alcohol is an addiction not a disease. Anyone can become addicted if they drink a lot for a long period of time. It’s really no different than smoking or shooting up heroin. We have to re wire our brain to stop the habit of being addicted.
change your mind : alcohol is an addiction not a... - Drink Free
change your mind
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Yorkiecapricorn
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'For me, it's a no-brainer....you either are or you are not'...that's your choice to make. If your life has become unmanageable...or you are a functioning drunk...your a drunk either way. If it were so easy for me to think really, really hard and convince myself I wasn't an alcoholic, I would have done it 3 decades ago. I've got some big smarts so they have told me after being tested all my life, but the smartest thing I ever did was surrender, I'm an alcoholic.....
For me, it's no different than having incurable heart disease or diabetes, it is what it is...you can ignore it and let it kill you...or learn to treat it and live with it.`
The Rise of the Disease Theory of Alcoholism
Alcoholics Anonymous played a huge role in the promotion of the disease theory of addiction. The 12 Steps are based on the idea that those who develop the disease need a cure in order to overcome it. The fact that neurologists have been able to detect physical changes to the brain due to alcohol abuse has further promoted the idea that alcoholism is a disease. In the US, it is officially recognised as a medical condition; and this is going to be even more so with the introduction of the Health Care Act in 2014, which lists alcoholism as one of the conditions that must be treated by health insurance. The idea of alcoholism as a disease is also widely accepted in the UK but not as strongly as is the case in the US.
It is almost certain that the disease theory has helped to remove the stigma of being addicted to alcohol. It has meant that more people are willing to admit to having this type of problem and it has made governments more willing to provide the help needed to fight the condition. When individuals are seen as having a disease, it is no longer possible to just dismiss them as bad people who are getting what they deserve. It is now getting to the stage that alcoholism is considered in a similar bracket to diabetes or heart disease – and this is how it should be.
Criticisms of the Disease Concept of Alcoholism
The classification of alcoholism as a disease also has many opponents as well. Some claim that it disempowers the individual and that there is no real evidence that it is a disease. One of the problems is that alcoholism is so unlike other types of disease. There is plenty of evidence of individuals who have been classified as alcoholic but who have managed to just stop without any real help. This does not really happen with a condition like diabetes; people don’t just decide to give up being a diabetic.
The biggest criticism against the disease model of alcoholism is the fact that it may encourage some to continue drinking. The individual may become convinced that they are unable to take control of their behaviour because they have a disease, using this as an excuse to just keep on doing what they have been doing. The idea that alcoholism is an incurable disease may also have the effect of disempowering people.
Is Alcoholism a Disease?
The question of alcohol being a disease is not an easy one to answer; it would all depend on what we mean by alcoholism and what we mean by disease. The real question should be, does thinking about alcoholism as a disease help or hinder the individual. It is obvious that in many cases, treating this condition as a disease encourages many to get help, giving them a framework for coming to terms with their condition. Others consider that thinking of alcoholism as a disease is somewhat disempowering. There might not be a right answer – it is all about whatever works for the individual.
LilyAnnepuppyAmbassador
If that works for you, go for it.
How do you re-wire? The book Alcoholics Anonymous terms the condition as a disease. And it supports the theory with the concepts that I could relate. The spiritual malady when we try put the plug in the jug and that leads us back to those peculiar mental twists and blind spots and after a gap picking up the drink again. And then the phenomenon of craving kicks in. I was able to relate to the definition of the state of mind of the alcoholic which helped me launch the re-wiring process using the 12 steps of AA.
If you read This Naked Mind you will discover the tools to re-wire without deprivation and will power.
I dont think the author understands the obsession of the mind.
I know you can help slow down Alzheimer's in theory, by making the brain take different thought patterns to do different things, like a re-wiring of the brain in that sense...but alcoholism and drug addiction....good luck with that.
The author was a heavy drinker (2 bottles a day) for over a decade. She’s been AF for 10 yrs. Now. I’m sure she understands the mind.
She believes there is nothing such thing called alcoholism. That in itself tells me she lacks complete knowledge of various types of drinkers. A short BBC film on Alcoholic Vervet monkeys nicely illustrate the different kinds of drinkers. And in your post you talk about shooting up Heroin. Have you worked with Heroin addicts? It takes a lot of assistance from Providence for hard drug addicts to recover.
Not all drinkers, drug users can be branded as alcoholics. There are certain people among them have lost the choice in drink. Only a spiritual awakening can help them.
