Alcoholism - a disease ... REALLY?
Member
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 328
Seeing addiction as a disease is probably the right way to look at it.
If I recall correctly stuff I read years ago, overindulging in some substances, among which alcohol, stimulates the pleasure center of the brain greatly in the short term but dulls dopamine receptors in the long run. As a result, it becomes harder to get pleasure from day to day life and recent happy memories are using ones, leading one back to more use. In other words, being addicted. So yes, it is a disease, an imbalance in the body's chemistry leading to substandard performance.
That doesn't make it morally neutral. You become addicted to alcohol, same as you become addicted to any other drug, by using it too much for too long. No one forced me to drink too much for too long.
I've made this comparison before, but I don't think we were simply dealt a rough hand to play, we're more like chain smokers who got lung cancer. The hand we were dealt was better or worse depending on the person but we made some high-risk plays and ended up losing.
I think it would be nice if they would find some precise, quantifiable way to diagnose it. Something like the doctor gives you a beer and monitors your brain activity while you drink it. He then tells you whether you're fine, starting to get addicted and need to be careful/lay off for awhile or in full-blown addiction and need to look into support and treatment.
Wouldn't hold my breath though.
If I recall correctly stuff I read years ago, overindulging in some substances, among which alcohol, stimulates the pleasure center of the brain greatly in the short term but dulls dopamine receptors in the long run. As a result, it becomes harder to get pleasure from day to day life and recent happy memories are using ones, leading one back to more use. In other words, being addicted. So yes, it is a disease, an imbalance in the body's chemistry leading to substandard performance.
That doesn't make it morally neutral. You become addicted to alcohol, same as you become addicted to any other drug, by using it too much for too long. No one forced me to drink too much for too long.
I've made this comparison before, but I don't think we were simply dealt a rough hand to play, we're more like chain smokers who got lung cancer. The hand we were dealt was better or worse depending on the person but we made some high-risk plays and ended up losing.
I think it would be nice if they would find some precise, quantifiable way to diagnose it. Something like the doctor gives you a beer and monitors your brain activity while you drink it. He then tells you whether you're fine, starting to get addicted and need to be careful/lay off for awhile or in full-blown addiction and need to look into support and treatment.
Wouldn't hold my breath though.
Member
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Albany NY
Posts: 1,212
Scrubmuncher: I hear what you are saying; I've been there.
What we choose to feed continues to grow.
Your wishing you had cancer tells me a lot about your mental state.
Even cancer patients make choices on a daily basis to either fiercely fight the disease or succumb. They don't know the outcome, but most continue to fight; make health care decisions and take measures for a successful outcome.
Don't give up the fight....and ask yourself if you are truly doing EVERYTHING in your power to reach out for the help you need. With all the recovery options discussed on these boards, I'm sure you can find one that will help you on your way.
When I alienated everyone, lost my family and friends, there really was no where to go but even further down or up. I chose up.
You can too....
I had a lot of reasons why I felt I couldn't get the help I needed. I'd say things like, "yeah, I can't stand this anymore, but (insert reason why I can't get help here). Someone once said to me, "everything after the "but" is bullchit". Today, I agree with them.
Feed sobriety; don't feed the disease.
All my best...
What we choose to feed continues to grow.
Your wishing you had cancer tells me a lot about your mental state.
Even cancer patients make choices on a daily basis to either fiercely fight the disease or succumb. They don't know the outcome, but most continue to fight; make health care decisions and take measures for a successful outcome.
Don't give up the fight....and ask yourself if you are truly doing EVERYTHING in your power to reach out for the help you need. With all the recovery options discussed on these boards, I'm sure you can find one that will help you on your way.
When I alienated everyone, lost my family and friends, there really was no where to go but even further down or up. I chose up.
You can too....
I had a lot of reasons why I felt I couldn't get the help I needed. I'd say things like, "yeah, I can't stand this anymore, but (insert reason why I can't get help here). Someone once said to me, "everything after the "but" is bullchit". Today, I agree with them.
Feed sobriety; don't feed the disease.
All my best...
Adventures In SpaceTime
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Ottawa, Canada
Posts: 5,827
I agree with the AA definition of alcoholism being an illness of mind, body, and spirit. All three conclusively. That was certainly my experience with alcoholism, so it is what it is. The AA definition only has value, to me, if I also agree with the solution offered in answer to that definition: which is of course the 12 Steps as written into the Big Book "Alcoholics Anonymous".
I'm not sure about pure medical or other scientific definitions, since illness's and deseases have no spiritual component to their definition, so this would not work for me.
Mind, Body, Spirit. An illness of all three. Yes, that works well for me.
AVRT has no workable definition of alcoholism. In fact they do not recognize the "alcoholic", and its not a requirement to be anything other then ourselves when practicing AVRT. Being ourselves, with all our addiction secrets dragged into the light of reason works well for me too.
I benefit from both AA and AVRT. They don't so much as work together for me, they more cover all my bases, and my points of experiences, both in my past when drinking alcoholically, and now in my present being sober living a sans-alcohol life.
I hope you can receive some therapy as well to help you out, Scrub. I used gestalt therapy extensively, and it helped me tremendously.
I'm not sure about pure medical or other scientific definitions, since illness's and deseases have no spiritual component to their definition, so this would not work for me.
Mind, Body, Spirit. An illness of all three. Yes, that works well for me.
AVRT has no workable definition of alcoholism. In fact they do not recognize the "alcoholic", and its not a requirement to be anything other then ourselves when practicing AVRT. Being ourselves, with all our addiction secrets dragged into the light of reason works well for me too.
I benefit from both AA and AVRT. They don't so much as work together for me, they more cover all my bases, and my points of experiences, both in my past when drinking alcoholically, and now in my present being sober living a sans-alcohol life.
I hope you can receive some therapy as well to help you out, Scrub. I used gestalt therapy extensively, and it helped me tremendously.
Member
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 143
There are diseases, maladies, infections, illnesses. As a physician, I treat all of these. Some with medications, therapies, all with talk and counseling. Many, many different and complememtary ways to skin a cat (sorry cat lovers).
It doesn't matter to me what people called alcohol/drug(including nicotine) dependance. I don't get why it matters if it is a disease, unless the question is for intellectual discussion only.
When you do too much of it all the time, it takes alot of your mental and physical energy to get off of it and be content with your day-to-day existence. People either succeed or fail at this. I don't think it is the "treatment" that succeeds or fails.
*I* do not believe it is something that one should receive government assistance/disability for. *I* do believe that one can recover from alcohol/drug dependance completely without bring "in recovery" FOR THE REST OF ONE'S LIFE.
Just my opinion, and I do find it interesting to read everyone else's even if I don't agree.
Pam
It doesn't matter to me what people called alcohol/drug(including nicotine) dependance. I don't get why it matters if it is a disease, unless the question is for intellectual discussion only.
When you do too much of it all the time, it takes alot of your mental and physical energy to get off of it and be content with your day-to-day existence. People either succeed or fail at this. I don't think it is the "treatment" that succeeds or fails.
*I* do not believe it is something that one should receive government assistance/disability for. *I* do believe that one can recover from alcohol/drug dependance completely without bring "in recovery" FOR THE REST OF ONE'S LIFE.
Just my opinion, and I do find it interesting to read everyone else's even if I don't agree.
Pam
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