Alcoholism

I was watching mtv music awards or whatever its called, and someone was talking about how sad it was that some singer had the horrible disease of alcoholism and my first thought was "What a load of bullshit".

Why do people call alcoholism a disease? What is the difference between drinking too much and smoking? Why isn't smoking a disease?

Does everything that people do count as a disease if they won't try to control themselves?

Oh, I have to get up early for class tomorrow but I am staying up really late, I must have a disease right?

Sorry for the rant, but it just really pissed me off hearing someone say that.

My mother was an alcohlic and she tried many times to stay off it, but she didn't succeeded due to many reasons.

Knowing this I can say it was the sorrow she carried with her that was the dissease and not the alcohol

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Originally Posted by WinRic

Why do people call alcoholism a disease?

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Because they're stupid.

I guess it depends on what you think qualifies as a "disease." Are diseases the products of bacteria and viruses and the like? I guess that would settle it. Of course, this would also mean that, e.g., teenage girls suffering from eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia do not have diseases. They just "won't try to control themselves," so it doesn't really count, right? Well, perhaps, but if you've ever been close to someone with a serious eating disorder, you might have a hard time accepting that conclusion on its face. Maybe--just maybe--it is in fact not at all obvious what we might consider a "disease," despite that the answer seems clear to you.

Disease theory of alcoholism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I wouldn't call anything that can be controlled with willpower a disease. In general, it seems to me that giving things like these labels does more harm than good. If there is an actual brain malfunction that can't be controlled then it can be helpful to label the condition, so that the person's lack of control over the situation is recognized. But when something that can be controlled with a bit of willpower is given a label, it becomes easier for the person to say "I suffer from ----------ism" and barely try to control it.

Substance abuse usually includes a physical dependence that goes beyond mere "willpower". A person with severe alcoholism for instance will die if they one day decide to suddenly stop drinking. That being said, willpower is necessary to end addiction.

People are also affected very differently by addiction or addictive substances. Same goes for eating disorders. Both can also be genetic. To say that they just lack willpower and to disregard anything that "can be cured by willpower", when it is impossible to stand in their shoes and know what it's like, is a little high and mighty.

I'm not sure if the last 2 replies were directed at me, but if the issue in question takes more than "a bit of willpower", it isn't the type of thing I was talking about. I was thinking more mild alcoholism or labeling every second kid with ADHD.

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Originally Posted by DuB

I guess it depends on what you think qualifies as a "disease." Are diseases the products of bacteria and viruses and the like? I guess that would settle it. Of course, this would also mean that, e.g., teenage girls suffering from eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia do not have diseases. They just "won't try to control themselves," so it doesn't really count, right? Well, perhaps, but if you've ever been close to someone with a serious eating disorder, you might have a hard time accepting that conclusion on its face. Maybe--just maybe--it is in fact not at all obvious what we might consider a "disease," despite that the answer seems clear to you.

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Mental disorder.

Disease is a fairly broad term. You could take it to just mean physical ailments, or it could encompass a whole range of physical and mental illness and disability.

It shouldn't be called a disease in any case.
Diseases are bacteria and viruses which have infected an organism.

Just call addictions something else like afflictions.

So yeah, I agree it has nothing to do with lack of willpower. It can help of course to have strong will. But addictions actually change the brain.
Just like a person with bulimia has something different in their brain, an alcoholic does too, or a smoker or whatever addictive drugs.
It's just that addictions to drugs are self-induced to a certain extent. Of course it would almost always be due to the person having problems to begin with; mental illness or problems with family or friends.
But you may as well say it is self-induced. Since you have to put the onus on the person at some point. Or not at all and never blame anyone for anything.

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Originally Posted by DuB

I guess it depends on what you think qualifies as a "disease." Are diseases the products of bacteria and viruses and the like? I guess that would settle it. Of course, this would also mean that, e.g., teenage girls suffering from eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia do not have diseases. They just "won't try to control themselves," so it doesn't really count, right? Well, perhaps, but if you've ever been close to someone with a serious eating disorder, you might have a hard time accepting that conclusion on its face. Maybe--just maybe--it is in fact not at all obvious what we might consider a "disease," despite that the answer seems clear to you.

