[99fairies]

Is alcoholism a disease or a choice? I hardly ever drink, but I'm just curious about this question.

[Guiness187055]

I believe it becomes a disease but this is an age old argument. People are passionate on both ends of the spectrum.

[tecomsin]

There are over 250 AA group meetings a week within my city limits but all told less than 5 or 6 for people with mood disorders. If alcoholism is a disease, what is the reason for the difference? I think addiction lies on the spectrum as well. To some extent mental illness is also has choice aspects.

My dad was a violent alcoholic. He also suffered from severe depression. In his case he drank to cope. My brother is the exact same. I often wonder if most alcoholics have some type of mental illness. I try very hard to avoid alcohol because I am positive I would also drink to cope with my illness.

[taybaby]

My father was an alcoholic and I was a "college alcoholic". From watching my dad literally destroy his life because he couldn't stop makes me believe that it is not a choice.

[UpDownAround]

I am a problem drinker, but coming up on 6 months sober. I feel like I was drawn to substance abuse by more than choice but I am able to step away by choice. I do think some people have the compulsion worse and can't resist and can't step away without intervention.

[Wild Coyote]

Originally Posted by UpDownAround

I am a problem drinker, but coming up on 6 months sober. I feel like I was drawn to substance abuse by more than choice but I am able to step away by choice. I do think some people have the compulsion worse and can't resist and can't step away without intervention.

I agree. I have seen people step away from alcohol.
I have seen others die because of alcoholism.

There is also a lot of talk about a genetic predisposition.

Interesting question.


WC

[annielovesbacon]

I just started recovery from alcoholism and pill addiction. I suppose on some level it must be a choice -- no one forced me to drink, I never "accidentally" let some vodka slip past my lips. But why was I so compelled to abuse substances to cope when others are not? I got to a point where I could not imagine a day without drinking. I never chose that.

[99fairies]

What do they say about it at AA? Disease or choice?

[Guiness187055]

In AA it's all about the disease.

[~Christina]

I think alot of factors are at play...

Genetics? Yes

I seldom drink just isnt my thing to be honest and I am grateful.

I also think alot of people drink to cope and then it becomes a habit and then a disease due to the inability of some people not being able to stop on there own

[BipolaRNurse]

I'm a recovering alcoholic with almost 26 years of sobriety under my belt. I'm sure it has as much to do with my illness as genetics (lots of problem drinkers in the family). I think it is a disease, even though you can choose not to drink. The compulsion is still there, no matter how long you've been sober. I can still taste alcohol if I think about it, and I STILL wish I could drink responsibly...but I can't, and no amount of time will ever fix that.

[emgreen]

I agree with BipolaRNurse. If you shake my family tree, alcoholics fall from the branches. I feel that in my case I was genetically predisposed. I'm sure it has something to do with the way alcoholics metabolize alcohol. (BTW, I'm in recovery, not currently resting with my head over a toilet. )

[bioChE]

The medical field refers to the “disease model” of alcoholism and drug addiction. If you treat it as a choice, there’s not much to do but to blame someone for a moral failure or whatever you want....but you blame the person.

If you look at it through the disease lens, there are very defined symptoms, a prognosis, and a treatment/cure. You can treat the disease.

[winter loneliness]

I think that is a choice,that can turn into a disease.

Here is an interesting article about bipolar and alcohol.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-...r/FAQ-20057890

and

https://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publicati...-2/103-108.htm

Originally Posted by 99fairies

Is alcoholism a disease or a choice? I hardly ever drink, but I'm just curious about this question.

Do you have a couple of hours?

LISTEN: In order to stop living in the streets, I was told to say that I was an alcoholic so that I could enter a program catering to the homeless addicts. Thousands of anonymous meetings later, with the word ‘disease’ uttered 5 times per meeting, I will admit that I believe that any addiction is a choice.

Now. I’m expressing my opinion as someone who has never been addicted to anything. I don’t believe that mental illnesses are a choice but I don’t think that addiction is a mental illness. Or a disease. Every decade there seems to be a breakthrough in which the ‘addiction gene’ is found, only to fizzle out (rather like the ‘gay gene’).

