Alcoholism Disease

Drug Addiction Disease

By Jonathan Huttner

The question as to whether alcoholism is a disease or a learned behavior is still not definitively answered. The tide however is turning and finally alcoholism is being regarded as a disease…an ailment that requires treatment. The definition of a disease is "an involuntary disability and a disorder of structure or function." Although initially drinking is voluntary, I believe that in time it becomes a totally involuntary behavior. Thus, in this author's mind, the alcoholism disease theory is valid.

Like drug addiction as a brain disease, alcoholism disease also alters the brain and thus changes the behavior of an individual. Both drug addiction disease and alcoholism disease are forms of a compulsive behavior, one that can be altered. Through drugs and/or residential treatment and rehab, alcoholism disease is manageable. Like many other diseases, alcoholism cannot be cured, only controlled. Similar to a cancer that can be put into remission, alcoholism disease can lay "dormant", especially with the right forms of treatment.

Alcoholism – Disease or Illness?

Even Alcoholics Anonymous understands the fine line between alcoholism as a disease verses alcoholism as a malady or illness. They rarely if ever refer to alcoholism as a disease. They compare it to heart disease and say, "There is no such thing as heart disease. Instead there are many separate heart ailments, or combinations of them." To this end, alcoholism disease exists only in terms of the actual diseases that are caused by the excess use of alcohol, like cirrhosis of the liver and liver hepatitis. Alcoholism as an illness however cannot be disputed and as such needs to be treated aggressively and completely.

Alcoholism Disease – More Than a Mental Obsession

Alcoholism disease cannot be considered only as a problem of will power or a mental disorder. It is an invasive disease, one that if not treated, leads to a number of other chronic diseases involving the liver, the nervous system and more. Thankfully however both the physical and psychological effects of alcoholism disease can be controlled. The problem must be accepted as a disease, not a choice, and treated as such.

If you require assistance, go to www.99Detox.com or call the national addiction treatment helpline at 1-800-820-5841. Get effective addiction treatment today.