Why do people consider alcoholism a disease?

It's part of the 12-step philosophy of helplessness. Which is part of the age-old paradigm of religion vs alcohol.

Religious people are inherently weak. They're all about lord this, how can I serve thee that, save me the other thing. So of course when they find themselves addicted to something they invoke a "higher power" to bail them out.

Not surprisingly, their method involves being in "recovery" for the rest of their lives. They can never decisively beat addiction, which requires their own power to do, not someone else's pretend power.

It's another way of not taking personal responsibility. It's not their fault they're alcoholics. It's a disease! Same with 99% of depression claims, parents claiming their kids are autistic as an excuse for bad parenting, or fat being genetic.

I remember going to AA and some dude told me that my chronic overdrinking is because I have an allergic reaction to alcohol.

Bad Wigins wrote:

It's part of the 12-step philosophy of helplessness. Which is part of the age-old paradigm of religion vs alcohol.

Religious people are inherently weak. They're all about lord this, how can I serve thee that, save me the other thing. So of course when they find themselves addicted to something they invoke a "higher power" to bail them out.

Not surprisingly, their method involves being in "recovery" for the rest of their lives. They can never decisively beat addiction, which requires their own power to do, not someone else's pretend power.

Aldous Huxley introduced Bill Wilson LSD and he wanted to provide LSD at all AA meetings, that didn't work out though.

agree completely about the 12 steps being a crutch for the weak.

you're only an addict if you've been to a 12 step or rehab.

Psychiatry has deemed everything, including normalcy, a disease.

The TittyF*cker wrote:

Psychiatry has deemed everything, including normalcy, a disease.

I go to AA from time to time when I want to feel better about myself. I tend to drink like a moron more often than not, waking up in backyards, not remembering how I drove 40 minutes home, not remembering a quarter of the day. It's weakness insofar as people who eat to the point of obesity, or ingest sugar to the point of diabetes, or exercise to the point of breakdown and chronic exhaustion, or smoke to the point of cancer, etc. Alcoholics drink to the point of f*cking up their lives, near death, cirrhosis, death or something else that's crummy. I'm not sure how you're defining 'disease.'

joel przybilla wrote:

you're only an addict if you've been to a 12 step or rehab.

What a stupid thing to say.

It's not complicated nor an excuse. Like all mammals we have a system in the brain that rewards behavior with pleasure. Usually that system reinforces biologically desirable behavior like eating and sex, however some substances (substances of abuse) artificially stimulate that system without biologic utility. This occurs in all mammals, and is why rats given free access to cocaine will ingest it until they die. For reasons we understand only simply, some people's systems are more sensitive than others, predisposing them to addiction. They are not inherently disordered in willpower. Prior to their addiction they may have been highly disciplined. Once addicted, however, there are only 2 solutions--decrease the system signaling (for example with naltrexone for alcohol or methadone for opioids) and/or increase the resistance. Resistance amounts to willpower and can be enhanced with psychotherapy, 12 step programming, etc. But there's no excuse. The reality of how the predicament arises does not absolve the addict of managing the situation. It's a difficult one, as the chronic exertion of willpower is difficult--runners should be well aware of this--and addicts are required to exert it continuously for a lifetime. The disease model of addiction does say addicts aren't bad or weak, unlike the model proposed by the OP, who presumably is not running sub-4 merely because he is a weak person and not because of any biological limitations he might have to overcome. But only the addict can manage the disease and limit its effects.

Disease = disability and you can't fire these a-holes for being sick or disabled. Plus, you can get rehab paid for if your disabled or sick.

drunky wrote:

I'm not sure how you're defining 'disease.'

I cheated and consulted the Google dictionary:

dis·ease /diˈzçz/ noun

[1] a disorder of structure or function in a human, animal, or plant, especially one that produces specific signs or symptoms or that affects a specific location and is not simply a direct result of physical injury.

"bacterial meningitis is a rare disease"

synonyms: illness, sickness, ill health;

[2] a particular quality, habit, or disposition regarded as adversely affecting a person or group of people.

"departmental administration has often led to the dread disease of departmentalitis"

Seems like alcoholism fits either definition fairly well.

As the descendant of Scots and American Indians and relative of alcoholics, I'm aware of alcohol's potential addictive effects on people with our genetic makeup. I suspect that I'm an alcoholic, too, but have never found out because I've never taken that first drink (and don't intend to).

I'm addicted to chocolate. Do I have a disease? I'm gaining weight, breaking out and feeling lethargic.

That's like saying smoking is a disease.

This is quite possibly the most insensitive thread I've seen on this piss poor excuse for an Internet forum.

There are thousands (millions?) of individuals who would like to quit drinking or using other substances and simply cannot without seeking outside help. This is medical fact. It is not a matter of morals or weakness.

You are pathetic exused for human beings. I feel sorry for you.

An recovering addict wrote:

This is quite possibly the most insensitive thread I've seen on this piss poor excuse for an Internet forum.

There are thousands (millions?) of individuals who would like to quit drinking or using other substances and simply cannot without seeking outside help. This is medical fact. It is not a matter of morals or weakness.

You are pathetic exused for human beings. I feel sorry for you.

Pissed because most people have more willpower than you?

More like upset that the world is filled with ignorant people who have a tendency to ignore medical facts.I shouldn't be surprised considering all the racists, global warming deniers, and generally inbreds that seem to inhabit this forum.I'd love to have a productive conversation about addiction, but I already know that isn't possible here.

well,. wrote

Pissed because most people have more willpower than you?

Sons of Obama wrote:

I seriously do NOT understand the logic/science behind this. Seems like it's just weakness or an excuse for people being weak- you can't choose to get cancer/HIV/AIDS/ebola- but you can choose not to drink alcohol.

Discus.

Every disease has a genetic component and an environmental/behavioral component. You might not "choose to get cancer," but cancer is often a result of behaviors that an individual has willfully engaged in.

Your issue with calling alcoholism a disease comes from the fact that you are ascribing your own connotation to the word "disease." Calling something a disease does not mean that the individual has played no role in their own condition. If this was the case, we couldn't call bronchogenic lung cancer or primary colon cancer diseases. I mean, isn't it just your own weakness that inhibited you from limiting the red meat and eating a salad every once in a while?

An recovering addict,

Amen!

Ivyguy wrote:

drunky wrote:

I'm not sure how you're defining 'disease.'

I cheated and consulted the Google dictionary

So, wait: you're saying that some people consider alcoholism a disease simply because it matches the definition for a disease?

Dunno, that *does* seem kind of like cheating. Introducing "facts" and "logic" into these discussions changes their whole tenor.

Anyway, a solid 6/10 for the OP. Simple, yet effective, trolling.

The disease model of addiction (not just applied to specifically alcohol but more generally to any substance or behavior) is just one school of thought on the subject.