Alcoholism_is_a_disease
"wrong with me"....
we spend a lot of time wondering about that. Not just alcoholics, but human beings.
I'm starting to think that 'wrong with me' is as irrelevant to alcoholism as it is to skin color or nationality. Is there something 'wrong with me' because I'm blond? I don't think there's anything 'wrong with you' because you're an addict/alcoholic. You might do wrong things, but there is nothing wrong with you.
we spend a lot of time wondering about that. Not just alcoholics, but human beings.
I'm starting to think that 'wrong with me' is as irrelevant to alcoholism as it is to skin color or nationality. Is there something 'wrong with me' because I'm blond? I don't think there's anything 'wrong with you' because you're an addict/alcoholic. You might do wrong things, but there is nothing wrong with you.
"wrong with me"....
we spend a lot of time wondering about that. Not just alcoholics, but human beings.
I'm starting to think that 'wrong with me' is as irrelevant to alcoholism as it is to skin color or nationality. Is there something 'wrong with me' because I'm blond? I don't think there's anything 'wrong with you' because you're an addict/alcoholic. You might do wrong things, but there is nothing wrong with you.
we spend a lot of time wondering about that. Not just alcoholics, but human beings.
I'm starting to think that 'wrong with me' is as irrelevant to alcoholism as it is to skin color or nationality. Is there something 'wrong with me' because I'm blond? I don't think there's anything 'wrong with you' because you're an addict/alcoholic. You might do wrong things, but there is nothing wrong with you.
Something was wrong with me and it wasn't anything like the color of my hair.
I'm married to an alcoholic. I generally don't buy into the disease concept for the reasons stated in the article.
But, if my husband would get himself into some sort of recovery, I wouldn't care if he wanted to call his alcoholism a disease, an aberrant behavior, an addiction, a compulsion, or just too much of a good thing.
I'd go along with whatever he wanted to call it and I sure wouldn't worry about whether or not he'd picked the right terminology. I'd hope he'd choose the word that worked to keep him sober.
But, if my husband would get himself into some sort of recovery, I wouldn't care if he wanted to call his alcoholism a disease, an aberrant behavior, an addiction, a compulsion, or just too much of a good thing.
I'd go along with whatever he wanted to call it and I sure wouldn't worry about whether or not he'd picked the right terminology. I'd hope he'd choose the word that worked to keep him sober.
I'm starting to think that 'wrong with me' is as irrelevant to alcoholism as it is to skin color or nationality. Is there something 'wrong with me' because I'm blond? I don't think there's anything 'wrong with you' because you're an addict/alcoholic. You might do wrong things, but there is nothing wrong with you.
When I lost control of my drinking, however, I could not afford to hold on to all of that delusional thinking. I needed to find a source of non-delusional thinking - Enlightenment (aka Spiritual Awakening).
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There has been a lot of research done and they have not been able to identify a Alcoholism gene. There are some countries that do not believe that Alcoholism is a disease. I struggle with it a lot.
From Merriam-Webster:
dis-ease noun \di-ˈzēz\
1 obsolete : trouble
2 : a condition of the living animal or plant body or of one of its parts that impairs normal functioning and is typically manifested by distinguishing signs and symptoms : sickness, malady
3 : a harmful development
I agree with all three definitions, but I don't think anyone can argue with the first definition. Alcoholism certainly is trouble.
dis-ease noun \di-ˈzēz\
1 obsolete : trouble
2 : a condition of the living animal or plant body or of one of its parts that impairs normal functioning and is typically manifested by distinguishing signs and symptoms : sickness, malady
3 : a harmful development
I agree with all three definitions, but I don't think anyone can argue with the first definition. Alcoholism certainly is trouble.
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Posts: 108
It seems to me that the controversy stems from the issue of moral responsibility. The reason we are wary about calling alcoholism a "disease" is because it suggests that we are not fully responsible for our actions as they pertain to alcoholism. And frankly, I take the side that indeed we are fully responsible for our substance use, regardless of whatever genetic or environmental predilections we might have towards it. However we might like to externalize our perspective of our choices, we will not avoid the fact that, from an internal perspective, we are responsible for those choices. To deny moral responsibility is to deny that internal perspective, an incoherent and thereby intolerable position. In short, we have control over our choices by definition; that is to say, to the extent that we choose our behavior, we are responsible for it. And since clearly we do choose our behavior with respect to substance use, we inherit all the responsibility that accompanies it.
