To Continue Jj's Thread, Think On This: Alcoholism,

[Iluvspikey]

Illness or not? I think not, you don't just wake up one morning and decide not to have leukaemia, and by treating it as an illness, you are not letting people take responsibility for their own actions, by saying it isn't their fault

[AlwaysConfused]

I stopped to help a drunk the other morning. I thought he was a tramp. He stank to high heaven, was poorly dressed, seemed to have his ID and letters in a carrier bag and had stitched his own wounds on his face. He was able to fall off a wall he was sitting on. I managed to coax him off the wall and steered him towards the park, where at least if he fell over on grass he would be less likely to hurt himself.

He walked very slow, but didn't sway or stagger. He was teary. I asked him how long he had been sleeping rough. He asked me what day it was, and replied one day. I told him 'rubbish, I saw you the night before as well', he had lost track of the day although he was obsessive about checking the time (counting down the minutes until a public toilet opened).

I spent some time with him, it turned out he has a flat, but there was no way he would be able to walk the distance in the state he was in. He told me how ashamed he is of drinking so much, and how he's messed up his life.

Noone chooses to live like that. Alcoholism is a mental obsession that causes a physical compulsion to drink. So yes, an illness I'd say it is.

[AlwaysConfused]

Aber's do this test - you'll be surprised by the results.

[AlwaysConfused]

sorry - heres the link
http://alcoholism.about.com/od/tests/l/blquiz_alcohol.htm

[Sharingan]

I think the tendency to addiction of any sort is the route illness, drinking, smoking. drugs, food, shopping, gambling etc but alcoholics often have the worst time trying to beat their addiction because it causes such awful physical effects and drinking is so socially acceptable that temptation and people encouraging them to drink are everywhere. Not many people think it's okay to do a line of coke on the dining room table so drug addicts have an easier time if anything. I know my father had more trouble quitting smoking and drinking than the hard drugs he was on, and I have heard other people say similar things.

[Sharingan]

*root illness* duh.

[joggerjayne]

I only said yes to two questions ...

I drink alone, and now and then I can't remember things ... like how the heck I got home!

[Frank97]

I haven't had a drop of alcohol since Christmas, yet that test says
Your score is 20%. According to the Office of Health Care Programs, Johns Hopkins University Hospital, developers of this screening quiz, if you answered 3 of these questions with a Yes it is a definite sign that your drinking patterns are harmful and possibly considered alcohol dependent or alcoholic. You may want to seek an evaluation by a healthcare professional
what a load of tosh, imo!

[woofgang]

I have always thought the do you drink alone question was silly. I live alone.....should I go and drag a stranger off the street so I can have a glass of wine with dinner?

[jno]

my thoughts exactly, woofgang. Are those who live alone supposed to be teetotal? After all, if you go to the pub to drink you're mixing with inferior companions, so they get you either way...

[Clanad]

This site http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/Controversies/Is-Alcoholism-a-Disease.html echos several others that seem reputable and counter the effort to label alcoholism as a disease...

[Zacs-Master]

Re the alcoholism test - a load of old tosh. Poorly worded questions such as the bizarre
'Do you turn to inferior companions and environments when drinking?'