The disease of alcoholism...
 

I was watching the morning news and they started talking about the Miss America woman that Trump almost took over her crown from...well, she just left rehab and she says something to the affect of: "And yes, I do suffer from the disease of alcholism."

I know that alcholism is rough...it destroys lives and ruins relationships. But, is it a disease? I need the thoughts of the doctors and others to help me out here. I have heard it referred to as a disease for a while but in my uneducated mind, I have never thought of it as a disease. I see it as an addiction. Am I wrong and is it really a disease? Just wondering what everyone's thought was on this.

It's a definitional problem, but the problem with disease definition for alcoholism is it tends to eliminate personal responsibility when most of the treatment requires the addict to regain control abdicated through the syndrome.

alcoholism is thought of as a disease that someone may have, even if they have been sober for many years. Adoption studies have shown that some people have genetic risks associated with becoming alcoholics. Why is one person able to stop drinking and another not?

One of the most common treatments for alcoholism is Alcoholics Anonymous. They consider alcoholism to be a permanent state, and they certainly don't try to eliminate personal responsibility.

You know better than I. But it is consistent with my client who treats a large number of Clark County's alcoholics and drug abusers.

It is a permanent condition that someone subject to cannot never overcome except through total abstinence. AA does a great job of helping many addicts.

I remember a while ago (10 plus years) Tommy Lasorda was discussing Darryl Strawberry's problems with alcohol and drug abuse and someone asked him about Strawberry's sickness and Lasorda very emphatically replied that Darryl did not have a sickness, he had a weakness...which I thought was an interesting take.

I have a friend who was in AA by the time she was 20 or 21 after multiple DUIs etc...and I've seen how that has impacted her life and it has made me pause and wonder if it is a sickness or a weakness or if at some point humans are just naturally chemically wired to allow our weaknesses become addictions and subsequently sicknesses (Alchohol, drugs, porn etc..)

Great post, which also leads to the question in my mind: Can a weakness be a disease or the other way around?

I'm firmly in the camp that many will use the disease wording as a route to abdicate them from personal choice, accountability and responsibility, but having said that, at the same time I admit that I'm not sure if it IS a disease or not. Having never been in their shoes it's very hard to say.

It would be interesting to see how other addictions would be treated if those who were addicted treated each like a disease and said, " I can't help it, I have a disease." Like Pornography for example.

disease
noun
1. a disordered or incorrectly functioning organ, part, structure, or system of the body resulting from the effect of genetic or developmental errors, infection, poisons, nutritional deficiency or imbalance, toxicity, or unfavorable environmental factors; illness; sickness; ailment.

Do genetics play a role in alcoholism? the answer is a very clear "yes".

Is the brain incorrectly functioning when someone is dependent on alcohol? the answer is again yes. You can die of delirium tremens if you come off alcohol too fast.

Is alcoholism something that can be medically treated? yes. There are medications to allow someone to safely detox. There are also medications designed to help prevent relapse.

Don't argue that alcoholism isn't a disease in polite, educated company. Especially if they know you are Mormon.

Oh please. You make it sound as though the disease model were universally accepted and agreed upon by everyone. If you had even a single course on substance abuse in your training you should know that's hardly the case.

I personally think it's more complicated than just calling it a disease, or not calling it a disease. My experience has been that our culture's present love affair with finding a genetic link for every possible piece of distress that a human being can experience is definitely a double edged sword, if not an exercise in blatant reductionism.

Did you know that eating disorders are now also being called a disease?

Thanks for making my point. You just admitted that you wouldn't argue that it is not a disease, but that it is some middle ground. Because you know if you were to straight out argue that alcoholism has no application to the definition I introduced, you'd be laughed straight back to the Analytic Institute.

There are plenty of folks who don't believe in the disease model of the brain. Some of these we call psychologists. The types that argue bad moms cause schizophrenia. They are gradually going the way of the do-do bird.