Sep
07
2010
Do you think alcoholism is a disease or a character weakness?
Posted by: Alan in alcoholism treatment, tags: Alcoholism, Character, disease, Think, weakness
Question by Leslie: Do you think alcoholism is a disease or a character weakness?
Best answer:
Answer by Curious Girl
Character weakness
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
Entries (RSS)
September 7th, 2010 at 12:43 pm
disease
September 7th, 2010 at 1:26 pm
Disease, definitely.
One of my friends, a very intelligent and self-aware man, got depressed for a couple months and turned to alcohol. It took months of therapy and support to get him to quit drinking and I cannot say that he had a weak will.
September 7th, 2010 at 1:53 pm
disease…
if you have not had first hand experience with it, then you are not in a position to judge.
September 7th, 2010 at 2:46 pm
Gotta go with character weakness
September 7th, 2010 at 3:12 pm
disease.
September 7th, 2010 at 3:40 pm
its a disease.
September 7th, 2010 at 4:05 pm
It’s a character weakness because you choose to drink alcohol. It’s not like it’s infectious.
September 7th, 2010 at 4:26 pm
Character weakness they need something to fill them for what they don’t have already
September 7th, 2010 at 5:14 pm
DISEASE
September 7th, 2010 at 6:14 pm
In my experience, I’d say a little of both.
September 7th, 2010 at 6:57 pm
I think some people are genetically more predisposed to become alcoholics which is a characteristic of a disease. But just because you’re predisposed to become one, it doesn’t mean you have to, so in that way it’s more of a character weakness.
September 7th, 2010 at 7:41 pm
It is a disease. Actually the most strong willed people have it. Who else could force themselves into states of near death with alcohol poisoning if they were not strong willed, but you have to admit in public that alone you can not fix this problem and go to AA meetings regularly and you will find comfort and solice in a great group of new friends, all with their own issues and victories and defeats.
It is a disease not a weakness.
September 7th, 2010 at 7:41 pm
alcoholism is a disease…but i also think its a disease that u have to make a concious disease to have..therefore its a character of weakness to choose to be an alcoholic
September 7th, 2010 at 7:59 pm
Both, because it destroys your kidney and some other organs and addiction to it can be your weakness
September 7th, 2010 at 8:33 pm
Both… there is a lot of evidence suggesting that alcoholism is genetic, which would make is a disease. But at the same time it can also be a character weakness as a lot of people fall into the wrong scene and begin to drink socially, which could eventually turn into a problem – which would be a character weakness. So it’s both imo.
September 7th, 2010 at 9:30 pm
I think its different for different people.
I think for some its a character weakness, and for some, its an addiction that they can’t over come.
September 7th, 2010 at 9:54 pm
It is definitely a disease. It’s something that I am currently recovering from, and that my mother is still devastated by. I’ve been taking a medicine called baclofen which helps to greatly reduce my cravings to the point where I can go about life in a normal manner. To think it is a character weakness just shows ignorance. It’s proven to be a disease.
September 7th, 2010 at 10:19 pm
It’s a sin and a bad spirit. If you are an alcoholic pray to God about it and get help.
September 7th, 2010 at 11:06 pm
A disease that some people (most?) can overcome with hard work. I have heard that there is something in the brain that can predispose certain people to become alcoholics.
September 7th, 2010 at 11:07 pm
character and weakness. When your weak you tend to seek for an alcohol to solve your problem or get away from your problem. Your weakness then becomes your character cause you cannot handle a situation you’re in to.
September 7th, 2010 at 11:58 pm
i think when it starts out it is a character weakness, but then it can develope into an addiction, but i definitely wouldn’t use the term desease…i think those who excuse it as a desease are those who aren’t willing to take responsibility for their own actions
September 8th, 2010 at 12:37 am
Neither. Some people are genetically and/or psychologically pre-disposed to addictions in general, or alcoholic addiction in particular. When they start to drink on a regular basis, they will be much more likely to become addicted than most people. This is not a “disease” in the normal sense, nor is it a “character weakness”, since the pre-disposing factor is there. Alcoholics ARE in a certain sense “ill”, however: often, they need help to break their addiction. They have to be brought to the point where they will ASK for help first, however – and friends and family can help them get to this point. If you know an alcoholic, be patient with them, don’t fly off the handle and get angry – just help them reach the place where they will a) admit they have a big problem, and b) be willing to seek help.
