction too. I did have a drinking problem a few years ago, but kicked the habit the hard way (alcohal poisoning) and I just keep it at a social level now. Plus this gives a lot of alcohalics something to excuse themselves for drinking excessively, which is they just say that they have a disease and it can't be cured. This makes them think that they are entitled to collect government checks because their disease has made them unable to work. I don't know if this applies to all alcoholics but just the ones I've been around.

reply to post by Republican08


Well alcoholism runs on BOTH my parents side. My dad was an alcoholic as well as my mother's father and his father too. My sister, brother and I barely drink. I drink while at work but I know when to stop and I NEVER drive when I have been drinking no matter if it's one or 2 drinks I take a cab. My brother I think has had maybe 12 beers in his life at 27. He just doesnt drink. My sister drinks while out just like me. So I guess we are all the 1% of kids who dont inherit this as you say. I know many people who have alcoholism and it doesnt run in their family.

reply to post by mblahnikluver


My dad was color blind, none of his kids total 8 are colour blind, sometimes it can skip generation, but beware it is still there.

I'm sorry for this question but, you drink while at work? What kind of job is that!?

There is such a thing as mental diseases. Alcoholism is one of them.

Alcoholism has been recognized for many years by professional medical organizations as a primary, chronic, progressive and sometimes fatal disease. The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence offers a detailed and complete definition of alcoholism, but probably the most simple way to describe it is "a mental obsession that causes a physical compulsion to drink."

alcoholism.about.com...

I have found this very informative. Its worth an hour.

www.youtube.com...

I'm an alcoholic...

By choice? maybe

By disease? probably not.

The reason I choose to drink... (only beer) is because I do not trust anti-deprseants or Zan-X, or any prescription drug to help me out...

I drink about 8 to 10 beers a day. I've learned not to drink the hard stuff because you will loose complete controll... but I've struggled to be happy when I don't have a cold beer in my hand.


You have to understand that there is nobody on ATS that can help explain the diference between alcoholism being a disease or a choice than I can.

#1. I've been court ordered in the past to attend AA meetings.

#2. AA says that God will help me.

#3. Where is the seperation between church and state in this mess? I've been court ordered to a program that tells me God is the only way? And not only that but in the twelve steps they refer to God as a "HE".



In the end it is a choice and a spiritual sickness... And I make bad choices, and my spirit is sick...

(But they will tell you the Brain science behind it that classifies it as a disease.)

I was recently thinking: "what is a disease?"

My conclusion: it's nothing more than a dis-"ease": something that can be, or is, a "problem", of some sort.

In my opinion, alcoholism for some people, is both a latent propensity and a realizable problem. The propensity accentuates the probability of problem. When it's a problem, it's obviously a dis-ease.

The tendency is to label alcoholism, even latent or overcome alcoholism, as a "disease", or disregard that label and consider it as a "moral choice". I think that dichotomy is inaccurate.

Is alcoholism only a disease when it's expressed, in a drunk? Does the non-expression of it mean the disease is "cured"? Does the fact that it's labeled a "disease" reduce the moral culpability of an individual for their actions? I'm curious to what other people's opinions are.