Alcoholism: Do you think or feel alcoholism and substance abuse is a weakness or

[Lord Lavender]

I dont think it should be seen as a bad thing on the person in question. Behind every heavy drinker is a underlying reason whether it be for pure and simple enjoyment or maybe they are trying to drown out past hurts. Regardless I think its a silly idea to try and label people on what they are when the main priority is to get them support (If they want and need it) to help them recover from heavy drinking or any other self destructive habit and also support and help with any underlying possible mental illness or trauma this person may be engaging in said behaviour for.

In the long run judging and writing off people who fall into bad habits in the long run leads to a world with less compassion and more people suffering as my ideal is that we all struggle in life and sometimes we cope in ways that arent always helpful and we all need a helping hand at times as well.

 

[Frosty]

Dont have much time here and will say somehing later because- I just HAVE to.

But. If mental health problems were easily controllable- I bet you would hear a lot less about people suffering from them.

Personally, mine is exhausting. I have to CONSTANTLY be aware of everything psychologically going on with me- of every little feeling that I have- because if Im not- I know what Im capable of.

And that hurts a lot. To know that- no matter how hard I try- I could still- and occasionally DO make... mistakes. Do things Im not proud of.

I work as hard as I possibly can to control myself. I do everything Im supposed to. And it helps. It helps A LOT. It makes it easier- but I still do have to work at it.

If I could absolutely choose NOT to have to work as hard as I do at it- to just will everything ‘fixed’ and ‘better’ I would.

There is a lot of stigma out there about mental illness. And it honestly sucks. It honestly feels like kicking someone when they are down.

Oh you feel bad about yourself? Well. Here, feel worse. Because actually. You are choosing this. Like the person with the broken leg chooses for it just to be ‘not a problem’ if you wanted to stop feeling horrible- you could.

Ill say more later. But... I had to say something.

You dont know what someone else is experiencing. What someone else has been through. Its easy to judge other people for things- it requires nothing really of the person makig that judgement.

Its harder though to try to understand I think. It requires vulnerability. But I really think- if people did try to understand... the world could be just a better place for everyone.

Because at the end of the day. Everyone is human. And I think- everyone deserves understanding. Especially if they are going through something challenging. Illness, mental illness, addiction- ect.

 

[Red Memories]

To be honest I think the stigma around mental illness is why more people do not seek treatment and in some cases there is not enough advanced research into finding good cures or management mechanisms for them. It is hard, hard as hell for sure. Mental illnesses can even have physical impacts. I do not think Smile meant to degrade the other party at all with her statement. I mean, I have depression and anxiety so I know some of that hell.

 

[WatchlessThyme]

My father is an alcoholic. I wish I knew whether he's weak or sick.

Actually, I don't wish that because he's a rat bastard and cared more about his scotch then us kids...but I digress.

 

[Frosty]

This is what I believe personally- things might NOT be your fault- and that is the case I believe with things like mental illnesses and susceptibility towards alcholism- but it is ALWAYS your responsibility to do the best you can given your situation. That means differeny things dependig on that situation. Sometimes the best you can do is just make it through that particular day. Sometimes you might be at a point where you can do more than that. Sometimes doing the best you can just means.. minimizing ‘mistakes’. (Even though whem you are doing your best you still will make mkstakes imo- its part of being human) Sometimes it means accomplishing sucesses. Usually is a mixture of both though I think.

So its more. If you are doing the best you can- no matter what that means- I cannot judge that person.

Thats just personally what I believe- and I apply it to most situations really.

 

[Mal12345]

Do you think or feel alcoholism and substance abuse is a weakness or a disease?

We cannot change anything until we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses.” Carl Jung

Genetic or not, alcoholism and drug abuse are major psychological weaknesses. The "disease" formula is just a psychological ploy to make them sound bad.

 

[Coriolis]

Do you think or feel alcoholism and substance abuse is a weakness or a disease?

We cannot change anything until we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses.” Carl Jung

I suppose it is as much a weakness as any other physical or mental ailment. It is not a moral failure, though. The only moral failure would be not doing everything one can to address it.

 

[Amargith]

I find that using those terms often makes it easier for people to indulge in their ‘weakness’ of neatly judging and categorizing it as ‘not my problem’ and even feel gleefully superior instead of understanding and kind.

Costs a whole lot less effort too, coz you dont have to actually do something to help that way, which, again, is fine, if you dont have the know how or resources, emotional or otherwise. But it conveniently becomes a similar coping mechanism the addict employs not to have to feel sympathy/empathy or deal with your own reluctance or in adequacy of helping, hopping over the guilt and insecurity they otherwise would (but not necessarily should) feel. In fact, it can even shift all those uncomfortable feelings in a neat little blame package onto the other person, allowing them to be irritated with the addict instead of themselves, in some cases, which again means less work for your own mind.

And its just as addictive and self rewarding/destructive and a hell of a lot more insidious as it flies under society’s radar for now. Abdolutely brilliant coping mechsnism on the part of the mind and totally understandable but harmful nonetheless.

The irony certainly is there.

 

[Red Herring]

The comorbidity of alcoholism and depression is rather high and the risk of relapsing after detoxification is notably higher among patients with depression.

I have someone in my family who has been suffering from both for many years now. I don't think he has any chance of beating alcoholism before the depression (which has been going on and off for decades) is under control. He's been in treatment several times and knows more than anyone what's going on and what would have to be done because he's got experience as a fucking medical doctor AND a psychotherapist himself! But he just doesn't have the energy for it. When I ask him he says he'd need more will to live before he'd be able to do anything.

