I dunno' . . . I really don't care if "alcoholism is real" or not. I don't need a name for not being able to stop drinking against my will - to the point of collapsing my professional career, endangering my health, and challenging my closest relationships. I happen to agree with Bill W, that addiction of any kind is a spiritual, ummm . . . syndrome. And then, there's the latest neurological research regarding the compulsion to drink or use intoxicants against one's will. Maybe there's no such thing as depression, or schizophrenia, either. But it's pretty obvious that people think, behave, do, and also ingest intoxicants, with wildly differing results from one another. I'd be happy for the whole paradigm of addiction and treatment to be completely inaccurate. And I'm happy the OP didn't have to go through what I did. I wonder . . . does he have a clue why so many people destroy their lives, their families, their careers, and die (like, lots, every day) because they can't stop doing what they're doing? I'm not a big "ism" person; I'd really like a different take on whatever that is.