Alcoholism: disease or choice?

Specialties Addictions

Published

What is your opinion; is alcoholism a disease or a choice? Please provide your rationale or empirical support of your belief.

Do you walk with your right foot or your left foot?

Alcoholism--the trait that predisposes a person to have an unhealthy craving for alcohol--is, for the purposes of this discussion, a disease. I much prefer the term "condition" because it is less emotionally charged.

People don't get a choice about whether or not they experience this compulsion, therefore, that aspect of this situation should never be used as evidence of moral failing.

Those who live with this condition (about which they have no choice), DO, however, have decisions to make about how they will manage their lives.

If you look at the condition of alcoholism like magnetic attraction, you can see that there is a force at work that no amount of willpower can countermand. You can will iron filings to stay on the table when a magnet passes by, but magnetic force will overrule you every time.

Unless.

There are measures that can weaken, block, or outperform the magnetic attraction. That force still exists (as does alcoholism), but distance, insulation, and stronger magnetism can change the outcome.

For an alcoholic, these measures can include avoiding drink and all its trappings, taking meds which make alcohol consumption unpleasant or at least non-productive, stripping away years of rationalization and truly counting the cost of their drinking, enlisting the help of trusted partners to keep them honest, and many other means to stay sober.

Alcoholics who hope to wake one day with no desire to drink usually fall off the wagon. Some get run over by it. A handful of folks do, by the grace of God, find themselves liberated from the craving, but most do not. The real point of grace for them is to accept both the condition and the choices that they will live with every single day on this earth.

Alcoholism--the compulsion--is a condition. No choice involved.

Alcoholic behavior--to drink or not to drink, to seek help or not to seek help, to lie to yourself or let the truth in--is choice in its purest form.

Right foot, left foot.

Recognizing one without including the other will only leave you hopping in circles.

i think that's what I said....but you do it so much better!

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and i think the ad at the bottom of page 4 is totally inappropriate for AN...

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Specializes in Home Care, Hospice, OB.
and i think the ad at the bottom of page 4 is totally inappropriate for an...

what's it for?? (i don't see it.)

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
what's it for?? (i don't see it.)
moderators and the posters who have premium/platinum memberships do not see the advertisements that are readily viewable by registered members.
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Specializes in Home Care, Hospice, OB.

i know..that's why i asked!

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BTW - The 'courts' regularly try children as young as ten in some places as adults...

Regularly? If you want to make such claims, it might be wise to back them up with some actual sources. Good luck with that, and please dont come back with an isolated incident or cases from another country. Demonstrate the "regularity" of this practice or quit making claims that you cannot substantiate.

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Regularly? If you want to make such claims, it might be wise to back them up with some actual sources. Good luck with that, and please dont come back with an isolated incident or cases from another country. Demonstrate the "regularity" of this practice or quit making claims that you cannot substantiate.

stanley's allegation is certainly not a new concept.

the issue isn't IF juveniles are tried, rather, how successful it is.

Does Trying Juveniles as Adults Work?

An Analysis of the Evidence

http://www.aicharleston.com/JuvenileJustice1.htm

Juvenile Justice: Facts, Stats & History

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/juvenile/stats/

Trying Juveniles as Adults in Criminal Court: An Analysis of State Transfer Provisions

http://www.ncjrs.org/pdffiles/172836.pdf

leslie

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Specializes in Med Surg, LTC, Home Health.
The 'courts' regularly try children as young as ten in some places as adults...

Two states, Kansas and Vermont, allow 10 year old children to be tried as adults.

A few years ago, The Associated Press released a study performed by Temple University which demonstrated that many children tried as adults lack the competence to even understand the proceedings.

Im sure there are a few rare murder cases where a 10 year old was charged as an adult, but that is far from "regular". Gathering enough numb-skulls in one place to pull that off can only be an anomaly.

A murdering 10 year old is only a symptom of a much larger problem, but in the absence of an understanding of what that is, i guess we should put them all in the electric chair (whether they understand why or not).:)

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I have to agree with Stanley about the use of alcohol (and other drugs) used to self medicate mental illness. In my mind that does not make it less of a disease. We don't know enough about the brain and the development to be really black and white about many mental health/illness issues.

It was not that many years ago when we still blamed the mother for schizophrenia.

When a person starts to use chemicals known to fry brain cells before the brain is fully developed it certainly has the possibility of creating a state of disease. The choice to use or not is the individual's choice. That does not mean at the age of 10 (to some upper limit of maybe 17) it is an informed choice. If the brain has not completed its' growth is it competent to make decisions such as this? The law does not think so. Many recovering addicts that I know agree. Many of them started at age 10-13 to drink and then to drink more heavily until the option of not using did not exist without complete abstinance.

Congrats to all of you who have sobriety. For those of you who still are able to drink safely-go for it. Enjoy. If the situation changes and you no longer drink safely get help for your disease. You did not choose it. It chose you.:coollook:

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what's it for?? (i don't see it.)

chuggers.com if this is a double post i appologize

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Specializes in Home Care, Hospice, OB.
chuggers.com if this is a double post i appologize

well, that's right up there with krispy kreme as a weight watcher's sponser...:banghead:

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Specializes in Oncology/Haemetology/HIV.

Alcoholism is a disease.

But one makes a choice as to whether to treat that disease or not.

If you are not compliant with treatment of that disease, and it gets you in trouble, this is a CHOICE.... and you have chosen poorly. And if it harms others, you should be held responsible for making that poor choice.

Much like diabetics that are not compliant, you will pay the price eventially of "poor management".

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