Quote:
Originally Posted by Samicat
I think many people could benefit from AA who have a drinking problem but may not be "alcoholic" - that seems to just be a label to me.
One thing I learned while doing my psychology degree is that the "disease model" of an Alcoholic (widely believed) is simply not true. The idea that if someone has one drop of alcohol, it will biologically compel them to binge. It's psychological, not biological. I know this is not the popular view, but it has been proven in countless studies. If you give an "alcoholic" a drink with NO alcohol and tell them it contains alcohol, they are more likely to binge then if you give them a drink WITH alcohol and tell them it contains none. What does that tell us? It doesn't mean the problem is not real, but it is psychological and not biological.
Thus I would have no problem attending AA and saying I'm an alcoholic, because it is a state of mind. AA is a way of meeting other people and having support for living an alcohol-free lifestyle.
I don't know if it's acceptable to just say you have a drinking problem. That's more accurate anyway IMHO. And nobody is going to argue if you got a DUI that you don't have a drinking problem.
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Samicat, I do not have a drinking problem. I have abused alcohol at various times in my life, but I certainly can and have abstained, OR I have maintained a normal/acceptable and moderate level of alcohol intake for long periods of time in my life.
Like I wrote in my OP, I have leaned on alcohol at various times as a crutch for stress management. I realize this is unhealthy. At best, I would say that I have an unhealthy relationship with alcohol, and only during times of my life when life has been extremely stressful for me.
If I did have a real drinking problem, then I would still be drinking right now. And I haven't had a single drink since this incident.
I do take offense to that label. People who truly do have a drinking problem cannot stop themselves from drinking. I do stop drinking and I typically have paced myself and then stop at a certain point before I am drunk or too buzzed.
And I disagree that alcoholism is not a disease. It has been determined to be a disease by medical professionals. Alcoholism can be inherited through genes. This has been documented.
"Like many other substance use disorders, alcohol use disorder is a chronic and sometimes relapsing condition that reflects changes in the brain. This means that when people with the disorder are abstaining from alcohol, they are still at increased risk of resuming unhealthy alcohol consumption, even if years have passed since their last drink.
People who have AUD may continue to use alcohol even though they know it is causing social, health, economic, and possibly even legal problems in their life.
It is important to remember that AUD is not due to an individual’s lack of self-discipline or resolve. Rather, it is a brain disease that can be inherited. Long-term alcohol use can produce changes in the brain that can cause people to crave alcohol, lose control of their drinking and require greater quantities of alcohol to achieve its desired effects. It can also cause people to experience withdrawal symptoms if they discontinue alcohol use."
Alcohol Use Disorder > Fact Sheets > Yale Medicine
Please - let's be mindful of assigning conventional labels. No one here witnesses my intake. No one here knows the real truth except for me. And I am being completely transparent and honest on here and with myself.
But I take umbrage to the label that I have a drinking problem.