Do you guys agree alcoholism/addiction is a symptom of a personality disorder in most cases?
Looking around at the rooms of AA I hear that many people, once sober, finally become diagnosed for other ailments: chronic depression is a big one, eating disorders, self harming, bipolar are also things I've heard recovered alcoholics discuss. The AA book "Living Sober" highly recommends that we seek help for these outside issues.
I don't think that alcoholism is a symptom of personality disorders, but that alcoholism and personality disorders can exist side by side, giving the person a "double diagnosis". I have a brother who is diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. His mental illness presented itself during adolescence long before he developed chronic alcoholism. And yes, I think that if a person has an underlying disorder, they will try to self medicate.
If we try to see mental disorders as the cause of alcoholism I think we run into a problem: what about all the people with the same mental disorders who
don't develop alcoholism?