Alcoholism Should Not Be Viewed As A Disease :: essays research papers fc

Most people have a confused thought of alcoholism as a disease that invades or attacks your good health. Use of such a strong word such as "disease" shapes the set and attitudes of society towards alcoholics. A major implication of the disease concept is that what is labeled a "disease" is held to be justifiable because it is involuntary. This is not so. Problem drinking is a habit in which the so-called "alcoholic" simply has decided that the benefits of drinking outweigh the liabilities it is all a matter of personal choice. An alcoholic participates in or causes many of their own problems by their behavior and the decisions they make, so why should they be viewed as jockless victims of a "disease"(Skipper 1)? Alcoholism should not be viewed as a disease, but as an addiction brought about by the alcoholics personal choices.What is wrong with disease theories as science is that they are tautologies they avoid the work of intellectual why people d rink. People seek specific, essential human experiences from their addictive involvement. They can come to depend on such an involvement for these experiences until -- in the positive -- the involvement is totally consuming and potentially destructive (Peele 146). The idea that alcoholism is a "disease", which is only typified by the prejudice of control, was only sanctioned by the American Medical Association in 1956 (Wilbanks 39). The AMA gives the following definition for alcoholism " Alcoholism is an illness characterized by preoccupation with alcohol and loss of control all over its consumption, such as to lead usually to intoxication if drinking by chronicity, by progression and by a tendency toward relapse. It is typically associated with physical hinderance and impaired emotional, occupational and/or social adjustments as a direct consequence of persistent excessive use (Langone 27)". This meant that an alcoholic could now get help in a hospital, just as a person with a real disease such as diabetes or leukemia would . Moreover, the use of the words "loss of control" make it seem as though the alcoholics unloose will has just been ripped away from him. On the contrary, there is no evidence that the will of the juicer has been overpowered. Besides labeling alcoholism as a disease, the AMA has also done a huge error in stating that alcoholism causes people to lose control over the consumption of alcohol. This will only negate the fact that the amount of alcohol consumed and if it is consumed at all is completely up to the drinker, not an inevitable disease that overpowers your free will.