Is "Alcoholic" A Dirty Word?
 

I hate being labeled a "alcoholic". I have noticed that anytime (outside meeting) I have admitted to being one I have been discriminated against. People say that its a disease but I feel that there is still a huge stigma against alcoholics/addicts. I have over 2 years sober and have been questioning whether or not alcoholism is really a disease? I know what the AMA states but still. I just had a physical with a new doctor and did not tell him I'm a recovering alki. I think I did the right thing.

I've lived my life with labels - son, brother, cripple, spastic, musician, historian - and a few dozen impolite ones - labels don't bother me anymore.

As for the doctor - it's your life and your health - you're entitled to do what you want, but I disagree with you - I can't see how my doctor can treat me properly if they only know half my story.

D

With a doctor, I think you should be honest. In social settings, it's fine not to tell people you're an alcoholic if you don't want to. Lots of people don't have the experience or understanding to know what alcoholism really is, so you might as well only tell people you trust (close friends/family).

Good work on 2 years by the way :)

Then most likely, you did yourself a favor by filtering those people out of your life. Why would you even want those petty people in your life?

I don't pour my life story onto anyone or offer up the fact that I am alcoholic, but it sometimes comes up. Most of the time people don't push after I tell them I don't drink and sometimes one must be firm with people who push. Depending on the situation, if someone asks if I am an alcoholic, then I might say yes. If they treat me differently for it, then to hell with them.

However, I do practice much more discretion about my alcoholism is in the professional realm.

I don't think it is a disease. However, it doesn't really matter that much to me what you call alcoholism; a disease, a malady, an illness, an affliction, a substance abuse disorder, etc. At the end of the day, alcoholism is real. It is dangerous. It is destructive. It is deadly.

If you are interested, there is some conversation about this topic, in this thread.
http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...a_disease.html

I disagree because I feel doctors discriminate the most. I have been denied pain meds in the past for very serious issues because of my label of "alcoholic." I'm discriminated against with extra high, super risk car insurance because of a few DUI's, 7 years ago. I already served my time & probation yet I still must pay for it. I'm not really a grateful alcoholic today. I suppose I'm dealing with lots of resentments.

Interesting..

Also, being diagnosed an alcoholic has VERY BAD consequences to your life... Since it's been classified as uncurable, your insurance rates, life insurance rates..ect..ect go WAY up...

Luckily i was only diagnosed as a problem drinker... I know you should be honest with your doctor, and you should.. But also realize their are consequences that go along with that label.

If my Dr discriminated against me for being an alcoholic I'd find a new one - and see the old one before the medical board.

I have too much medically going on not to be honest. It'd be like playing roulette.

I think it always pays to be honest J41 - with everyone else, but especially with ourselves.
Half truths are the most deadly I think.

D

The doctors aren't "discriminating" against you. The fact is, certain medications are high-risk for most alcoholics to take. I've never in my life had an issue with pain meds--I don't like the way they make me feel (unlike the way I love how alcohol makes me feel--in the short run, anyway). If you don't feel you can communicate well with your doctor, you should find a new one. Lying to the doctor could cause you a lot of problems--alcoholism-related symptoms, for example, could be misinterpreted. If you incurred any liver damage certain meds might be very risky for you to take.

I keep my alcoholism private except on a need-to-know basis. The doc is someone who "needs to know", IMO.

I didn't exactly lie to the new doctor, I just skillfully omitted my alcoholism diagnosis. I'm having trouble with my chronic back problems and refuse to live in pain. No Ibprofrin doesn't work at all neither does yoga, exercise, physical therapy, massages ect..... I've tried everything.

From the School of Life:

1. Never lie to your doctor.

2. Never lie to your lawyer.


"skillfully omitted". Which step is that covered in? We will skillfully omit....

I'm relatively new to this but my plan is to not tell hardly anyone unless I can help it. And I definitely wouldn't label myself as an alcoholic. I don't care if that's what it is, it's none of anyone's business just like any other medical issue I might have.

If I do have to tell someone I'll just say that I have a problem and can't drink. That's all they need to know.

As far as the doctor goes if they ask I'll tell them the same thing, that I had a drinking problem in the past so I don't drink any more.

hi Jf1,
don't know about over there but here we have Dr's who have specialised in addiction and work in normal private practice clinics
maybe a Dr like this would be more helpful in treating your back pain and is more aware of possible liver issues.
sorry to hear the alternative approaches have not been successful.

I also use discretion with who l tell l'm an alcoholic.
(mostly because it entails answering too many nosy questions)

The first step towards change is acceptance.
Once you accept yourself, you open the door to change.
Change is not something you do, it's something you allow.
Will Garcia

I'm sorry your back pain has not improved...:hug:

I've taken pain meds short term for various conditions
and Yes...my doctors know of my recovery from alcoholism.

I've never felt it necessary to hide my recovery from anyone.
You begin life with a lable...M or F...:)

I don't have a history of drunk driving....so I have no clue
as to insurance rates. Is there not a time linit?

Interesting. I haven't told anybody outside my immediate family and people in AA, except for one person at work (my former boss). He claims total discretion, and I believe him, mostly because I've shown such good conduct after quitting.

