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.
At this point (10 days) into my second attempt for sobriety in 45 years, and after immersing myself in research on the subject, I don't believe the term "disease" fits what I know about the typical addiction to alcohol. Yes, you will likely do significant and perhaps irreversible damage to your body (including your brain) if you continue to ingest alcohol over a long period of time. You could actually die from alcohol poisoning if you ingested too much alcohol in a short period of time. But for me, the damage caused or the cause for the damage does not meet the criteria for a disease. A very dangerous and damaging bad habit (very strong addiction potential) yes, disease?, no. I know this addiction needs to be considered a disease to qualify for insurance coverage, but I think that is more a result of strong lobbying by the alcohol addiction treatment industry and the alcohol beverage industry. It is not like a person has a disease (or faulty genes) and therefore is more susceptible to becoming addicted to alcohol. The people they want to label "sick alcoholics" are simply normal people who used too much alcohol over a long period of time (to feel good) and eventually got addicted to it. Sometimes severely addicted to it. For the treatment people it helps business to have insurance coverage for their clients and for the alcoholic beverage company, it diverts the blame for addiction from the substance (alcohol) to the sick and diseased individual who simply cannot drink "responsibly".
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Dick Van Dyke’s path to sobriety was a turning point in his life and career. Here’s what happened:How He Got SoberStruggles and Realization: Van Dyke began drinking as a teenager, largely to cope with shyness and social anxiety. Alcohol made him feel more comfortable in social settings, but over time, his drinking spiraled out of control. By his mid-40s, he recognized that he had an addictive...
For me does not matter if it is a disease or not the reality is in the throws of my cups I have a shocking life and the important thing was to get myself in a position that I can live without wanting to drink every minute of the day.
So my question to you is, is the important thing to do is theorise over whether it is a disease or not, an unwinnable arguement or is the important thing to do is focus your energies to beat alcoholism??
G8
I am grateful for many, including myself, that Alcoholism is being more understood and less of a stigma than it used to be.
I am also grateful that I live in Ohio and been to "Founder's Day," in Akron, Ohio, many times, where gratitude for Bill W. and Dr. Bob is expressed in actions of celebrations yearly. The gratitude of their tenacity to write the book "Alcoholics Anonymous" and create a fellowship has become a worldwide phenomenon.
The "disease" concept is often debated, but I refrain from this debate and know the health threat it has on many people. I have known too many who have suffered and/or died from Alcoholism.
I am grateful for the option of AA, and that it works for so many, including families and the other groups formed from this model.
My best to your day.
1is2many
http://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/the-addictive-brain.html
Gr8ful, I am not posing this question as a challenge to AA or in an attempt to win an argument. I am working to define a clearer understanding of how alcohol becomes addictive and why it became such a mainstay of my life. Parts of the AA approach do not fit for me and I am working to construct an approach that I believe is based in scientific reason and the latest research findings. When I review the latest research, it seems clear (at least to me) that there is really no basis for considering the addiction to alcohol a "disease" or genetic "defect". The question becomes important for me because I simply do want to take on the label diseased or defective unless I believe they accurately define my condition. Sorry if this is an old debate for you, but it is all new stuff for me.
Everyone has opinions of what different words mean. It's easier to just let them all be right.
Studying the addictive mind has really help me on this board. I spot and ignore unscientific statements.