The material presented
here is not Al-Anon Conference Approved Literature. It is a method
to exchange
information, ideas, feelings, problems and solutions on a personal
level.
I have often thought about alcoholism being a disease. I don't struggle with the label but I do struggle with all the differences of what family members go through. Let me list them:
1. Alcoholics lie about many things
2. Alcoholics keep secrets
3. Alcoholics apologize for their condition
4. Alcoholics make promises and never keep them
5. Alcoholics feel guilt
6. Alcoholics get tickets for driving with their disease
7. Alcoholics pay dearly for lawyers after getting tickets
8. Alcoholics may lose their drivers license
9. Alcoholics have killed people while driving
10. Alcoholics cause extensive, long lasting damage to their families
These are just some differences. I have listed this because while struggling, I have been told alcoholism is a "disease." I couldn't treat it just as a disease. It is different than diabetes, heart disease, cancer, asthma, kidney issues, digestive disorders, reproductive diseases, etc. etc. etc. Alcoholism is really much more and when I realized this I was able to begin a healing journey for myself.
I don't know if this will help or not .. however I have to view it as a mental disease .. I recognize that it's far more than that .. the mental disease just like bi-polar is something I can't touch or see what's going on inside that person's mind .. I know that they are not ok.
For me viewing it as a mental disease has helped me deal with the plethora of issues with my X .. because his thinking is what it is .. it's skewed to say the least. That's how I wrap my brain around it.
That has helped me accept my X where he is at and let him be where he is mentally.
Hugs S :)
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Faith minus vulnerability and mystery equals extremism. If you've got all the answers, then don't call what you do "faith". - Brene Brown
"Whatever truth you own doesn't own you" - Gary John Bishop
I agree with SerenityRUS that, when I think of alcoholism as a disease, I liken it to mental/emotional disorders as well as physical diseases. It takes a toll on the body like a physical disease but also causes behavioral problems that affect family members, like a mental/emotional problem. Someone with untreated schizophrenia might also tell lies or confabulate, make promises and not keep them, do dangerous things, end up in the criminal justice system, and so on.
I accept alcoholism as a disease because it is progressive, fatal if not arrested, and no one would truly choose end stage alcoholism if choice were available. It affects the spirit, mind/brain, emotions and the body. Despite our many thousands of years as a species, we are still unable to agree on a spirit existing, though latest research on resilience has begun to explore the ways in which a sense of spiritual connection impacts on those experiencing trauma. For other older cultures, a sense of spiritual connection and application is nothing new at all.
I beleive an honest 12 step programme is the only approach which addresses the person holistically.
I read your list and most of them apply to me before alanon. To me alcoholism is the disease that effects everyone it touches so these symptoms behaviours etc are part of it for all concerned. In fact the more I see the drinker and me as the same on many levels the more the truth of it comes for me.
