Is drug and alcohol addiction just a bad habit? Or is it a disease?

@sisyphus thank you...you have a wealth of knowledge...
Joseph

Alcoholism is a well known mental disease that takes over your control of drinking. I started many years ago because it felt good drinking and I later found out that I was general anxiety disorder GAD. I decided 30 years ago that I was not going to let drinking control my life and quit.

Hey Joe,

I've been in AA since 2003 (although right now I have 14.5 years of continuous sobriety, so I'm familiar with the "relapse road" - the road with few exits.......).

Since the very beginning, I've had trouble labeling alcoholism a "disease". I've always called it a "condition" - albeit a serious one. "Incurable condition" is even better - and yes, we can put that into remission if we admit we have a problem we can't control, and ask for help. Sounds deceptively simple. Not quite. My one bit of advice for anyone new reading this - relapse is not necessary! Please avoid it. In my case, getting back in was a lot harder than going to my first meeting.

Now that I'm a bit of an "old timer", I truly enjoy helping new people. I sponsor three guys, and they have given me more than I''ll ever give them. This is just a much. much better life.

Thanks again Joe!

Joe

Good for you BH,

That's a very hard decision to make. It's hard to conceive of "powerlessness" over an inanimate object (alcohol).

I have been sober for 14.5 years now, continuously! I feel great, and at 71, I'm in the gym everyday. That's my new addiction - and if you're gonna have an addiction, better to have one that won't kill you.

Congrats on 30 years! Well done!

Joe

Thanks for the honesty DD.

I'm so very sorry you lost your partner to this terrible disease. It doesn't matter that much what we call alcoholism, we all know the symptoms, and the outcomes. It's a matter of picking a path.

I battled alcoholism since age 16. Well, that was the first time I recall getting lit up - drank a dixie cup full of brandy (I grew up in WI where brandy is like mother's milk.......). I still remember how wonderful I felt, warm and confident. But in all the years since, and all the drinking, I never found a high as good as the first one. Sad story.

And I have to be careful. I also got addicted to opiates that were prescribed for pain (it was a time when it was much easier to get a Dr to write an Rx, with refills). At least I never bought pills on the street, but got addicted nonetheless. But I stopped that too, with the help of AA.

Thanks again, and I wish you all the best!

Joe

Well said Gus. I'm sorry about your wife, but it sounds like it's in remission and she does the things necessary to keep it that way.

And so it goes with alcoholism. All require vigilance and commitment.

Joe

@heyjoe415 Your story is so similar to mine. I recognize your name from this platform. Thank you for all your replies and being a part of this.

Ginny

Why thank you Ginny! It's always great to hear some encouraging words!

Joe

@sisyphus sometimes we feel like we need ...one more thing...
And we turn to chemical satisfaction...but it is only temporary so we gradually become addicted...sobriety takes time
We need something to hold on to...what I call the iron rod i can't let go no matter what...keep trying it's hard but worth the effort.
Joseph

@joeyjensen1959 I read this, again this morning. It is The Doctor's Opinion (Dr Silkworth) from the Big Book. I thought of it when I read your post. You are probably familiar with it.

THE DOCTOR'S OPINION (pg. xiii & top of xiv)

WE OF Alcoholics Anonymous believe that the reader will be interested in the medical estimate of the plan of recovery described in this book. Convincing testimony must surely come from medical men who have had experience with the sufferings of our members and have witnessed our return to health. A well-known doctor, chief physician at a nationally prominent hospital specializing in alcoholic and drug addiction, gave Alcoholics Anonymous this letter:

To Whom It May Concern:

I have specialized in the treatment if alcoholism for many years.
In late 1934 I attended a patient who, though he had been a competent businessman of good earning capacity, was an alcoholic of a type I had come to regard as hopeless.

In the course of his third treatment he acquired certain ideas concerning a possible means of recovery. As part of his rehabilitation he commenced to present his conceptions to other alcoholics, impressing upon them that they must do likewise with still others. This has become the basis of a rapidly growing fellowship of these men and their families. This man and over one hundred others appear to have recovered.

I personally know scores of cases who were of the type with whom other methods had failed completely.
These facts appear to be of extreme medical importance; because of the extraordinary possibilities of rapid growth inherent in this group they may mark a new epoch in the annals of alcoholism. These men may well have a remedy for thousands of such situations.

You may rely absolutely on anything they say about themselves.

Very truly yours,
William D. Silkworth, M.D.

THE DOCTOR'S OPINION (pg. xxiv & top of xxv)

The physician who, at our request, gave us this letter, has been kind enough to enlarge upon his views in another statement which follows. In this statement he confirms what we who have suffered alcoholic torture must believe-that the body of the alcoholic is quite as abnormal as his mind. It did not satisfy us to be told that we could not control our drinking just because we were maladjusted to life, that we were in full flight from reality, or were outright mental defectives. These things were true to some extent, in fact, to a considerable extent with some of us. But we are sure that our bodies were sickened as well. In our belief, any picture of the alcoholic which leaves out this physical factor is incomplete.

The doctor's theory that we have an allergy to alcohol interests us. As laymen, our opinion as to its soundness may, of course, mean little. But as ex-problem drinkers, we can say that his explanation makes good sense. It explains many things for which we cannot otherwise account.

Though we work out our solutions on the spiritual as well as an altruistic plane, we favor hospitalization for the alcoholic who is very jittery or befogged. More often than not, it is imperative that a man's brain be cleared before he is approached, as he has then a better chance of understanding and accepting what we have to offer. (A.A. Big Book(

THE DOCTOR'S OPINION (pg. xxv & top of xxvi)

The doctor writes:

The subject presented in this book seems to me to be of paramount importance to those afflicted with alcoholic addiction.

I say this after many years’ experience as Medical Director of one of the oldest hospitals in the country treating alcoholic and drug addiction.

There was, therefore, a sense of real satisfaction when I was asked to contribute a few words on a subject which is covered in such masterly detail in these pages.
We doctors have realized for a long time that some form of moral psychology was of urgent importance to alcoholics, but its application presented difficulties beyond our conception. What with our ultra-modern standards, our scientific approach to everything, we are perhaps not well equipped to apply the powers of good that lie outside our synthetic knowledge.

Many years ago one of the leading contributors to this book came under our care in this hospital and while here he acquired some ideas which he put into practical application at once.

Later, he requested the privilege of being allowed to tell his story to other patients here and with some misgiving, we consented. The cases we have followed through have been most interesting: in fact, many of them are amazing. The unselfishness of these men as we have come to know them, the entire absence of profit motive, and their community spirit, is indeed inspiring to one who has labored long and wearily in this alcoholic field. They believe in themselves, and still more in the Power which pulls chronic alcoholics back from the gates of death.

Of course an alcoholic ought to be freed from his physical craving for liquor, and this often requires a definite hospital procedure, before psychological measures can be of maximum benefit.