Is Alcoholism A Disease??

It probably isn't a disease but it is treatable like one. For that matter, there are plenty of lifestyle illnesses (like lung cancer as the result of smoking or heart disease as the result of years of being overweight) that are preventable but are also treatable like a disease.

Sometimes, it's a fine line.

 

I think its a condition passed down through the genes.

People are indeed sick, out of whack, out of their mind, whatever when they are under the grasp of alcohol, so maybe thats why they wanna believe its a disease.

 

I agree completely. I am also the son of an Alcoholic that calls it a disease. She tells me that I inherited that disease, and i have to be carefull. I am not nor have ever been a problematic drinker.

as it is, i drink maybe one night a week. almost always on a weekend, and usually just 3-4 beers. every 3 weeks or so i will have a drunken night and have much more. I also go months without touching a drop sometimes, it just depends on the ocasions, and my mood. so if i have the disease, how come it hasnt taken hold of me yet?? how come my mother also smokes and cant quit that?? simple. my mother is human, and for all her strength in other areas, she likes having a crutch. likes succuming to her weakness, and likes to "kill the pain" she is not disseased, she is just weak willed in some areas. She is right though. i need to be carefull. we all do. alcohol erodes your will power, so dont get yourself stuck in that trap.

and yes I love her to death.

PEACE

 

I agree.

I think that alcoholism is an excuse made up by drunks to try and justify their drinking problem.

It all comes down to taking responsibility in your life and having the will power to say no.

 

VoR,

My father is also an alcoholic and I've been told the same things about it being "passed on".When I was younger I drank quite a bit and believed I may be an acoholic.As I grew older the drinking slowed down to where I only drink the occasional 3 or so beers and never get drunk.I just came to a point in my life and made a conscious decision to drink less.

 

Unless you know the mind of an alcoholic or are one, you will never understand the disease of alcoholism. Its not just about putting alcohol into your body, its a manifestation of the disease in your mind.

Wheather you want to believe it or not, millions do. The wondeful thing is there is a cure.

Man has been on this earth for thousands of years, but there had never been a solution that has cured MILLIONS of people of alcoholism until 1935. When people started to understand alcoholism as a disease, they were able to cure it.

Many smart men have been dumbfounded by alcoholism. But when people started to treat it like a disease, a cure was found.

No its not a disease like Aids or Parkisons, but it is treatable like one. Its also sometimes passed down. But not all diseases are inherited. My father has diabetes and my mother has a genetic heart deffect, but niether my sister nor I show any signs of both. Are these not diseases?

While some may not believe it is a disease, when you start to treat it like one a solution developes.

If it acts like a disease, is treatable like a disease.......

 

Its not a justification, its the begining of a solution.

I

Thats the enigma that is alcoholism, one has lost the power of choice. Untill the alcoholism is treated there is no such thing as will power.

 

The issue isn't whether or not you get alot or even drink regularly. Most experts on alcoholism will tell you that it is WHY you drink that defines your behavior. If you drink to make yourself feel better or to be more comfortable, you are using it as a coping mechanism and that isn't healthy.

We all use one coping mechanism or another. Alcohol is no different. The biggest problem is that it is both physically and emotionally addictive.