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Is alcoholism a disease?

Hitchens

Is it a mental disease or a physical one or a combination of both, or is it an addiction rather than a disease?

If someone in that position gives up alcohol are they ever cured ........if it is a disease?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3112825/DR-MAX-MIND-DOCTOR-pity-Charles-Kennedy-alcoholic-NOT-disease.html

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Mr Rhode Island Red

More of a disorder than a disease.

The Backwards Man

It's an addiction. But. just as you don't 'choose' to have a disease, you don't 'choose' to have an addiction either.

the evasion_kid

Both really,most doctors will tell you to treat it like a disease just like diabetes its up to you to manage it,most alcoholics will tell you of the mental obsession with the bottle!my own experience of it,you're never cured,even say ten years down the road if you pick it back up it wont take too long before youre waking up again surrounded by empty cans/bottles....you can't turn a pickle back into a cucumber!

Junkyard Tom

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7pA3ak4CxI

Alexis Sanchez

No, I don't consider it to be a disease. A disease has to be tangible, it's something you can see under a microscope.

I looked at definitions and they're so vague that autism could be considered a disease, which is silly.

Menas

Not a disease in my opinion.
But I do think that some people are propositioned with addictive personalities.
It's how they cope with that which makes the difference.

Bongalongherb

It's an addiction, not a disease, but can lead to disease of the liver/other.

catallus

It is a malady of the soul, rather than the mind or body.

But doctors or scientists don't have the apparatus to examine one's soul; so they say it is a disease.

mahamageehad

It's an addiction that can lead to medical implications, not a disease.

Bongalongherb

I don't mind saying it because it's the truth. I am a long-term alcoholic and not proud of it, but I can tell you first hand that it is a serious addiction of which can, and eventually will, lead to a disease. But it is not a disease itself, it's an addiction full-stop.. Even I know this.

Cheers

Wacker The Attacker

funny_feet wrote: »

no , you cant beat a disease with will power

you can beat alcoholism with will power and becoming an alcoholic in the first place is as a result of lack of will power

Alcoholism has been shown to have a genetic component. Therefore certain sections of the population are predisposed.

Following your logic. We should be able beat cancer and heart disease with will power. I think you'll find that your logic is flawed to put it mildly.

Hitchens

I once read or heard somewhere that you could actually be an alcoholic even if you had never taken a drink of alcohol.

Perhaps that was just an old wives tale.........or was there a truth there?

catallus

Hitchens wrote: »

I once read or heard somewhere that you could actually be an alcoholic even if you had never taken a drink of alcohol.

Perhaps that was just an old wives tale.........or was there a truth there?

Like one can be a Christian without ever having heard of Jesus?

Makes sense.

Wacker The Attacker

Hitchens wrote: »

I once read or heard somewhere that you could actually be an alcoholic even if you had never taken a drink of alcohol.

Perhaps that was just an old wives tale.........or was there a truth there?

Because of the genetic element. That's true.

Wacker The Attacker

If alcoholism isn't a disease how come it can be "cured"?

ceadaoin.

Well the vast majority of the medical world consider it to be a disease so I think that they are more qualified than the average joe to come to that conclusion.

It is a progressive illness that if left untreated often leads to death. How is that not a disease? An alcoholic may have made the choice to start drinking in the first place, but once the alterations in brain chemistry have been made and physical addiction kicks in, there is little choice in the matter.

Bongalongherb

Wacker The Attacker wrote: »

If alcoholism isn't a disease how come it can be "cured"?

It can only be cured with another few alcoholic drinks and then all is A-Ok

the evasion_kid

funny_feet wrote: »

calling it a disease does a disservice to people with alcohol problems as it excuses there self destructive habbit

Well it is progressive,anyone that's had a few relapses under their belt will tell you even during periods of sobriety that mothef*cker is doing push-ups in the background just waiting on the moment you take that first drink,you might get away with a the first few times then like a roller coaster that's reached the top of an incline....bang the brakes come off

Bongalongherb

Trying to give it up is one feat for sure. The with-drawls can be very bad indeed, it could even possibly kill a person. Basically, you cannot function properly without it, it can be nasty coming off of it. I managed 2 weeks off it clean and then at the end of the second week I encountered massive with-drawls and went back on it, the shakes were so bad I had no choice.

