cuttlefish

Concolor, these two statements of yours stood out to me. For the first, I think this is true for a lot of people prescribed medications for emotional/psychological problems. Sadly it comes down to cost and time.

I have to disagree with the second statement though. I do think alcoholics and addicts have underlying problems that they use drugs and alcohol to cope with. But name me one single person on this planet who doesn't do the same...we all have problems of some sort, there is really no 'normal', everyone just resorts to different ways of dealing. It never starts out with "I'm so sad, I need to drink/use", its more "Hey that tastes nice/feels good", the hook/pleasure is I think what people are seeking, that and is perhaps the first indication that something isn't 'right' either emotionally or physically.

I don't know the science, but that is what I've seen/experienced. I think alcoholism is part genetics, part environment. As for the 'dry drunk' thing, I think it is the person struggling to completely adjust their known environment. You always have your genes (and I think a lot more than just the known alcoholics have factors for addictions), but you can change your entire everything else. People in sobriety have had to change friends, social and work patterns, emotional reactions....that is stressful, and will make anyone cranky and an arse.

My opinion is that only after a period of addiction does alcoholism stand by itself. Not because it is a mental disorder, but because it is a maladaptive set of behaviors that must be unlearned. From childhood on, you learn cues about how to act, think, etc. That means most people have to unlearn very old cues...thats why alcoholism sort of stays around even after there is no more alcohol. It's not that the that first drink in sobriety is the killer, its the rituals/behaviors that go along with it...those are hard to untangle.

Again, my opinion.