In those thousands of meetings, being amongst thousands of addicts, I think that alcoholism is a choice. Any addiction is a choice.

My 2 cents.

Originally Posted by ~Christina

I think alot of factors are at play...

Genetics? Yes

I seldom drink just isnt my thing to be honest and I am grateful.

I also think alot of people drink to cope and then it becomes a habit and then a disease due to the inability of some people not being able to stop on there own

I believe that it is nurture over nature. I don’t believe that there is a or a group of alcoholic gene(s). I don’t believe that habitual excess can magically turn into a disease. Absolutely believe that alcoholics can breed alcoholics but via observation and experiences and choice.

[99fairies]

Thank you for everyone's point of view. I've learned a lot.

[Teddy Bear]

I think it's an addiction

[stopchewinggum]

The fact of the matter (feel free to do the medical research) is that alcoholism is one of the few disease processes that has clear genetic link. This is been shown time and time again in studies. On top of this, there has been studies that show people with the alcoholic gene, react differently to alcohol than others. This doesn't not, however, mean that everyone who is a "problem drinker" has the gene. This may be why you see some people simply walk away from alcohol. There is also a different diagnosis from alcoholism and alcohol abuse.

With all of this said, if someone is suffering alcoholism, they need to seek help. Recovery is possible, and yes, it is hard work, but it can be done. I think of AA, honestly, as more of support group than actual treatment. Yes, it is free, and there are a lot of them out there, but I don't think there really are a lot of good outcomes, particularly for more severe cases to send someone to AA alone. IOP can be good options for some, but if a person's drinking has started to effect their health or started cause legal problems, it may be time to look at inpatient treatment. At the end of the day, yes it is a disease, but the alcoholic, with adequate help, is the only one can turn things around. They should be encouraged to do so, but their fate is, ultimately, in their hands.

[leejosepho]

Originally Posted by 99fairies

Is alcoholism a disease or a choice?

There are actually two separate issues there -- 1) physical allergy or compulsion and 2) mental-emotional obsession -- and maybe this will help sort them a bit:

Some people are physically allergic to strawberries and others are not, but the fact that strawberries can cause physical symptoms for some people does not make an allergy to strawberries into a disease. Similarly, some people lose all control over how much they drink while drinking because they have a physical allergy to alcohol, but that does not mean their out-of-control drinking is caused by a disease. Rather, their bodies simply cannot process alcohol normally just like the bodies of certain other people cannot process strawberries normally.

At that point, the question becomes related to the matter of why people who are physically unable to control their drinking ever drink at all...and again, there is no disease involved. Some alcoholics refuse to believe control over their drinking is impossible, but there is no disease behind that refusal to admit and accept the fact of an allergic reaction making controlled drinking impossible.

[leejosepho]

Originally Posted by stopchewinggum

I think of AA, honestly, as more of support group than actual treatment...
...the alcoholic...is the only one can turn things around...their fate is, ultimately, in their hands.

Today's AA can be an effective "support group" for certain hard drinkers or whatever who have yet to find themselves powerless over alcohol while sober, but the original A.A. is for others such as myself who absolutely could *not* do as you have described. For people such as myself, today's AA amounts to nothing greater than "Don't drink, one-day-at-a-time" and then rinse-and-repeat between drunks until dead.

[99fairies]

My husband has been to AA meetings and asked me why I started this thread when I could have just asked him. I just wanted to hear about more experiences than just his. The one thing he walked away with was that he was powerless over alcohol and he needed to find a higher power to help him.

[stopchewinggum]

Originally Posted by leejosepho

Today's AA can be an effective "support group" for certain hard drinkers or whatever who have yet to find themselves powerless over alcohol while sober, but the original A.A. is for others such as myself who absolutely could *not* do as you have described. For people such as myself, today's AA amounts to nothing greater than "Don't drink, one-day-at-a-time" and then rinse-and-repeat between drunks until dead.

That was kind of my point.