Alcoholism is a disease!!!!

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Alcoholism is a disease!!!!

by Amanda
(Michigan)

I strongly believe that it is a disease. After reading that little tid bit at the top of this page how can you deny it? I can't. I am an alcoholic and if there weren't people out there who believed the same as me I would probably be dead right now. I thank the Goddess that there are people out there that understand me and that were there for me when I needed them.

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Alcoholism is a disease!!!!

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Lots of research went into that original decision
by: Wife Beaten by Her Alcoholic (diseased) Husband

I'm so sorry that you battle an addiction as millions of people do, but instead of basing your decision on a "tid bit" that you read at the top of a page, try researching how it became classified as a disease. It took lots of medical science and research over years to conclude that the genetics of a person caused a "disease" that you, or any other alcoholic, have no control over, that forced you, by no choice of your own, to consume alcohol resulting in bad behavior, and decisions. I bet everyone plagued with ACTUAL diseases like cancer, MS, or even Parkinson's wish they could do whatever they wanted to, allowing them to later point their finger and say, my cancer made me do it, it's not my fault.

Here's a bit more than a "tid bit" of information to educate you about the disease that you contracted, or were born with...

The American physician Benjamin Rush (1745-1813), a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence — who understood drunkenness to be what we would now call a "loss of control" — was, perhaps, the first to use the term "addiction" in this sort of meaning.[11]

My observations authorize me to say, that persons who have been addicted to them, should abstain from them suddenly and entirely. 'Taste not, handle not, touch not' should be inscribed upon every vessel that contains spirits in the house of a man, who wishes to be cured of habits of intemperance.[11]

Rush argued that "habitual drunkenness should be regarded not as a bad habit but as a disease", describing it as "a palsy of the will".[12] His views are described by Valverde[13] and by Levine[11]:

Rush’s contribution to a new model of habitual drunkenness was fourfold: First, he identified the causal agent—spiritous liquors; second, he clearly described the drunkard’s condition as a loss of control over drinking behavior—as compulsive activity; third, he declared the condition to be a disease; and fourth, he prescribed total abstinence as the only way to cure the drunkard.

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Submitted by: Wife Beaten by Her Alcoholic (diseased) Husband

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I'm so sorry that you battle an addiction as millions of people do, but instead of basing your decision on a "tid bit" that you read at the top of a page, try researching how it became classified as a disease. It took lots of medical science and research over years to conclude that the genetics of a person caused a "disease" that you, or any other alcoholic, have no control over, that forced you, by no choice of your own, to consume alcohol resulting in bad behavior, and decisions. I bet everyone plagued with ACTUAL diseases like cancer, MS, or even Parkinson's wish they could do whatever they wanted to, allowing them to later point their finger and say, my cancer made me do it, it's not my fault. Here's a bit more than a "tid bit" of information to educate you about the disease that you contracted, or were born with... The American physician Benjamin Rush (1745-1813), a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence — who understood drunkenness to be what we would now call a "loss of control" — was, perhaps, the first to use the term "addiction" in this sort of meaning.[11] My observations authorize me to say, that persons who have been addicted to them, should abstain from them suddenly and entirely. 'Taste not, handle not, touch not' should be inscribed upon every vessel that contains spirits in the house of a man, who wishes to be cured of habits of intemperance.[11] Rush argued that "habitual drunkenness should be regarded not as a bad habit but as a disease", describing it as "a palsy of the will".[12] His views are described by Valverde[13] and by Levine[11]: Rush’s contribution to a new model of habitual drunkenness was fourfold: First, he identified the causal agent—spiritous liquors; second, he clearly described the drunkard’s condition as a loss of control over drinking behavior—as compulsive activity; third, he declared the condition to be a disease; and fourth, he prescribed total abstinence as the only way to cure the drunkard.

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I don't deny it
by: C-P

I don't deny the alcoholism disease concept at all. But I know that many people do - and I can see their point of view. Because for some alcoholics that can then simply be used as justification to continue drinking.

But at the same time acknowledging alcoholism as a disease has helped many like yourself deal with and overcome your addiction.

So to my mind it's not so much what you believe on the subject - it's what you decide to do about it. Admitting to a problem and getting proper help are what will ultimately determine the success of your recovery.

You can read more about what I say about that on the drug addiction disease page at
http://www.alcoholism-and-drug-addiction-help.com/drug-addiction-disease.html

Thanks for your post