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.
Posted in Alcoholism by Cyndi Sarnoff-Ross on May 19, 2010
"Is alcoholism a type of mental health disorder?"
The answer to your question is yes. Alcoholism is a diagnosis present in the DSM IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) which is the book used by professionals to diagnose and help treat their patients. The new text which is the DSM V will be available sometime in 2011 or later and will revise the criteria for alcohol dependence but it will nevertheless remain a mental health disorder.
Below I have listed the information necessary to make a diagnosis for Substance Dependence which includes alcohol dependence. While the DSM is an extremely helpful tool which guides mental health professionals in the direction of a diagnosis that best suits their patient it should be noted that all of these criteria are subject to interpretation. It is for this reason that it is best to have a professional assessment of your personal situation, by a clinician or someone who specializes in the area of substance abuse, before arriving at any conclusions.
DSM-IV Criteria For Substance Dependence
A maladaptive pattern of substance use, leading to clinically significant impairment or distress, as manifested by three (or more) of the following occurring at any time in the same 12-month period:
(1) tolerance, as defined by either of the following:
(a) a need for markedly increased amounts of the substance to achieve intoxication or desired effect
(b) markedly diminished effect with continued use of the same amount of substance
(2) withdrawal, as manifested by either of the following:
(a) the characteristic withdrawal syndrome for the substance (refer to Criteria A and B of the criteria sets for Withdrawal from the specific substances)
(b) the same (or a closely related) substance is taken to relieve or avoid withdrawal symptoms
(3) the substance is often taken in larger amounts or over a longer period than was intended
(4) there is a persistent desire or unsuccessful efforts to cut down or control substance use
(5) a great deal of time is spent in activities necessary to obtain the substance (e.g., visiting multiple doctors or driving long distances), using the substance (e.g., chain-smoking), or recovering from its effects
(6) important social, occupational, or recreational activities are given up or reduced because of substance use
(7) the substance use is continued despite knowledge of having a persistent or recurrent physical or psychological problem that is likely to have been caused or exacerbated by the substance (e.g., current cocaine use despite recognition of cocaine-induced depression, or continued drinking despite recognition that an ulcer was made worse by consumption)
"Is alcoholism a type of mental health disorder?"
The answer to your question is yes. Alcoholism is a diagnosis present in the DSM IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) which is the book used by professionals to diagnose and help treat their patients. The new text which is the DSM V will be available sometime in 2011 or later and will revise the criteria for alcohol dependence but it will nevertheless remain a mental health disorder.
Below I have listed the information necessary to make a diagnosis for Substance Dependence which includes alcohol dependence. While the DSM is an extremely helpful tool which guides mental health professionals in the direction of a diagnosis that best suits their patient it should be noted that all of these criteria are subject to interpretation. It is for this reason that it is best to have a professional assessment of your personal situation, by a clinician or someone who specializes in the area of substance abuse, before arriving at any conclusions.
DSM-IV Criteria For Substance Dependence
A maladaptive pattern of substance use, leading to clinically significant impairment or distress, as manifested by three (or more) of the following occurring at any time in the same 12-month period:
(1) tolerance, as defined by either of the following:
(a) a need for markedly increased amounts of the substance to achieve intoxication or desired effect
(b) markedly diminished effect with continued use of the same amount of substance
(2) withdrawal, as manifested by either of the following:
(a) the characteristic withdrawal syndrome for the substance (refer to Criteria A and B of the criteria sets for Withdrawal from the specific substances)
(b) the same (or a closely related) substance is taken to relieve or avoid withdrawal symptoms
(3) the substance is often taken in larger amounts or over a longer period than was intended
(4) there is a persistent desire or unsuccessful efforts to cut down or control substance use
(5) a great deal of time is spent in activities necessary to obtain the substance (e.g., visiting multiple doctors or driving long distances), using the substance (e.g., chain-smoking), or recovering from its effects
(6) important social, occupational, or recreational activities are given up or reduced because of substance use
(7) the substance use is continued despite knowledge of having a persistent or recurrent physical or psychological problem that is likely to have been caused or exacerbated by the substance (e.g., current cocaine use despite recognition of cocaine-induced depression, or continued drinking despite recognition that an ulcer was made worse by consumption)
Your thoughts?
I majored in psych in college and I take everything the psych Establishment says about alcoholism with a huge grain of salt.
I must declare that I have other diagnosable life threatening mental illnesses but I know that most people in AA see alcohol addiction as phenomenon within itself and it's blasphemy to include alcoholism under the banner of mental illness. Well, I guess I see that a condition that makes one drink a poison until one dies in various way is a fair bet to be mental illness, or to having a "maladaptive mental condition"..
And note that Drug and Alcohol Wards are more often than not linked to Psych Wards. Of course it's a mental illness. As to the DSM, it is useful, but like all the other mental illnesses I have, their defintion and treatment change with every edition of the DSM. But an alcoholic is an alcoholic is an alcoholic.
I don't dispute that alcoholism is a spiritual malady as well, and for me, for alcoholism, the spiritual solution of Alcoholics Anonymous has worked to keep me sober for many years.
I guess it's semantics in the end - we alcoholics have a disease, a condition, an illness, a sickness, whatever. And for me the solution is in the doors of AA.
good post by the way -
Peace!
Mental illness, maybe, I don't know. They used to say autism was caused by "refrigerator mothers" and schizophrenia by "schizophregenic " (sp?) moms.
Karen
I didn't mean to imply that alcoholics can't benefit from professional counseling and therapy. What I am saying, though, is that I've known plenty of mental health professionals who themselves have questionable drinking patterns. I've also been asked over the years to sponsor a couple of certified drug & alcohol counselors after they relapsed, and that was an adventure in craziness that I don't plan to repeat.
Shawn