Alcoholism

[ludwig]

Why is alcoholism now referred to as a disease? Surely it's an addiction, and cirrhosis(?) of the liver is a disease. Is it political correctness or what? How come heroin addicts don't get to be sufferring from a disease as well?

[Pinotage]

I've heard it referred to as an illness, and I agree with that. And I think that thos ethat refer to alcoholism as an illness are actually referring to the addiction rather than what they are addicted to, so they'd also include heroin addicts.

Heroin addiction was accepted as an illnes up to the '60s and addicts could register at a GP and get heroin on prescription.

When the ceased under pressure from those who wanted a war on drugs the crime rate went up. Addicts must have their drug and if you don't hav ethe money you are driven to get it.

It seems to me that the social cost of making recreational drugs illegal is more costly than the alternative.

P.S. I don't take recreational drugs

[Yinzer]

I am an ex-heroin addict and (can you believe I was 18 at the time!) and they actuelly do consider that a disease. In fact, all chemical addictions from pot to alcohol to crack stem from the same illness. It's more of a disease of the spirit. But in most cases trying to quit these things can be as difficult as trying to not have cancer or to not be schizophrenic.

[shytalk]

A dangerous forum to stick one's oar into. "Alcoholism" is a word; it describes the condition of being addicted to alcohol. Whether, as a layman, you think alcoholism is disease or not depends on how much you know of the illness. It is most defintitely not a PC thing. Researchers have established that the alcoholic's body, and in particular, his brain is sufficiently different to that of a "normal" person's to describe the condition as an illness. All addictive behaviour is now recognised as illness. What is an illness and what is a disease - your description of cirrhosis as a disease is debatable - it's a condition of breakdown of an organ - it can be caused by quite a few diseases. Take heart "disease" - most hearts give out in the end - just worn out - most heart "diseases" are in fact conditions where the heart has been subjected to misuse - they haven't been infected by a disease. I wonder whether your question is based on knowledge or misguided scorn for all addicts Don

[ludwig]

Well the question's not based on knowledge. If I had the knowledge I wouldn't need to ask the question. It's not based on scorn for addicts either. If anything it's based on scorn for political correctness. I genuinely wanted to know if there was some medical basis behind the term 'disease' when used in this context. There is a recent trend for people to make a point of using the word 'disease' specifically, and avoid other terms such as addiction or illness. For example the Paul Merson press conference when he emphasised the word as if making a point. However, as I said this only seems to be done in relation to alcoholism and no other dependancy. You haven't explained why that should be the case, but I appreciate the answer.

[worder]

the reason alcholism is termed a disease is for money reasons. insurance companies would not cover the treatment unless it is labeled so. there was an interesting report on 20/20 (friday nights 10pm for those with satellite dishes)by Dr. Nancy Snyderman who is a surgeon, and journalist for Good Morning America on the ABC network, about alcoholism. this was maybe 4 or 5 years back, but you can get the transcripts by mail if you're interested. they are called Burrell transcripts. if i had the address i would give it to you. i myself could never understand why here in the US it is called a disease instead of what it is, a habit, whereas smoking and drug addiction are never called that, that i know of. i think it is simply a habit that causes you to be sick (hangovers and cirrhosis) just a smoking causes you to have different types of cancer.