Alcoholism a disease?

[marquis2]

Not a disease. You can stop yourself from drinking. If that is a disease then so is gambling.

Easy for someone not afflicted to say , less easy for an alcoholic to do.The body becomes dependent on alcohol and gives a bad time to the sufferer.This goes on and on and the only relief is a drink.

Alcoholism wrecks lives, sufferers lose their jobs,homes and families through it.It can't be easy to just stop drinking or these people would do it.It's little to do with responsibility or self esteem either, it happens to all sorts of people.

 

[jumbo_jim]

Alcoholism is an addiction not a disease. You can become dependant on it and reliant but it is caused by choosing to do it in the first place where as most disease's are caused by something completely out of the control of the sufferer.

 

[Analingus]

Not a disease. You can stop yourself from drinking. If that is a disease then so is gambling.

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

 

[marquis2]

Alcoholism is an addiction not a disease. You can become dependant on it and reliant but it is caused by choosing to do it in the first place where as most disease's are caused by something completely out of the control of the sufferer.

Yes, you can choose whether or not to have your first drink.What you cannot choose is your body's reaction to it.
As to diseases being beyond the sufferer's control this isn't always true.Some are closely related to lifestyle.

 

[jumbo_jim]

Yes, you can choose whether or not to have your first drink.What you cannot choose is your body's reaction to it.
As to diseases being beyond the sufferer's control this isn't always true.Some are closely related to lifestyle.

I am aware some disease's are brought on by lifestyle which is why I stated Most disease's.

 

[Legzman]

Not a disease its an addiction

 

[usmc071984]

no its not a disease whatsoever. i have 2 alcoholics in my family and ill be honest, the way things are goin im kinda lookin like ill be number 3. some people just have addictive personalities. no matter what it is that they are doing, they are going to do it in excess. they find something they like and they just cant help themselves. thats not a disease tho. its a choice. every single day they are givin the opportunity to not pick up a glass or bury themselves in a bottle. when was the last time someone with lukemia or parkensens was able to say the same thing for their no shit actual honest to god disease? all this disease talk for addicts and all the p.c. shit that goes with it is a bunch of crap and people not wanting to have the backbone to admit their problems are their own. if they can make someone think its not their problem or there is nothing they can do about it then you cant blame them for not gettin better.

 

[usmc071984]

o and p.s. if i come off hostile towards any addicts in that post, then good. thats the point. my uncle pulls the same sob story and he is an embarrassment to the family for it.

 

[Galactic]

no its not a disease whatsoever. i have 2 alcoholics in my family and ill be honest, the way things are goin im kinda lookin like ill be number 3. some people just have addictive personalities. no matter what it is that they are doing, they are going to do it in excess. they find something they like and they just cant help themselves. thats not a disease tho. its a choice. every single day they are givin the opportunity to not pick up a glass or bury themselves in a bottle. when was the last time someone with lukemia or parkensens was able to say the same thing for their no shit actual honest to god disease? all this disease talk for addicts and all the p.c. shit that goes with it is a bunch of crap and people not wanting to have the backbone to admit their problems are their own. if they can make someone think its not their problem or there is nothing they can do about it then you cant blame them for not gettin better.

:thumbsup: Totally agree with you.

 

[Facetious]

[ . .the medical community is very clear on that they feel it is a disease

discuss

 

[ChefChiTown]

Sorry if this gets lengthy, but I haven't posted in a while and I actually have something to add to this subject...

Since I was a freshman in high school, I have been a drinker. I don't drink everyday, but I do drink more often than most people that I know. I'm not proud of it, but it's part of who I am, so I'm not really ashamed of it either. I have been told throughout my years that I am an alcoholic and that I should get help. Being the stubborn person that I am, I have never listened to anyone who has told me such things.

A few years ago, when I was still a stupid little Chef, I was arrested for a DUI. I accepted full responsibility for what I did and I still accept it to this very day. Part of my punishment was a sentence of attending mandatory AA meetings, twice a week, for a long, long time. At first, I hated it. It was embarassing, I felt offended and I didn't want to be there. But, after some time, I realized that some of the stories that I was hearing sounded awfully familiar to my own.

I had always been stubborn, but I slowly began to think that maybe I was an alcoholic and that I needed to be at those AA meetings. So, I started to take part in the meetings; sharing stories, befriending people, etc. For some unknown reason...I started to feel better about my life and I actually stopped drinking for a long time. I truly began to feel like part of the AA family and I ended up actually enjoying the meetings that I attended and the people that surrounded me there.

As I got to know the people better, we obviously got closer and learned more about one another, on a more personal level. We all knew eachother's stories and how we ended up in AA. It was at this point where I realized something about alcoholics...

Alcoholism is NOT a disease. Alcoholism is NOT an addiction.

Alcoholism is a lifestyle.

When somebody in an AA meeting would claim that they had a disease, the amount of genuine fury that was shown from true alcoholics was intense. As soon as the word "disease" was mentioned in an AA meeting, the members who truly understood alcoholism would immediately denounce the word and remind everybody else that alcoholism is not a disease. Rather, it is a lifestyle; it is a choice and a poor one at that.

AA meetings (for example) don't "cure" anything. They only help relieve the pressure to partake in the alcoholic lifestyle. Think about it...you literally sit in a room and share stories with people who have the same lifestyle as you. You don't take medicine. You don't go through rehabilitation. You talk. You just talk.

You can't cure a disease by talking, but it can surely beat the urge to drink.

:2 cents:

 

[STDiva]

Those are good points Chef, but it is hard to argue the fact that alcoholism is an addiction. People have withdrawls from it. You don't get withdrawls from a lifestyle.

 

[ChefChiTown]

Those are good points Chef, but it is hard to argue the fact that alcoholism is an addiction. People have withdrawls from it. You don't get withdrawls from a lifestyle.

Yes you do. What do you think "homesickness" is? You're not addicted to being at home, but you do go through a withdrawal if you haven't been there for a while.

The same goes for athletes who deal with retirement. They're not addicted to playing football, baseball, basketball, etc. But, once they retire, their lifestyle completely changes and a lot of them immediately want to return to the sport they used to play. Not because they're addicted, but because it was their lifestyle.

:dunno:
:2 cents:

 

[STDiva]

There isn't a physical dependcy with those things. They wont shake and feel sick because they can't play football.