View Poll Results: Is alcoholism a genuine disease?
Voters: 46. You may not vote on this poll
My worthless post/poll of the night.
Moderator
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 109,435
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From: SJC
I almost voted "yes," until I realized what the question was. I thought I was voting to say that this thread was worthless.
By the way, you're on your way to
heaven; just thought you ought to know.
Oh, and I'd say this may be the worthless poll of the week. . . maybe.
By the way, you're on your way to
heaven; just thought you ought to know.Oh, and I'd say this may be the worthless poll of the week. . . maybe.
Registered User
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 434
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From: Indianapolis, Indiana
I am truly sorry, but some of you people are real assholes!
I have an ex-wife who tried to destroy both my life and the lives of our children to feed her addictions. Science has shown rather conclusively that alcoholism, and basically most addictions are due to variations in the brain from normal.
I guess you would also say that AIDS, and any other STD's are not diseases either, since they are caused by lifestyle and not chance.
If I could have saved my ex-wife and my children from her abuse by giving her a pill to cure her addiction, don't you think I would have?
Do you think that the financial and emotional drain on my life was any less than if she had gotten cancer or edrometriosis?
The longer that people refuse to see destructive addiction as a real disease, the longer EVERYBODY has to suffer, be it spouses, ex-spouses, children, parents, or the family of the people that they kill on the highway.
I have an ex-wife who tried to destroy both my life and the lives of our children to feed her addictions. Science has shown rather conclusively that alcoholism, and basically most addictions are due to variations in the brain from normal.
I guess you would also say that AIDS, and any other STD's are not diseases either, since they are caused by lifestyle and not chance.
If I could have saved my ex-wife and my children from her abuse by giving her a pill to cure her addiction, don't you think I would have?
Do you think that the financial and emotional drain on my life was any less than if she had gotten cancer or edrometriosis?
The longer that people refuse to see destructive addiction as a real disease, the longer EVERYBODY has to suffer, be it spouses, ex-spouses, children, parents, or the family of the people that they kill on the highway.
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Registered User
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 3,315
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From: Mandeville, La
Alcoholism is no more a disease than an "eating disorder".
Wizard, You are using "disease" as a metaphor to explain the financial and emotional drain that you experienced. I'm not trying to offend you, but YOU can call it whatever YOU would like. But that doesn't make it anymore scientifically true. Most of the studies that show such results are completely biased. I'm sure people who lived through the holocaust were more sensitive to it than those who simply heard about it... and while it was more "real" to the survivors, it doesn't mean that their pain was a "disease" or anything of the like.
Nothing that is self inflicted is a disease. There was no genetic predisposition to the depression that caused my father to hang himself 4 months ago. He suffered depression that was caused by choices that HE made throughout his life. His depression was very real, but it wasn't a "disease". He was depressed because he chose to be. He had every right to get help just like alcoholics do. People become alcoholics, bulimics, etc because they choose to. It is a conscious decision that they make every time they pick up a drink or stuff their finger down their throats. There is no genetic reason as to why they do it.
Again, I'm sorry for any pain that you have suffered from your ex-wife's actions...
The longer that people go on blaming their actions on faulty medical excuses with no scientific basis, the longer they and their loved ones will suffer. People need to quit bitching and take responsibility for their actions. The fault in modern psychology is that we allow our loved ones to make excuses for their conditions rather than blaming them for their actions and the resulting consequences.
Wizard, You are using "disease" as a metaphor to explain the financial and emotional drain that you experienced. I'm not trying to offend you, but YOU can call it whatever YOU would like. But that doesn't make it anymore scientifically true. Most of the studies that show such results are completely biased. I'm sure people who lived through the holocaust were more sensitive to it than those who simply heard about it... and while it was more "real" to the survivors, it doesn't mean that their pain was a "disease" or anything of the like.
Nothing that is self inflicted is a disease. There was no genetic predisposition to the depression that caused my father to hang himself 4 months ago. He suffered depression that was caused by choices that HE made throughout his life. His depression was very real, but it wasn't a "disease". He was depressed because he chose to be. He had every right to get help just like alcoholics do. People become alcoholics, bulimics, etc because they choose to. It is a conscious decision that they make every time they pick up a drink or stuff their finger down their throats. There is no genetic reason as to why they do it.
Again, I'm sorry for any pain that you have suffered from your ex-wife's actions...
The longer that people go on blaming their actions on faulty medical excuses with no scientific basis, the longer they and their loved ones will suffer. People need to quit bitching and take responsibility for their actions. The fault in modern psychology is that we allow our loved ones to make excuses for their conditions rather than blaming them for their actions and the resulting consequences.
Registered User
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 8,482
Likes: 3
From: Wylie, TX
Alcoholism isn't a disease. It's the cure for having to live in the real world. 
OK, seriously... I voted no because I don't think it's a disease. As already mentioned, it's a choice. If you don't want to be an alcoholic any more, all you have to do is choose not to drink again. Sure, it's not easy because your body has become addicted to the alcohol, and you will probably go through withdrawals just like you would with any other addiction, but just because a person exhibits "symptoms" (from withdrawal) that doesn't mean they have a disease. Alcoholism is simply a weakness of mind. You can cure it by making the choice to not drink. I can't think of any diseases that you can recover from just because you choose to.
If you think alcoholism is a disease, is smoking cigarettes also a disease?
OK, seriously... I voted no because I don't think it's a disease. As already mentioned, it's a choice. If you don't want to be an alcoholic any more, all you have to do is choose not to drink again. Sure, it's not easy because your body has become addicted to the alcohol, and you will probably go through withdrawals just like you would with any other addiction, but just because a person exhibits "symptoms" (from withdrawal) that doesn't mean they have a disease. Alcoholism is simply a weakness of mind. You can cure it by making the choice to not drink. I can't think of any diseases that you can recover from just because you choose to.
If you think alcoholism is a disease, is smoking cigarettes also a disease?
