. Addiction is not a disease. To become addicted to something you made the choice to partake, and whether you like it or not you have to take responsibility for your choices.
If you have a chemical imbalance that compels you to engage in substance abuse, how are you different from those whose cognitive constitution compels them to be depressed, obsessive-compulsive or schizophrenic?
The only difference I see is in the outward dysfunctionalities displayed in each case. Yet, the underlying pattern is the same: the individual suffers from a chemical imbalance in the brain in a way that promotes disorderly behavior.
If you have a chemical imbalance you do not just have a "substance abuse problem", you have a mental illness of sorts. .
Why are you equivocating on the word "disease".
Here, you've noted that a substance abuse problem is an illness, which is a synonym of disease.
If you have a chemical imbalance that compels you to engage in substance abuse, how are you different from those whose cognitive constitution compels them to be depressed, obsessive-compulsive or schizophrenic?
The only difference I see is in the outward dysfunctionalities displayed in each case. Yet, the underlying pattern is the same: the individual suffers from a chemical imbalance in the brain in a way that promotes disorderly behavior.
Neither.
It’s a symptom - a coping mechanism for a problem they dont know how to deal with any other way.
And yes, they deserve help and understanding as beating these types of things is a bitch and a hell of a lot of work - especially as our society actively hampers the headway you make on this shit, imho. Especiallly in the begining it can feel completely hopeless, making it that much easier to crawl back into the bottle.
That said, the person has to want to work on it - you cant help them before. And it is possible, like any good parent does, to be firm ( to avoid enabling) yet gentle ( to pull them out od their isolation as social relationships are a good start in being an alternative to booze ) with people who suffer from this problem.
That said, if you re not able to emotionally remove yourself from the situation and thwir drinking hampere your welbeing, leave it to others.
I do think people have a little more control over mental disorders than physical disease. Doesn't mean it isn't difficult to fix, but a mental disorder is different than a physical disease imo.
As someone with first hand experience with both alcoholism and mental illness I absolutely cannot agree with your post... you have no idea how hard I've tried to control my mind when manic or depressed and I can't succeed... even on meds I can't completely control it...i know people with physical illnesses who have better luck controlling things than a lot of us have with mental illnesses.
That said, alcoholism sneaks up on you... you rarely notice that you're becoming one until it's too late and it's out of your control by that point. It doesn't seem fair that some people can drink with abandon and not end up addicted while I avoid taking a single drink because my brain glitches in a way that seems to make it think it needs alcohol.