to be or not to be - an alcoholic
 

AA suggests members identify themselves as alcoholics, as in, "I'm Zero and I'm an alcoholic. I think AA wants people to claim it in such a way that they remind themselves that they are different and cannot manage life with alcohol. It kind of implies that you either ARE or ARE NOT an alcoholic; that it's a disease that you either HAVE or you DON'T.

Interestingly, the DSM V defines "alcohol use disorder" but does not use the term "alcoholic." In other words, psychotherapists are not officially using the term "alcoholic" as a disease or diagnosis.

Recently, I was reading in a book about MBRP (Mindfulness Based Relapse Prevention) that they do NOT encourage participants to identify as alcoholics or addicts. Their reasoning is that alcohol use disorder is more of a continuum. Some simply must abstain or their lives careen out of control. Others often abuse alcohol and seek to cut back, and of these folks, some are able to and others are not. So, they seem to play with the notion of relapse. For some, one drink would be a relapse. For others, one drink is just one drink, but a bender would be a relapse. They're less dogmatic about it, I guess you could say. They also seem to be bucking the idea of labeling people. Because substance use disorders exist on a continuum, there is no reason to label oneself, and doing so could possibly cause psychological harm.

My point is there doesn't seem to be a consensus. AA assumes alcoholism is a thing - a disease. Others, including many in the mental health community, clearly are not convinced.

Any thoughts?

I agree wholeheartedly with this. I see no reason for me to put that label on me, I know that I have a problem and I will do whatever I can to fix it, and I can do it without a label.

Well some say its ''the only disease that tells you that you have not got it '' that might be an AA term ? not to sure or maybe I just heard it through the years .

Regards Stevie

Whatever works for you.

I try to keep it simple! I no longer have the desire to drink and try hard to practice the principles in all my affairs.. Glad I'm sober today!

I'll use the word "alcoholic" among people who understand what I mean, but even then rarely, and only in the past tense for me. To me alcoholic is someone past that fuzzy threshold where abstinence is the only way out, but it is absolutely a continuum disorder, and not everyone with an alcohol problem needs to abstain permanently. The word also has a lot of baggage and connotations among people who are not and have never been addicted to alcohol.

I prefer "chemically dependent" to "alcoholic", but even that is a continuum.

AA is for people who want to give up alcohol permanently. If you're not in AA, do whatever works for you.

I found the passage from Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention for Addictive Behaviors that I thought might interest folks:

...12-step approaches are a combination of the disease and spiritual models of addiction, which view substance abuse and dependence as chronic, progressive diseases of the brain... Affected individuals are often encouraged to accept the label of "addict" or "alcoholic" and to admit "powerlessness" over their disease. They are encouraged to enlist the support of a higher power to aid them in their recovery. In contrast, the MBRP approach discourages the use of and identification with labels, positive or negative, encouraging instead an ongoing observation and acceptance of experience without ascribing value. Additionally, MBRP incorporates elements of cognitive-behavioral relapse prevention, which focus on empowering the individual through improving coping skills, exploring cognitive and behavioral antecedents of substance use, and increasing self-efficacy...to foster a sense of choice and agency, such that one's actions are arising from greater self-awareness, acceptance, and compassion.

The question I have is: is there a scientific point of no return on this scale? Because the longer I have been paying attention, the more I see that the problem often lies with people who think they can return to "normal drinking", but can't, and that's also the reason they can't get sober, losing massive amounts of time, and often more.

Not saying the idea of a continuum is wrong (taking into account that our position on the scale is dynamic, and tends to go towards the right instead of the left...), but I probably saved my life in labelling myself an alcoholic, and thus making it crystal clear to myself action was needed. Sure, anecdotal, not scientific, but as much as I love the scientific method, I prefer to be stubborn in this particular personal case.

Bluedog do others not want to give up drinking permanently ?

The OP specifically addressed AA. I was responding to the claim by JeffreyAK that alcohol problems are on a continuum and that abstinence is not always the answer.

I should have also stated that if you feel alcohol is a problem, I believe you should look to quit permanently. The AA doors are always open. But for someone still looking to "learn" to moderate, I can only speak from personal experience that I was never able to.

Choices, consequences. Denial, consequences. Expectations, resentments, consequences.

Drinking didn't work, so I became willing to do whatever it took, labels were meaningless.

No Bluedog I could never moderate either .

Regards Stevie

To me, the designation doesn't matter as long as I do something to correct the problem.

AA is making the assumption that whatever it you have it.

This is the only part with which I disagree......my recovered friends and I were encouraged "use" the labels of 'alcoholic' and/or 'addict;' we were never encouraged to accept the "labels" of 'alcoholic' and/or 'addict' for ourselves. ...and since most of my recovered friends were Atheists, we were never encouraged to enlist the aid of higher power, of any kind...and yet here we all are some 30-45 years, still sober, in AA. Who'd-a-thunk-it.

(o:

Most non-12-step support groups, including this forum, also advocate abstinence, so the choice is not AA or moderation. AA is for that subset of people who want/need to abstain, and for whom the AA approach works. The OP was discussing labels, not the merits of any particular support group.

I use to label myself an alcoholic now I label myself as someone with substance abuse issues. In a lot of ways it doesn't matter, I love the saying 'labels are for cans', but if it helps you choose a method to recover than I can understand why people like to think about these things. I don't have a problem with the alcoholic label, some people do, I say it's fluid, like my recovery I've needed different things at different times.

Folks.....let's not turn this into yet another recovery method debate please.

Zero, I was just courious how much soberity time you have? It doesn't say on your signature.. Thanks for all the words of wisdom!