Is Alcoholism Really a "Disease"?

If alcoholism is a disease, then is smoking a disease, also?

I thought Cirrohsis and lung cancer were the diseases.

 

Both Alcoholism and Smoking have ICD-9 codes so some are correct in stating that it has been characterized as a disease for the purpose of billing. All billing must be done by codes. Come by my office sometimes and you can read my Code Book. You would be surprised at what is in there!

 

I myself am an alcholic. I can tell you from the very first time i took a drink I had no control over the amount I drank once I started to drink. I would almost always (95%) Drink untill i blacked out. Walking, Talking, Driving, blacked out. I did not see my parents drink, neither of them did. I have gone since June 20, 1987 without a drink and it is very easy to do so since I found out I had a disease. What I think some of you are trying to elude to is that alcholics are some sort of moral degenerates and trust me until someone finds out they have this disease (allergy) they very much see them selves that way.
I believe research done on drunks from skid row in Houston in the 60's is from where medical science first classified alcholism as a disease. These drunks all turned up with a chemical similar to herion in their brain.....I beleive it has something to do with how the liver deals with alcohol, but to me thats not important. I thank God I found I have a disease. If you have to ask you'll never know.

 

People can be addicted to many things not biologically addictive, like sex, food, internet, gambling, etc. Their struggles are no less difficult even if the causes are different.

Nicotine is a highly addictive drug, the difference between nicotine and alcohol is the speed they ruin your life. While drugs like Nicotine and pot can be abused, they don't cause the immediate damage drugs like Alcohol, heroin (opiates), Crystal Meth, or Cocaine do.

ANYONE who receives enough of an opiate will eventaully become addicted. Same with Crystal Meth or cocaine. They biologically change your brain chemistry. They only difference is some will be addicted immediately, others need more of the drug.

 

I have to apologize, especially to galaxee. It's not that I'm insensitive, it's just that I have no real experience or exposure to alcoholism. It occurred to me while driving home from work this evening that I have a friend who is a psychologist and she specializes in substance abuse patients. I thought 'what am I, an idiot? Beating up on these poor people on the internet when I could just call my friend and ask her' so I did and she agreed that it was, in fact, a disease and she carefully laid out the entire pathology of alcoholism and what it does to the alcoholic. That's really what I was looking for, not to debate the issue with anyone and it bugs me that I didn't think of asking her sooner. So again, sorry galaxee, I just didn't know any better but I do now. I have always been Logic oriented and it was cemented when I really breezed through the class in college while most of the class struggled. But the cold, merciless light of logic doesn't always have the ability to see in to an issue like this. I'm glad that Squid brought this one up, otherwise, I may not have ever known what alcohol does to people.

 

JackDodge,

It is wonderful to see a truely enlightened approach. Galaxee tried so hard, but it seems that there were all too many posters who already "knew" the answer, irregardless of the facts. Seems like there is all too much of that these days including from those in power.

 

no apology needed, Jack. we all learned things and saw different opinions. you made me fall back on my science resources which is good for me, but also presented me with an inner conflict of mine- blaming the alcoholic for his asinine actions but also trying to reconcile a view of predisposition in the genes for this kind of thing. i was kind of arguing both points to myself there for a bit.

this is why i like FHOP, no matter how crazy it gets

 

Your a good man Jack, it is hard to look through the eyes of another.

 

one last thing.

count yourself lucky. i bear lifelong scars from an alcoholic family.

do i blame him? yes. do i hate him and never want to talk to him again unless absolutely necessary and even that will be forced and awkward? hell yes. but have i learned in my education that it's not entirely the fault of the individual and that it's not a choice to make? yes. was it hard to accept that after years of blaming him? uh huh.

will i forgive him? if he ever gets around to apologizing.

god, i gotta quit using personal examples to illustrate my points. :mellow:

 

You can classify alcholism as a mental disease, but that is really begging the question, as any voluntary, abnormal behavior may be classified as a mental disease. Alcoholism is not a disease in the traditional sense (unlike hepatitus, cholera, typhoid, AIDS, etc., etc), no matter who or what agency calls it such. If you don't want to be an alcoholic-don't drink.

 

Not everyone who drinks becomes an alcoholic.

 

I work with psychotropic medications all the time. The affect that these medications have on brain chemistry and ultimately a person's behaviors makes it very obvious that we do not even have a moderate amount of knowledge about how natural and other substances can alter our functioning level.