It can be a nasty one, and damn hard to just stop it after 28 years addicted to it.

I still have to reject the notion that it is a disease.

Custardpi

Very interesting article in The Atlantic from a few months back about alcoholism, Alcoholics Anonymous & competing narratives around problem drinking. It challenges the one-size-fits-all approach to the issue, noting that studies have shown that most heavy drinkers can actually become moderate drinkers with doctor's help, rather than being completely powerless over it. The "incurable disease" theory applied by AA does appear to be pretty shaky scientifically, as are many of the methods promoted by them to help sufferers. The writer travels to Finland where they're trying out a range of different treatments, including drug based ones which diminish a person's desire for alcohol. Apparently most patients can have alcohol after the treatment there, without the uncontrollable urge to binge which they had before. There's some people it doesn't work for of course, who need to stay 100% away from drink for life, but for most aiming for a respectful relationship with alcohol rather than a complete break seems to work better in terms of avoiding relapses into booze oblivion. I'm not medically qualified to say that this is definitely a better approach than the mainstream AA one but it's a very interesting article nonetheless & I'd urge everyone to read it, even if it is quite long.

Mechanical Clocktail

It's fully and objectively not a disease, and no one is born an alcoholic. Like smoking, it's a habit you acquire. And for people who have underlying issues it can get out of hand. It becomes a retreat, a release from reality, a way to cope, an escape. And I believe there's a small amount of people that just don't give a damn about their health and they simply like it, and for them that's enough. But no, it's not a disease.

mocha please!

My understanding is that in some cases it's an addiction, in the same way that you'd say a smoker is addicted to nicotine - you wouldn't consider them to be ill because of their nicotine addiction.

However in many other cases, excessive consumption of alcohol is a reaction to certain mental health illnesses, e.g. bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, depression, OCD, psychosis, etc. The sufferers use alcohol to alleviate the symptoms caused by their illness.

Cases like these should be treated by medical professionals as a dual diagnosis - yes, the patient needs to be safely detoxed from the alcohol, but generally once the underlying mental health issues are resolved, there will no longer be any need for the patient to rely on alcohol as a crutch. So the focus should be on diagnosing and treating whatever else is going on that's making the patient feel the need to self-medicate.

Penny Tration

Mechanical Clocktail wrote: »

It's fully and objectively not a disease, and no one is born an alcoholic. Like smoking, it's a habit you acquire. And for people who have underlying issues it can get out of hand. It becomes a retreat, a release from reality, a way to cope, an escape. And I believe there's a small amount of people that just don't give a damn about their health and they simply like it, and for them that's enough. But no, it's not a disease.

I really hate when people call alcoholism and nicotine addiction 'habits.'

They're addictions. Not habits.

anncoates

In some ways, it doesn't matter.

Well, obviously the categorization does matter greatly in some ways but not if it's simply being used to nitpick and belittle the struggle that it presents with Norman Tebbit style moralizing.

mickstupp

There's something very familiar going on here...

delw

People don't choose to have a disease but they choose to drink.To be honest i think it's more of a mental health issue rather than a disease

YFlyer

Alexis Sanchez wrote: »

No, I don't consider it to be a disease. A disease has to be tangible, it's something you can see under a microscope.

I looked at definitions and they're so vague that autism could be considered a disease, which is silly.

Lol.

InTheTrees

Wacker The Attacker wrote: »

If alcoholism isn't a disease how come it can be "cured"?

A broken leg can be cured too.

:rolleyes:

blatantrereg

Alcoholism is a mental and physical illness. An alcoholic who stops drinking will experience physical and mental symptoms. A bit condescending and uninformed to dismiss it as a habit. It's not like not bothering to wash the dishes after you cook or something.

Societies which put addiction in the context of healthcare have been shown to be more effective in dealing with it than societies which deal with it in a judicial context.

At a personal level, thinking of nicotine addiction as a disease has been more successful than thinking of it as a bad habit. (Have not smoked in over six months.)

Atlantic Dawn

Disease is the lightweight term for uncontrolled indulgence.