joedris

One more time for possible comprehension. Alcoholism is a disease. The AMA has classified it as a diease since 1956. Our beloved government, as part of the CDC and National Institutes of Health have the NIAA - National Institute for Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse. 80% of the funding for alcoholism comes from the NIAA. However, if you don't want to believe it's a disease, then don't. That's ok.
It's easy to hold alcoholics responsible for their actions when they drink. One of the tenets of AA is that you aren't responsible for being an alcoholic but you ARE responsible for your actions. And believe me, GerryP, powerlessness is no myth. An alcoholic is powerless over alcohol. That is a crucial part of step 1. Alcoholics don't drink because they want to, they drink because they cannot not drink.
And whether this disease is hereditary or not really isn't important if you're an alcoholic. Trying to figure which of your ancestors gave you the bad gene is like a malaria victim hunting through the jungle trying to find the misquito that bit him. Treat the disease, dammit! Don't worry how you got it. And just to set the record straight, around 40% of alcoholics have no family history of the disease. NIAA's statistics, not mine. And how long have I been sober? 1 day, today. And I hope that tomorrow it'll continue to be one day. I take it one day at a time. I have been in recovery for a few 24 hours, though.