Just to anticipate a potential objection, I should probably add that moral responsibility really is a factual issue. Whether it is true or false that alcoholics should be held responsible for their alcoholism, it is objectively so, under the umbrella of any particular ethical theory or family of theories. This is not just a matter of opinion, where little or nothing is rationally resolvable.
Just to anticipate a potential objection, I should probably add that moral responsibility really is a factual issue. Whether it is true or false that alcoholics should be held responsible for their alcoholism, it is objectively so, under the umbrella of any particular ethical theory or family of theories. This is not just a matter of opinion, where little or nothing is rationally resolvable.
One thing I know for sure is I do believe it's a disease and by working the steps in AA I have taken full responsability for my alcoholism.
Working the steps and striving to live in the AA principles in all my affairs certainly takes hard work, responsability, and of course accountability.
It can be both ways - one can subsribe to alcoholism being a disease and to taking responsability for themselves. I'm living proof.
Kjell
Working the steps and striving to live in the AA principles in all my affairs certainly takes hard work, responsability, and of course accountability.
It can be both ways - one can subsribe to alcoholism being a disease and to taking responsability for themselves. I'm living proof.
Kjell
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Facts or not I know this. My great grandfather was an alcoholic, my grandfather was an alcoholic, my dad is an alcoholic and I am an alcoholic.
And once I take a sip there is no decision, no moral responsibility, etc., I will get knee walking, blind ass drunk.
I don't need any facts or definitions, it's in my blood and I cannot take a drink. I believe I have a disease but it is up to me to decide whether or not I take the first sip....if I do I know all bets are off.
And once I take a sip there is no decision, no moral responsibility, etc., I will get knee walking, blind ass drunk.
I don't need any facts or definitions, it's in my blood and I cannot take a drink. I believe I have a disease but it is up to me to decide whether or not I take the first sip....if I do I know all bets are off.
Facts or not I know this. My great grandfather was an alcoholic, my grandfather was an alcoholic, my dad is an alcoholic and I am an alcoholic.
And once I take a sip there is no decision, no moral responsibility, etc., I will get knee walking, blind ass drunk.
I don't need any facts or definitions, it's in my blood and I cannot take a drink. I believe I have a disease but it is up to me to decide whether or not I take the first sip....if I do I know all bets are off.
And once I take a sip there is no decision, no moral responsibility, etc., I will get knee walking, blind ass drunk.
I don't need any facts or definitions, it's in my blood and I cannot take a drink. I believe I have a disease but it is up to me to decide whether or not I take the first sip....if I do I know all bets are off.
This describes me and my feeling exactly. It turns out I come from a long line of alkies on both sides of my family.
I believe I was born an alcoholic.
Kjell
If alcoholism is a disease, then so is obesity and other eating disorders, along with any kind of allergy (going along with the Doctor's Opinion in the BB) so an allergy to nuts or dust mites would be a "disease" along the same lines as alcoholism, by that definition. None of these are like cancer - if it's an allergy, you avoid the allergen. People with an allergy to nuts (or dust mites) simply don't eat nuts - they are not addicted to nuts, they don't need a 12-step program to avoid nuts, they simply don't eat nuts. Not a big deal. The mental obsession to alcohol moves into a different, controllable realm, no?
I've never bought the "disease" model, personally. Mental illness, sure, maybe. Something like cancer: you can do everything right and still get cancer. In order to become addicted, you have to make choices and go down a path to sickness.
In order to become well, anyone with an addiction MUST exhibit some willpower, summon a Higher Power, admit to powerlessness, etc - this is not something you do if you have Alzheimers or cancer or diabetes.
Just because there are genetic markers for alcoholism doesn't mean it's a disease. There are genetic markers for red hair, shyness and mathematical ability too. I wish I didn't have red hair and a math disability, but I don't call either of those things "diseases" and I can overcome them if I want to.
One more thought....I imagine pharmaceutical companies love all these disease models. For every disease there's a medication that insurance companies will pay for.
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Good Lord, the human race is perpetually offended.
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Location: New Jersey
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100,000 people die from alcoholism in the U.S. each year. Millions on the planet.
Are they simply irresponsible hedonists? Or did they have a fatal, relapsing, chronic condition that they have no control over?
I am powerless over alcohol. That does not mean I'm not responsible for doing something about it.
Are they simply irresponsible hedonists? Or did they have a fatal, relapsing, chronic condition that they have no control over?
I am powerless over alcohol. That does not mean I'm not responsible for doing something about it.
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Join Date: Sep 2008
Posts: 108
Is it so hard to believe that people are often horribly irresponsible? From where I sit, it seems manifestly true.
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