Alcoholism an illness or weakness

[public school boy]

So do Alcoholics use the word Illness as an excuse or is Alcoholism a genuine
disease?

 

[defrocked priest]

Alcohol is your enemy and the Bible says: Love thy enemy.

 

[Hatterlovesbrighton]

disease is probably the wrong word. Alcoholism is a mental illness just like any addiction.

 

[Garage_Doors]

Weakness.

 

[colinpants]

weakness

 

[SNOOBS]

Bull shit

 

[public school boy]

There's a turning point. Once a person has been drinking a certain amount for a certain amount of time, it is definitely NOT a weakness.

In fact withdrawl can be fatal.

Is it not possible that Alcoholism is hireditory?

 

[Brighton Breezy]

Surely a large part of it starts off as being something quite habitual, then develops into an addiction?

I don't doubt some people are predisposed to being more likely to end up an alcoholic, or indeed an adict of any type.

However, it is not an illness. You can't CATCH alcoholism.

 

[ben andrews' girlfriend]

Illness.

 

[public school boy]

Nobody's born an alcoholic, but I would definitely say a gene dictates whether you have an addictive personality.

My old man passed away through alcoholism & I have had problems with substance abuse in the past also.

I would say it starts off with apathy/ignorance & you only find out it is a problem when it has been an addiction for far too long.

some might say that your sustance abuse could be linked to your fathers Alcoholism.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Surely a large part of it starts off as being something quite habitual, then develops into an addiction?

I don't doubt some people are predisposed to being more likely to end up an alcoholic, or indeed an adict of any type.

However, it is not an illness. You can't CATCH alcoholism.

I think you need to look up the definition of the word illness.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

By the way, illness.

One thing I must say is that I personally cannot understand how anyone can be an alcoholic. A heavy session and I cant touch the sauce for at least a week.

 

[scooter1]

Having lost a good friend to alcoholism before he was 35 i'd say its an illness, but he had an addictive personality. Couldn't just have one drink, or one line or one pill - it had to be excessive, and in the end it got the better of him. Everybody who new him tried to help him, but in the end he destroyed himself. He told me several time he didn't want to die, but simply had too many demons to fight his own personal battles. Indicentally his dad was an alcoholic, with a very consumptive personality. There has to be a bit of genetics in there somewhere?

 

[public school boy]

Surely a large part of it starts off as being something quite habitual, then develops into an addiction?

I don't doubt some people are predisposed to being more likely to end up an alcoholic, or indeed an adict of any type.

However, it is not an illness. You can't CATCH alcoholism.

Not all illnesses are caught like a cold or flu,take arthritis or asthma as examples

 

[Superphil]

However, it is not an illness. You can't CATCH alcoholism.

Interesting point there, and hear me out on this. If I know there are people about with a bad cough, or cold, I try to avoid them, therefore I can avoid 'catching' what they have. i.e. I do not put myself in a position to catch it. If you persistantly drink to excess, i.e. you put yourself in the position to become alcoholic, does that not mean you could catch alcoholism, sort of, there must be a point at which you go form being a drinker, to becomeing dependent, therefore an alcoholic?

Don't get me wrong, I am not saying you can, but just as you can get a cough from being around places where the germs are, so you can become alcoholic from being in the same place as where booze is.

If you are unable to resist the booze, then of course there is the chance you'll become ill from the effects of excessive use.

I have known an alcoholic who died from the effects of the condition, and I also know and alcoholic who became very ill, stopped, got better, and now drinks in moderation with no apparent sign of returning to the excesses of the past.

I think it is such a personal thing, I imagine at the beginning it is a mental thing, but then when your body required alcohol to live, it become a physical think, surely that means it is an illness.

 

[public school boy]

I don't doubt some people are predisposed to being more likely to end up an alcoholic, or indeed an adict of any type.

so what type of person might be more likely to end up an Alcoholic?

 

[Tom Bombadil]

So do Alcoholics use the word Illness as an excuse or is Alcoholism a genuine
disease?

Do f*** off you tiresome excuse for a human being.

 

[public school boy]

Do f*** off you tiresome excuse for a human being.

So why does this topic of conversation distress you so?

 

[jevs]

The definition of an alcoholic has now changed too. When i was younger, an alcoholic was an old wino who sat on a park bench drinking strong cider and cheap gin.

Now days, if you drink over a certain amount of units on a regular basis, you're an alcoholic !!!!!!

I love a beer...both at home and up the pub and if im honest, i drink far more than i should. But then i stop for a couple of weeks don't touch a drop. In truth, i'll probably never give up completely as i enjoy it too much but if all the media hype is anything to go by, im probably a "newage" alcoholic !!!!!!

 

[public school boy]

The definition of an alcoholic has now changed too. When i was younger, an alcoholic was an old wino who sat on a park bench drinking strong cider and cheap gin.

Now days, if you drink over a certain amount of units on a regular basis, you're an alcoholic !!!!!!

I love a beer...both at home and up the pub and if im honest, i drink far more than i should. But then i stop for a couple of weeks don't touch a drop. In truth, i'll probably never give up completely as i enjoy it too much but if all the media hype is anything to go by, im probably a "newage" alcoholic !!!!!!

Media hype.The media certainly has a large amount of alcoholics working in it .