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One of the primary questions a lot of people have about addiction is why is alcoholism considered a chronic disease?
If you were to ask any person who is an alcoholic if they have a disease, they will not hesitate to tell you that no, they do not. Now ask any recovering alcoholic if they have a disease and without a moments hesitation they will tell you yes.
There is much debate amongst people if alcoholism is a disease or not. It doesn’t fit the mold of a disease and most of the time we deny it exists. Even though alcoholism has been recognized by the medical community as a chronic, progressive and even fatal disease, those who suffer from it sometimes refuse to admit they have a disease. Even though alcoholism has some of the same characteristics of diseases. Alcoholism has a predictable course just like any other disease and comes with recognized symptoms also.
So what is alcoholism? The most simple way to put it is that alcoholism is a mental obsession that causes a physical compulsion to drink alcohol. A alcoholic has no control over his urge to drink and the only way to stop that urge is to take a drink. Alcoholism also progresses overtime. You don’t start out automatically drinking 10 drinks a day, instead you start off with maybe 2 drinks, and then 2 becomes 3 drinks and so on. This happens slowly sometimes over the course of a few years and more often than not, you will never even realize when alcohol has taken over your life.
Many people are hesitant to call alcoholism a disease because the cause of the disease is alcohol dependence. It is not a germ or anything invades your body. Some could argue that alcohol is a toxin that enters your body and causes the disease. Not everyone buys that though. To some of us alcoholism might just be an excuse to drink.
However the medical field feels differently. Some doctors have begun to refer to alcoholism as “alcohol dependence syndrome”. Many also state that it is a progressive disease and moves through stages. There is an early stage, which is when it might take only one or two drinks to get the cravings to stop. As it moves into the middle stage it takes more drinks to stop the cravings. Alcohol begins to have more control in the middle stages of alcoholism. Finally in end stage alcoholism, an alcoholic has no control over his or her own life. Alcohol is calling the shots. Most alcoholics do not even know that they lost control as time goes on. This is why denial is a symptom that almost all alcoholics suffer from.
Many people are hesitant to call alcoholism a disease because the cause of the disease is alcohol dependence. It is not a germ or anything invades your body. Some could argue that alcohol is a toxin that enters your body and causes the disease. Not everyone buys that though. To some of us alcoholism might just be an excuse to drink.
However the medical field feels differently. Some doctors have begun to refer to alcoholism as “alcohol dependence syndrome”. Many also state that it is a progressive disease and moves through stages. There is an early stage, which is when it might take only one or two drinks to get the cravings to stop. As it moves into the middle stage it takes more drinks to stop the cravings. Alcohol begins to have more control in the middle stages of alcoholism. Finally in end stage alcoholism, an alcoholic has no control over his or her own life. Alcohol is calling the shots. Most alcoholics do not even know that they lost control as time goes on. This is why denial is a symptom that almost all alcoholics suffer from.
Is alcoholism an incurable disease or is it something that can be overcome? For millions of people this has been a topic that has been debated for years. Many people have been told that their alcoholism is something that they will always have and that by putting their faith in a higher power that they will be their only chance of recovery. Though even with this apathetic form of therapy, they are still told that relapse is part of recovery and that they will probably have slip ups on their way.
The truth is thousands of people have overcome their addiction to alcohol and never had a relapse since. Staying in the present and staying focused about life and goals is a much better approach. Staying stuck in the past and waking up in the morning thinking you “made it another day” is not the best approach because basically you are saying you are lucky for making it. Also being told that you are powerless and no control is certainly a pretty depressing thing. If I was told that I would consider returning back to drinking alcohol because of such a bleak outlook.
The most important thing is finding an alcohol rehab that will work. Not just trying to locate a place to sober up or detox. An effective alcohol rehabilitation center will not only help a person overcome their addiction medically but also physically, mentally, and emotionally. Generally this will require a long term treatment center that offers a medical detox, cognitive counseling and life skills therapy. A therapeutic environment that provides a healthy lifestyle has also found to be very effective. A holistic doctor that offers vitamin and mineral therapy, a cellular cleansing process, which cleanses the body of alcohol and drug metabolites to eliminate physical cravings for the alcohol and an exercise program with a physical trainer are healthy lifestyle changes vital to successful recovery.
Once a family has found a program that specializes in alcoholism that next step is making sure the addicted individual stays and completes the ENTIRE program. Alcohol rehabilitation is not always the easiest thing to do. Most patients have to confront things in their life that they have never wanted to look at. Then they have to start taking responsibility for all of the transgressions they have committed against their family, friends, and jobs. This is when the real healing begins. This is when the family will really notice a change in attitude.
Don’t get frustrated if your loved one who is addicted to alcohol does not ask for help. If they had the ability to help themselves than they would be able to quit. That is why as a family you must come together as one team to make sure that get the proper alcohol addiction treatment to give this person their life back. If after several attempts of talking with the person to enter in a residential alcohol treatment center with no luck then taking a look at an alcohol intervention would be the next step. Regardless, remember never to give up on your loved one who has an addiction problem with alcohol.
Just as with many diseases, alcoholism can be treated and managed but there is no cure for it. You can not say you were an alcoholic but rather you are a recovering alcoholic.
The organization AA was the first program focused specifically on treating addiction, and complete abstinence from alcohol was the cornerstone of the approach. And so as such, abstinence has a long history of being an entrenched concept required for recovery.
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