 

[SearchingforPeace]

Both and neither.

Some people have biological predisposition to addiction. My childhood friend says he and another tried smoking around 10 and his friend never smoked again and he became addicted.

Alcohol is a widely used coping mechanism. There are far healthier coping mechanisms in life, but most everyone needs to cope with something. As such, the mere use of a coping mechanism isn't a weakness in and of itself. But resorting unhealthy ones is a weakness, whether it is drugs or alcohol, candy or ice cream, or any other unhealthy coping mechanism.

Many alcoholics are self-medicating their mental health issues. As such, they are not effectively addressing their issues, but aggravating them.

Alcoholics all need our compassion and understanding. I read in the last year a pretty brutal takedown of AA. It is one of the least effective means of treating alcoholism. The only good part is that it forces people to talk and face issues. It does work for a few, but a combination of medications and therapy works the best.

I don't like using the word "disease" with regards to alcoholism. Illness or disorder are better terms.

But it is fundamentally about psychological issues and the failure to adequately address them. Additionally, it is a sympton of the problems in society, much of which stem from economic inequality.

 

[ceecee]

I read in the last year a pretty brutal takedown of AA. It is one of the least effective means of treating alcoholism. The only good part is that it forces people to talk and face issues. It does work for a few, but a combination of medications and therapy works the best.

AA discourages this. Not directly but they prefer you put your faith in god and the 12 steps. And if you replace alcoholism with say, overeating, don't bring it up at AA. Save that for Overeater Anonymous. I can also say from experience, Al Anon and the support groups for family of the person with the addiction also discourage outside help.

 

[SearchingforPeace]

AA discourages this. Not directly but they prefer you put your faith in god and the 12 steps. And if you replace alcoholism with say, overeating, don't bring it up at AA. Save that for Overeater Anonymous. I can also say from experience, Al Anon and the support groups for family of the person with the addiction also discourage outside help.

Which is why the article was so powerful and compelling. The evident of what is successful is out there.

 

[Peter Deadpan]

Substance abuse is a dysfunctional coping mechanism for deeper unresolved pain. It's a part of a disease and should be treated respectfully as such.

 

[citizen cane]

I think it depends on the person. In certain people, it seems to function much like a disease- it progresses and gets more severe and unmanageable, even in those that quit and come back to it. In othere, it’s simply a coping mechanism, and in yet others it’s a symptom of some other diagnosis. I imagine in the next few years we will see a paradigm shift where addiction is seen on more of a continuum, much like the shift that occurring with sexuality.

 

[Lark]

AA discourages this. Not directly but they prefer you put your faith in god and the 12 steps. And if you replace alcoholism with say, overeating, don't bring it up at AA. Save that for Overeater Anonymous. I can also say from experience, Al Anon and the support groups for family of the person with the addiction also discourage outside help.

Higher power. Its about acknowledging that the problem is bigger than you are able to deal with personally. Or so in my experience they thought.

Its a pretty different outfit here, or at least in my experience, I think these things can only be as good as the people who make them up and that can be determined by how recovered people are.

 

[ceecee]

Higher power. Its about acknowledging that the problem is bigger than you are able to deal with personally. Or so in my experience they thought.

Its a pretty different outfit here, or at least in my experience, I think these things can only be as good as the people who make them up and that can be determined by how recovered people are.

It's an awesome way to hand off responsibility to something/someone else. It's also great fertilizer for the tiniest kernel of narcissism to grow out of control. This is my own experience with an alcoholic and addict and AA and it's support network. I got far more out of 6 months of weekly therapy.

 

[Lark]

It's an awesome way to hand off responsibility to something/someone else. It's also great fertilizer for the tiniest kernel of narcissism to grow out of control. This is my own experience with an alcoholic and addict and AA and it's support network. I got far more out of 6 months of weekly therapy.

Horses for courses. Sorry to hear about the negative experience.

 

[LucieCat]

It is hard to say.

I do think addiction is a disease. It’s a problem nonetheless. A very serious one.
There is a huge stigma around it and mental health. I have several relatives who flat out don’t believe that alcoholism exists (or at least I heard them say things like this about a decade ago). I’ve always found that rather weird, but okay. Then again I have an aunt who thinks depression and being sad are the same thing..... I have to remind myself that they are not well-educated, but at the same time I do not really think that is an excuse.

People definitely have a genetic predisposotion to addiction and substance abuse. For some it is stronger than others. Of course that is not to say that people without a genetic presidpositiom cannot develop an addiction. Still, perhaps one might classify it as similar to a genetic disorder.

It definitely is highly genetic in my family. I likely have genes from both sides that give me a predisposition to addiction. I have never been genetically tested so I do not know for sure. But given the strength of the gene (particularly on one side), I am nearly certain that addiction is in my genome. This is why I have never drink alcohol at all. It is not out of fear (which some people have thought), but I would rather not become an alcoholic. I was a pretty young girl when I decided this since I have seen addiction really mess up lives.

Overall, the stigma against addiction needs to end so more people will be able to identify it and/or seek help.

 

[Tellenbach]

It's probably a bit of both.

Some over-drink just as some over-eat, over talk, over exercise, etc; it's an impulse control problem.

Then, there are the mentally ill who hoard garbage and over-drink. It might be a continuum.

 

[Fluffywolf]

Word for word, disease (unease, a physical experience of discomfort), weakness (to feel to weak to deal with it).

I'd say it is both.