Is 'addiction' the real disease and alcoholism a symptom?

Question

i have been diagnosed 'alcoholic' but is 'addiction' the real disease? if i have the addictive gene why did i choose alcohol, why not s*x, gambling, food, crime etc.,....if you are predisposed to alcoholism are you more likely to become alcoholic? i'm confused as to whether alcoholism is a disease or just a state of mind or do people have an addictive gene and discover their obsession through circumstance?

Answer 1

There's not just one addictive gene. There's thought to be several mechanisms - including one or two that are specific to alcohol. But there's genetic and environmental contributions. Most alcoholics for instance can easily switch to marijuana.

It's not quite a state of mind. It's more of a 'how your mind is put together' sort of thing. Someone is set up by their genetic history and their development to be an addict (or so goes the dominant theory in addiction medicine). They're basically addiction waiting to happen - bring them into a substance that's a good psychological fit with them, in your case alcohol, and then they get going with it. There seems to be some sort of alteration to how the brain perceives pleasure and reward in an addict.

That's part of why addiction is so difficult to treat. Essentially you have to alter a behavior that is very biologically driven, and why twelve step programs tend to do better than other forms of recovery - there's constant maintenance and constant attention.

Answer 2

alcoholic/addict---tomaeto/tomahto,....

does the terminology really matter?

i wager you drifted toward alcohol because it is socially acceptable, legal, and readily available.

you can have the genetic predisposition and never have a problem, it seems to be a combination of nature and nurture.

Answer 3

Yes addictions are hereditary, it is genetic and effects you physically, and psychologically. Alcohol is the drug of choice. There are people who have this disease that do not drink or take drugs but show the personality traits in what is called an addictive personality. Seek help through self help groups like  AA and the disease can be put into remission. You will also learn a lot about yourself through others with the disease, particularly those with long sobriety's.

Answer 4

alcoholism is a symptom...but lifestyle is the real problem...

Answer 5

I think it depends on the person.  I know someone who was addicted to one drug and nothing else.  I also know someone else who seems to get addicted to whatever they can get steadily and easily.  If it's a certain drug, he will do it a lot.  If he can't get drugs, he will drink a lot.  Some people just seem to have addictive personalities in general.  

Answer 6

Alcoholism is a real disease, actually not a disease, but an addiction. There is a chemical imbalance in the brain and your brain does not register that you've  "had enough". You can get rid of one addiction and go into another one. Food, s*x, gamblingare also addictions. My husband was an alcoholic. Never missed word and only drank at home, but an alcoholic  never the less, He wasn't in his earlier years, but became one about the age of 40. He quit drinking 3 months before he died of cancer, (Not from the drinking. He just had cancer of the everything. Ran in the family.) Good luck with your addiction. Drink ginger ale with a cherry in it. Nobody will know if you don't tell them. Just say you don't like the taste of booze. Thats your choice and nobodys business.

Answer 7

It's not one or the other. It's a complex interrelationship of a biological tendency and an environment and a personality. You might have one factor, or all three, working against you. You might have chosen alcohol simply because it was the easiest, most accessible thing. Or it might have been the first thing that scratched your itch. In AA, they don't want people taking anything addictive (except smoking) because they all could potentially take the place of alcohol. One shocking thing docs have found is that a not insignificant percentage of fat people who have had gastric bypass surgery have become alcoholics after the surgery made it impossible for them to overeat. Alcoholism IS a disease, in the sense that it's a pattern your brain has gone into to deal with your problems. But you don't necessarily have to have a gene that predisposes you to it. And it could be that had you led a different life, alcohol would not have been a temptation.

Answer 8

Alcoholism is a disease and although it triggers the same area of the brain, releasing chemicals that make us feel better; it is a disease all by itself.

As a disease it causes a phenomenon of craving to make the imbiber want more and more but only after taking the first drink.

The craving is not present until the first drink enters the body.

Accompanying this and separate from it is a mental obsession that allows the alcoholic to conveniently forget the damage done the night or drunk before and take a drink as if nothing untoward happened.

There is now medical evidence of the phenomenon of craving and of the great mental obsession.

Together they keep the alcoholic in a physical and mental tailspin almost always fatal unless help from a higher power is sought.