Life is a terminal illness Troy
I think it's very easy to get sidetracked with talk about is it a disease or not, but it's not actually necessary to decide what alcoholism is in order to stop. You can just...stop drinking alcohol.
I'm not saying it's easy, but it is simple in scope. If you have the desire to stop, you can.
As for being stuck in a hole - I drank and drugged for 30 years. I got out of the hole. It was a long climb back but I made it.
You can too - if you want to?
D