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By that definition cancer often isn't a disease.

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Originally Posted by Dianeva

I wouldn't call anything that can be controlled with willpower a disease. In general, it seems to me that giving things like these labels does more harm than good. If there is an actual brain malfunction that can't be controlled then it can be helpful to label the condition, so that the person's lack of control over the situation is recognized. But when something that can be controlled with a bit of willpower is given a label, it becomes easier for the person to say "I suffer from ----------ism" and barely try to control it.

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"In recent decades reports have confirmed the efficacy of various sham treatments in nearly all areas of medicine. Placebos have helped alleviate pain, depression, anxiety, Parkinson’s disease, inflammatory disorders and even cancer." (source)
So those aren't real diseases, then, eh? :cheeky:

I don't think alcoholism, per se, is a disease, but I do think it is dominated by addictive personalities.

For example, I have tried three or four cigarettes in my life and never felt compelled to continue, while friends I know who smoked once were hooked. Same with drinking. I drink, to intoxication, about once every few months. Other than that I don't really drink at all, but I know people who cannot stand being away from alcohol.

For them, it's not the drink, the cigarette, or whatever, it's the high they get from fulfilling their fix. If they could fill it with something innocuous, they would until it became harmful.

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Originally Posted by khh

By that definition cancer often isn't a disease.

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So I guess we're in agreement that the definition seems to be somewhat lacking.

I hate how so many things are given the "disease" label. I think "disorder" fits a lot better.
And I'm a nicotine addict. Even though I was able to quit for 8 years, I dreamed about smoking almost every night throughout that time. I cried as I bought that first pack after so many years.
Anxiety is my disorder. Nicotine is one of the best things I've found for self-medication (which makes no logical sense seeing how nicotine is a stimulant).
:wtf:

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Originally Posted by WinRic

Why do people call alcoholism a disease?

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It's a disease of the mind.

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Originally Posted by Zhaylin

I hate how so many things are given the "disease" label. I think "disorder" fits a lot better.
And I'm a nicotine addict. Even though I was able to quit for 8 years, I dreamed about smoking almost every night throughout that time. I cried as I bought that first pack after so many years.
Anxiety is my disorder. Nicotine is one of the best things I've found for self-medication (which makes no logical sense seeing how nicotine is a stimulant).
:wtf:

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Researchers are currently looking at nicotinic receptors for anxiety treatment. I guess you could say the same thing about ADHD and amphetamines. They are stimulants but it relieves anxiety in people with ADHD, or agitation or whatever.

They probably work in completely different ways, I'm not a chemist, but on the surface you can see how a chemical doesn't have the same effect in everyone.

Anyway they think that the nicotinic receptors could be involved in a whole bunch of disorders including schizophrenia, anxiety, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's and more I can't recall atm.


About cancer, I know it sounds stupid maybe, but I wouldn't classify it as a disease either.
Maybe a biological malfunction or something. Because it is just from normal cells mutating. It can happen due to environmental factors. But it isn't directly, like a virus or bacteria works.

If you call cancer a disease, then you may as well call all mental problems a disease, and therefore addictions too, since they are just symptoms of abnormal mental function which pushes the person to use drugs in the first place, or abnormal mental function which makes the person more susceptible to becoming addicted to drugs than others.
Cancer is an abnormal function of cells, sometimes brain cells too.

Maybe it doesn't matter. Maybe we call them all a disease but we just make sure that people know that some of them have some level of self-infliction and they shouldn't think that they can't get better.

I think some of you are confusing diseases with infectious diseases. A disease is just an abnormal medical condition. Genetic disorders, vitamin/mineral deficiencies and neurological conditions are examples of diseases not caused by pathogens.

dis ease