Originally Posted by
stone 
But I am not addicted to alcohol, never really have been but I am still an alcoholic. It is not about physical addiction it is a mental thing.
If it was only about a physical addition then as soon as people with a problem with drugs/alcohol had a few days/weeks clean they would never drink/use again...but this is not the case, they drink/use again because of their mental state not because of anything physical.
Sorry Stone, but we will have to agree to disagree here. When you wake up with the shakes and only a drink works, you know there is a physical dependence going on. That is the psychiatric term for alcoholic and I much prefer it. I've had this happen on several occasions - the shakes. A couple of times I thought I was going to seize. However, one can never discount the powerful mental addiction as well. Something that was really weird - I was on 400 mgs of a mood stabilizer. I had a bottle of wine in my refrigerator for a month and FORGOT it was there. No - to me - this really is a cellular deal. Oh, ,and BTW, alcohol WILL kill during withdrawals. I know of no other "drug" capable of doing that. Oh, except for Benzos. Point is, they are all such powerful CNS's that they do kill if not medically managed when severe.