Is Alcoholism a Disease?

Category: Psychology

Yes, I think that alcoholism is a disease. It is something called a Substance Related Disorder. The craving of the alcohol is so strong that an alcoholic will continue to drink despite serious family, health, or legal problems. The person will eventually experience tolerance and withdrawal reactions ( Davison, 2001). His drinking becomes out of control. He has difficulty to stop the habit. His addictions becomes so strong that his whole life would be affected. In other words, he becomes disabled in some important area of his life. Alcoholism causes poor work performance, quarrels with family and friends, violence, aggressiveness and accidents while driving. According to Uihealthcare, alcoholism, like many other diseases, is chronic, meaning that it lasts a person's lifetime; it usually follows a predictable course; and it has symptoms. The risk for developing alcoholism is influenced both by a person's genes and by his or her lifestyle. The following is an article from Uihealthcare which gave reasons as to why alcoholism has been labeled a disease.

ALCOHOLISM: A DISEASE

In 1956, the American Medical Association decided that alcoholism is a disease, however more than 30 years later this is still debated in certain circles. Besides the medical opinion, there are many others (e.g., legal, sociological, religious) which derive from any number of social pressures. For example, the Supreme Court recently decided that the Veteran's Administration could consider alcoholism an individual choice rather than a disease. This decision, in many peoples' opinion, was made because of the financial implication related to "Service-connected Disability" payments rather than the merits, or lack thereof, of alcoholism as a disease. This in only one example of the many biased opinions (including the medical one) on whether or not alcoholism is a disease.

What does support the concept of alcoholism as a disease?

There is an abundance of information. Alcoholism is often compared to diabetes. Most people are able to eat carbohydrates and metabolize them without difficulty, however this is not the case with people who have diabetes mellitus. Many years ago, we had no idea why people with diabetes got into metabolic difficulty but now we know that it is because of an intrinsic lack of insulin and that this is genetically determined. There is a list of progressive symptoms related to diabetes: polyuria, polydipsia, weight loss, blurred vision, and nausea and vomiting are seen acutely. If the disease goes on untreated, then there is end organ failure disease goes on untreated, then there is end organ failure and patients with diabetes develop failure of their vision and kidneys as well as significant cardiovascular disease with heart attack and stroke. How does one treat this problem? The patient needs insulin and a very controlled lifestyle diet, exercise and very special attention to one's habits. This will at least slow down the progression of the disease.

The same concepts of "disease" apply to alcoholism, and the progression of the disease was defined by Jellinek and is shown on the attached was defined by Jellinek and is shown on the attached Jellinek chart. Alcoholism is a progressive and terminal disease if no intervention occurs. It is clear that alcoholism fits the definition of a disease, and there is additional supportive evidence of this concept based on recent research and literature.

References:
www.gmu.edu/facstaff/facultyfacts/1-1/alcohsm.html
www.uihealthcare.com/topics/alcoholproblems/ alco4133.html
Davison, G.C. and Neale, J.M. (2001). Abnormal Psychology. 8th edition. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.