As far as my doctor, we haven't really discussed labels. Maybe we should. She seems to just consider my foray into alcoholic drinking as an incidence of of bad judgment, for which I decided to seek help and am now doing fine. I guess she would have to report my admission for detox on any forms that specifically ask for it. Hmmm. Guess I'm lucky I already have plenty of level term insurance...

I certainly don't agree you did the right thing by not telling a doctor you are a recovering alcoholic...imagine if something went wrong and you had health problems of some sort and your doctor is now trying to make a diagnosis given only some of the information...really is old behaviour IMO

As for alcoholic, i see a CBT counselor whois recovered 24 years and has worked in the most well known 12 step rehab centres in the UK...he considers alcoholic a label too so he, and a lot of people in the medical profession, use the term substance abuser...personally i told him to consider me an alcoholic because the term substance abuser gives me an image of someone sitting under a bridge sniffing glue...

When it all boils down to it thought you and i are drunks pure and simple, call it what you want as long as you accept this reality:-)

Just - You have good experience shared in this thread.

All I can add is that I would be a fool not to have been candid with my doctors about my drinking history. I could care less about labels but when it comes to my health - physical/mental it is of the utmost importance for me to lay my cards out there so my healthcare providers can help me. How you refer to yourself is on you but yeah....my years of hardcore boozing is not something I keep to myself when it comes to my health.

Kinda funny but no one diagnosed me as anything. I knew what I was and reached out. Nothing has affected me in terms of insurance, health care, etc.

I don't have tons of people in my life but the ones I have now care about me.

Don't let something so petty get in your way. Labels are the last thing on my mind....how I live life now is what matters :)

It's up to you if you want to call yourself an alcoholic or not. When you talk to a doctor and his ask about your history, just tell him that you use to drink heavy and not you don't drink anymore. Plan and simple. To me I could never understand why in AA meetings that people say, Hey, I'm _________ and I'm an alcoholic.

I don't mind telling people why I don't drink. I share the information when someone asks (I don't bring it up randomly!!) so that there isn't a stigma. When I first joined the site, I wasn't sure if I wasn't being overly dramatic about my drinking. The more I read the more I realised that yes, I am an alcoholic. I think people should know that there is no certain image or demographic to this condition and that everyone who drinks is at risk. If they don't want to be around me because of it, then good riddance. It usually brings up people justifying their own drinking habits so already it's no longer about me and the conversation just carries on...

I stopped drinking on my own and didn't consult a doctor - I was on day 3 or 4 when I joined SR and read the dangers of detox. Fortunately, I didn't have any withdrawals but I consider myself very lucky. I think that if you don't wish to disclose the information to the doctor, then maybe that's telling you that you don't trust them and should change to someone you are comfortable disclosing the information.

I changed doctors recently. I wanted one closer to my work. I went to see her for the first time Friday and the first thing I said is that I am an opiate addict and alcoholic.

For me - I have to do that or I will manipulate the doctors to get what I want.

I tell everyone that I am a drug addict and alcoholic....and I have no idea why I do that.

I guess I don't think about what they might be thinking of me, but I'll tell ya....I have had many people approach me and ask me about it. A lot of people are so afraid to "come out of the closet" for the very reasons you have stated and they sit alone dying from this disease (or whatever you choose to call it.)

My friends who are not addicts or alcoholics researched the disease so they can better understand me. It's not just the drinking and using that are my problems; it's the decisions I make and the things I do.....sober.

I want to recover from this disease and all it entails as it is SO much more than just drinking and using.

I have back problems too. I was put in a "back class" which I went to last week and I start physical therapy next week and it feels SO good to be taking care of myself that way instead of taking pills for it (which I did for many many many years.)

This is an issue on which my opinion has changed a great deal over the years I've been sober, and here's why.

I do believe in the basic principle that we need to be honest with our health care professionals (lawyers too, but that's actually not the issue here).

At the same time, there is no doubt that the "alcoholic" or "alcohol dependent" label can have terrible consequences, and because of the notion that alcoholism is a "disease" that never goes away, these consequences follow you around literally forever. For example, life insurance. I am a very healthy person: I don't smoke, haven't had a drink in years, am at my ideal weight, exercise regularly, have perfect blood pressure, etc.....and yet I cannot get life insurance at preferred rates. I have to pay the standard nonsmoker rate, which is MUCH higher. And this will, according to my insurance agent, NEVER change. And it is because I went to rehab, where the ONLY thing they did was to tell me to go to AA meetings and charged my insurance for it. That puts it on my chart and it follows me like a barnacle.

Also, there's the issue of pain meds. I have been lucky enough not to need anything like that...yet...but I will tell you this: if I ever need pain meds, I bloody well want them, and I don't want them withheld because I had a drinking problem sometime in the last century.

So, in retrospect, I wish that I had not gone to rehab and that I had never told my doctors that I had a problem with alcohol.

Which of course goes entirely against my belief that one should be entirely honest with one's doctor, but there it is. Sometimes life is complicated.

OTT

PS: As far as the stigma issue: I do not call myself an "alcoholic", recovering or otherwise, in public, ever. Another thing I've learned. I'm a nondrinker, and that is really all anyone needs to know. I truly don't care to be defined by a problem I've resolved and left behind.