Alcoholism Support Group
Alcoholism is the continued consumption of alcoholic beverages, even when it is negatively affecting your health, work, relationships and life. If you think alcohol is causing you to lose control, it's time to seek help. Our group is a safe place to vent, check in, get back up if you fall, and reach sobriety.
This is the first part DS's "news and info"....I really liked it because it plainly states the medical field does not know if alcoholism is a disease....It could be caused many things.....there for the solution is also different....
"Alcoholism is a powerful craving for alcohol which often results in the compulsive consumption of alcohol, an addiction. The cause of this craving is heavily debated, but the most popular beliefs are that it is (1) a chemical or nutritional imbalance, (2) a genetic predisposition, (3) a neurological effect caused by runaway learning mechanisms, or (4) an inability to curb one's own desire for enjoyment. As a result, the etiology and nature of alcoholism are both currently being debated within the medical and scientific communities and the very definition of alcoholism is a part of that debate."
"Alcoholism is a powerful craving for alcohol which often results in the compulsive consumption of alcohol, an addiction. The cause of this craving is heavily debated, but the most popular beliefs are that it is (1) a chemical or nutritional imbalance, (2) a genetic predisposition, (3) a neurological effect caused by runaway learning mechanisms, or (4) an inability to curb one's own desire for enjoyment. As a result, the etiology and nature of alcoholism are both currently being debated within the medical and scientific communities and the very definition of alcoholism is a part of that debate."
The genetically predisposed people tend to drink more heavily from the start. They experience blackouts sooner, and more often.
The long term drinkers become addicted, because they simply drink too much for too long - it becomes a habit and there is the physical side of the addiction.
This is a personal theory - I have nothing to back it up, but the AA book does differentiate between the "real alcoholic" and the "heavy drinker". In my mind, they both need help. The only difference between them, is that the real alcoholics will kill themselves more quickly than the heavy drinkers.