I'm goin to tread really carefully here...
I posted one of the threads that Hollyanne's referencing above. Dee shut that thread down, and I can see that he edited some of what she posted above. I don't want to re-open it.
Clear?
...I don't see addicts vs non-addicts. I didn't see our thread as being a brawl at all, but a group of people wanting to understand, and "telling us it was time to go to bed" were my words of thanks to Dee.
I do see some stereotyping and misinformation. I am an alcoholic. It's not a badge of honour, but it is something that I am. Admitting to it means that some people have preconceptions about me that can be hard to deal with. And, yeah, it bugs me to know that some people don't consider me to be normal, and to know that I've done things to earn their classification of me.
I'm not proud of being an alcoholic, and I've only told a couple of people I'm in recovery. I hope I tell more people as time goes on.
But all that's complicated. You asked whether self-identifying is important? It's ten to one in the afternoon here. If I hadn't identified myself as an alcoholic I'd be w&nkered by now.