This South Park episode is on target:

http://www.southparkstudios.com/episodes/103677

This rings a bell from you DSAddict. I'm sure you've posted this before. There's always doubts to whether alcoholism is a disease. I always considered any disease to affect the body, in any part. A deviation from the state of health. There are many definitions of the disease. This one is described by the World Health Organisation (WHO):

"Alcoholics are those excessive drinkers whose dependence upon alcohol has attained such a degree that they show a noticeable mental disturbance or an interference with their bodily and mental health, their interpersonal relations and their smooth social and economic functioning, or who show the prodromal signs of such developments. They there require treatment."

Whether it is or isn't doesn't have any bearing on my sobriety. I do whatever is needed to stay sober regardless of how Alcoholism is classified.

Well said Coogee. Also, Google definition and disease and the information is very similar to the WHO definition:

an impairment of health or a condition of abnormal functioning
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

A disease or medical condition is an abnormal condition of an organism that impairs bodily functions, associated with specific symptoms and signs. It may be caused by external factors, such as infectious disease, or it may be caused by internal dysfunctions, such as autoimmune diseases. ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disease

An abnormal condition of the body or mind that causes discomfort or dysfunction; distinct from injury insofar as the latter is usually instantaneously acquired
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/disease

is a pathological condition or abnormal entity with a characteristic group of signs and symptoms affecting the body and with known or unknown aetiology. [36]
www.wcpt.org/node/29562

Malfunctioning of the body or any part of the body resulting from any number of influences, including genetic errors, toxins, infections, nutritional deficiencies, and environmental factors.
www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk/glossary/

etc etc etc

But the thing is, I don't think any value judgement needs to attached to the definition of the word disease as it related to alcoholism. If I have any type of disease, cancer, anything, once I am aware that I have it, it is in my hands to take action, just as with alcoholism.

A stepping stone for me was getting past all the red tape.
What I do know for sure is that I absolutely cannot predict what I am gonna do after my first drink.
For me I was just plain wired wrong, diseased or not diseased.
The problem lies in my noggin and can stay arrested if I do what I am told to do.
Therefore it is everything that leads up to the first drink that I have to keep in sound spiritual guidance.

Doesn't matter to me whatcha call it. Doesn't make a difference in the fact that I'm an alcoholic and my drinking ends with disastrous results every time.

I'm fortunate, I don't have to have a label. I don't need to know why. I accept that it is what it is....and for me, booze is no good.

If it helps you to stop drinking by saying you're allergic to alcohol, say you're allergic to alcohol.

If it helps you to stop drinking to say you have a disease that requires treatment, say it's a disease.

If it helps you to stop drinking to say it's a lack of willpower that requires work, say it's a lack of willpower that requires work.

Doesn't make one difference to me what it is to someone else, for me, it's a killer.

Feelin a little feisty this mornin addict? You've been here long enough to know that this is a heated debate and many different opinions are expressed, usually resulting in an argument of some sort.

I'll not join the conflict today, cause frankly, I don't care. :)

Have a safe holiday weekend.

It is a disease because it can be diagnosed and treated.

Any straw you feel like clutching at that justifies your drinking - entirely up to you. Biting on this is not worth the waste of time. You want to quit - do so...

compare it to diabetes. A hormonal imbalance that can be treated but not cured with lifestyle changes.

The U.S. Psychiatric DSM catagorizes Alcoholism as a mental disorder/disease. therefore; treatable as such.

please re-read Holycrap's reply. Nothing more to add.

Knowing that it's a disease, how do you then get to the the thought, "then I can't help myself and I can drink all I want, because I can't help it. If it isn't, I can stop drinking?"

If it's a disease, then you find out what you can do about it, just like you would any other disease.

The disease of alcoholism is considered to be an allergy to alcohol-an abnormal reaction to a substance.

However, the real problem is not the allergy, but the obsession of mind. The obsession to drink comes in many forms, but it is basically a string of thoughts and emotions that leads us to that first drink.

The solution, of which I' m sure you must know by now, is a spiritual remedy which is what occurs throughout the process of learning and applying the 12 Steps, and which could probably be measured by the affect it has on a person of pushing out of one's mind the obsession to drink.

From getting educated on alcoholism its my understanding its a disease, BUT I have came to the collusion I really don't care one way or another. I know I have a problem if I put alcohol in my system, today I'm grateful to know what I have to do, not to take the 1st drink.

Folks-I worked in the behavioral health portion of an insurance agency and also prior to this was a with provider of mental health service. This is what I have learned about this subject:

Thank GOD this has been labeled as a disease in the medical community. To have this labeled gives us so much more "creditability" that we truly are sick, and need and are entitled to specific access to services, such as any other disease. Now too, you are more likely to be covered by insurance as well as state run programs.

I am one to look at the bottom line with these types of things. I don't care much in the end what the labeling is for what the heck I am suffering from, as my own personal treatment program is going to be the same. This label sure as heck helps me get services I need.

Remember folks that not too long ago, alcoholism was considered a moral failing. You are weak! You did this to yourself! With this attitude we were not really helped in the professional community as a whole. And if you were, the services were a lot less than now, because no real illness means no real treatment.

So from that end, be grateful.

Do you consider schizophrenia a disease or a choice? Both addiction and mental illness rewires your brain in a way that dissallows the "right" or reasonable choices.

This was emailed to me today....

"Is it a disease..."..I worked on this very subject today..it was explained (and accepted ) to me...Alcoholism is a 3 fold..... A physical allergy, coupled with a mental obsession and a spiritual malady...Add alcohol to the allergy and it will trigger the obsession