 

yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.

there's the basic pharmacological/biochemical stuff, which we've got a handle on for the most part. but the translational research from biochemistry to behavior... not even close.

the brain is a complex thing, will take us a long time to understand all the workings.

 

I have found this to be very interesting. I especially like the comments from the people outside of the medical field who believe that they know more than the AMA.

Throughout my life I have had mixed feelings on this subject. My father is a recovering alcoholic but I did not know about his alcoholism until he started recovery. My parents were divorced when I was young and my Dad did not drink during our weekly visitations. So I was very suprised when he told me he was an alcoholic. I was ~15 when this happened. I initially didn't care for the idea of it being a disease. I felt that it was a cop out for him just being an a**hole.

At this time I was a goody-goody in school. I was never in trouble. I was in sports, excelled in school, hell, I was on the Math Team. One month prior to him going into treatment I tried alcohol for the first time. I didn't do well. I ended up throwing up in my sleep and really scared myself. That coupled with him going into treatment kept me from having another drink until I was in college. I eventually put aside my first experiment and started drinking "socially". I had many rules that I followed because I knew that my chance of becoming an alcoholic (disease or not) was higher than most. (My favorite was not driving drunk, which kept me from buying a car until I was 26). I eventualy would bend all of my rules. My college career started out well but near the end I was unable to perform. I dropped out of college 1 class short of receiving my BS in Physics. I then moved 1500 miles away to escape my problem, but they have alcohol in New Mexico too.

It ended up actually being a good move because I fell flat on my face. I would lose everything. I was working 10 hours a week as a security guard for $3.50 an hour and selling plasma twice a week. During this time my alcohol consumption was actually lower than earlier due to being unable to buy it. I did meet friends that would give me free booze. I then moved onto bussing tables at a Mexican restaurant which gave me more money and my drinking again increased. (I was 24 all of the other bussers were 15 & 16)

At 25 I finally gave up. I asked for help and have been in recovery for more than 15 years know. Its been an interesting journey. Alcohol is but a symptom of the disease. Just giving up alcohol did not make me better. Initially it made life more difficult. Alcohol had been my solution for what was wrong with me and I needed to find something to replace it.

I do not blame alcohol for my alcoholism. I also do not care if other people drink. If I was allergic to apples, I would not blame the apples nor care that other people found pleasure by eating them. I just know that for me to start drinking again would lead me down that same road. Probably not the first day, but eventually.

I am also a Paramedic and deal with many alcoholics (they seem to call 911 more than other people). I can't imagine that these people choose to continue drinking, knowing what it does to them, just because they are "weak".

I don't really care if people consider it a disease or not. For me I needed to consider it a disease. I still deal with it to this day.

I have a wonderful life now. I have a great wife (recovering for over 22 years), wonderful kids, and a very successful career. But most of all I am happy.

I hope that galaxee's father can make amends with her. It took awhile but I have a very good relationship with my Father. (Biggest problem is that he drives a Honda Civic Hybrid)

 

I'm sorry if my response gave anyone offense. I acted emotionaly and it was not my intent to hurt anyone. It never was, even when i was drinking. I'm luckier than most because the level of understanding around me was good I got help before I hurt too many people. My amends were'nt too long. As the gentleman before said, " Alcohol is but a symptom of the disease". Not drinking isn't always easy. I once read it likes standing on the corner, all alone, with a hole in your stomache and the wind blowing through. Sort of like your soul is hollow. When younger I just wanted to drink like I saw everyone else do, I still wish I could. That white wine sure looks likes it would go well with seafood. But knowing I'm powerless over alcohol helps me avoid the "insanity of the first drink". The idea that we can some how drink like others, if only we could find the right combination consumes many an alcoholic.
I'm off my soap box. Thanks for listening.

 

wow, what a story. i'm glad you were able to take your life back and find happiness.

my dad and i are cool- it's the stepdad that did all the damage.

 

no offense taken. Those of us who don't have to face alcoholism don't know what you really have to go through. Matter of fact, if there was one thing that I would change, if I could, would be to make everyone truly empathic so that we could really know what each other goes through. These days, we seem to be so numb to our own suffering and so isolated from each other that it's easy to see why we've lost our way.

 

My apologies for having to drop out of this chat the other day leaving some questions to me unanswered. I do have to work occasionally. This was a great chat though. I'm very impressed with how it turned out. I think that everyone who read it learned something in one way or another.