September 8th, 2010 at 12:41 am
it’s for sure a character weakness. I think that diseases are either things you are born with; and sometimes develop in a stage in life. So, if alcoholism is a disease, than so is smoking, drug use, foul language and any other habbit we have that we don’t have the courage to own up to.
September 8th, 2010 at 1:03 am
Ch weakness. people refuse to take responsibility for their actions. same thing with obesity. the definition of disease is an impairment of health or a condition of abnormal functioning, so going off of that it is a disease, but people use the word to imply that it isnt their fault. you choose to pick up the glass, you choose to drink it. people dont choose to get malaria.
people dont think being addicted to drugs is a disease, so why should being addicted to alcohol one? more people are or know some one who is addicted to alchol and we want to feel better about it so we say it is a disease. there are thoes alcoholics who have woken up one day and decided not to drink. and have never drank again. you cant just wake up and decide to be over a disease. alcoholism is not a disease.
September 8th, 2010 at 1:05 am
Alcoholism is an addictive disorder. Alcohol is a chemical that has an effect on the brain, and the brain chemistry itself. Your brain chemistry is partially influenced by your genetics, and as a result you are more susceptible to addictions of all sorts. You can’t change your genetics, and you have no way to know for certain if you inherited the predilection for addiction. Because of how alcohol affects judgment, you also can’t expect the person to really be in a position to make wise choices under it’s influence either. If it were just a character flaw, like lying, it would be a lot easier to help somebody recover. You did not inherit a gene for lying, after all. Don’t ever underestimate the power of will it takes an alcoholic to stay in control, and don’t insult them by thinking it’s a flaw in their character. Some very nice folks have found themselves alcoholics, when they never intended to end up that way at all.
September 8th, 2010 at 1:45 am
Character cuz you gave into the temptation but it can become a disease if you become dependant on it
September 8th, 2010 at 1:59 am
alcoholism is a disease, but people need to know that drinking only causes problems. People usually just turn to drinking when they are really upset. or if someone drinks a lot when partying that is a character weakness. so if a person turns to drinking and doesn’t drink just a little bit, that is the part that is a character weakness. I heard a story where a person who i actually don’t know got drunk and fell off a dock and wound up paralyzed. also another story someone died in a drunken motorcycle accident. even if it already seems like the end of the world drinking causes more problems than you can ever imagine.
September 8th, 2010 at 2:19 am
A scientist who studied the brains of cadavers (usually homeless people) wondered how so many had the ability to afford heroine.She soon discovered it wasn’t heroine but alcohol that had been the culprit.
Heroine is addictive to anyone who uses it.Why would these people have the brain of a heroine addict if they had not used heroine?
On further study she found a chemical that is called ‘Tetrohydroisoquinolines’ that are abundant in the alcoholic (but previously had only been associated with heroine addicts ) and a brain pattern/anomaly that is different from BIRTH,so when a person with this brain pattern drinks,the chance of them becoming alcoholic is much greater than a person who doesn’t have the particular anomaly.
There are a lot of scientific studies that support this,if you google THIQs you may find a wealth of info on Alcoholism,The Disease Concept.
It is a disease.
September 8th, 2010 at 2:23 am
I think its when you drink a lot.
September 8th, 2010 at 3:05 am
The existence of the disease of alcoholism is widely accepted by the medical and scientific communities, although there are some critics that disagree.
Because twin and adoption studies have shown that a person’s genes can predispose them to developing alcoholism, I tend to go with science. There are other scientific studies that connect alcoholism with physiological differences between the way alcoholics and nonalcoholics process alcohol in the liver and in the brain.
Members of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) state that alcoholism is a disease of mind, body and emotions; or, a physical, mental and spiritual dis-ease.
I agree more strongly with them since they include the disease theory in their approach to recovery, and because their recovery rates are statistically far higher than any other program or institution around the world. It’s free and they’ve been in business since 1938.
I figure if AA didn’t understand the problem they surely wouldn’t be able to help so many people. So, at least for now they seem to have the best diagnosis and treatment going.