Originally Posted by
OhBoy 
Alcoholism is progressive, It will progress until something ends it. There are two choices, recovery or death. I'm sure there are exceptions, but dyed in the wool alcoholism is limited to those two outcomes. The timing could be next week or 20 years from now, everyone is different.
In AA we say there are three: jails, institutions, or death, if one does not seek/get recovery. But otherwise you are right on the money.
Originally Posted by
pinkdog Progressive means that it will take more to achieve the same results. I'm an alcoholic. Over time, the quantity increases.
I am an alkie, too-- and I was just talking about this today! You know how sometimes the tolerance goes
down? After years of drinking X amount, all of a sudden you can't drink as much. Here is a scary thought: I heard it is because we are carrying around a constant blood alcohol level. Which is why it takes less, because we're just "topping it off" now.
Originally Posted by
Learn2Live "It's progressive" means it is going to get worse. The signs, symptoms, and results of the alcoholism are going to worsen. The disease of alcoholism cannot be cured; it can only be halted and only by the person who has the disease. Alcoholism progresses in stages. You can google "stages of alcoholism" or "stages of addiction" for more information.
This.
Progressive means just that: that the disease keeps on progressing, or getting worse,
whether or not the alkie is in recovery. Scary or what? In my meeting they say that while we are in here recovering, our disease is out in the parking lot doing push-ups. Waiting.
I have it, and I have nearly 18 years of sobriety, and this still just scares the poop out of me.
Does that help?