Alcoholics are a varied group of people

Alcoholics do not always fit the stereotype of the down in the gutter bums that people associate with alcoholism. In fact an alcoholic can just as easily be a doctor, lawyer, professional athlete, a housewife, or even an eldely grandparent. Not all alcoholics drink everyday, but are usually drunk when they do. Not everyone who drinks heavily, or gets a D.U.I. is an alcoholic, this is why it is so hard to determine exactly who is and who is not an alcoholic. A person usually comes to the realization they have a drinking problem only when they sincerely try to stop drinking and find they cannot.

Alcoholism is a physical disease

Alcoholism is a progressive disease, physical disease. The alcoholic’s body is physically unable to handle alcohol. The book Alcoholics Anonymous contains a letter from Dr. William D. Silkworth, M.D. which states “ We believe ... that the action of alcohol on these chronic alcoholics is a manifestation of an allergy; that the phenomenon of craving is limited to this class and never occurs in the average temperate drinker. These allergic types can never safely use alcohol in any form at all;”( Alcoholics Anonymous xxvi). A video tape on alcoholism put out by Time Life Medical examines this further and contains an explanation of how alcohol affects the brain. In the explanation it is pointed out that nerve cells in the brain, after being exposed to alcohol in large quantities on a regular basis, change in the way they are physically made up so that they can “survive and function normally in the presence of alcohol”. When the cells change, the person becomes physically dependent on alcohol. The cells now act in reverse and cannot “function normally” unless there is alcohol in the alcoholics system (Alcoholism, Video). Expierience with my own drinking and that of other problem drinkers has shown me that the physical suffering only gets worse. Alcoholism is a progressive disease. It was more painful to stop drinking after three or four drinks than it was to deal with the hangover of an all night binge. Eventually even the hangovers started to last for days instead of just a morning or a day. I could see the need for a drink in the morning just to get going looming in a life without a future. As far as alcoholism being a physical illness, I like to compare it to drinking sodas. If I am thirsty and decide to have a carbonated beverage, I will only drink one can (maybe two if I am really thirsty). If I tried to drink six or twelve in a row I would get a very bad stomach ache and probably throw up. This is the way the average person consumes alcoholic beverages. After one or two they have had enough. However for a problem drinker it seems that the more they drink the more they want. This was true for me and I feel the only explaination for this is the one provided above.

Alcoholism is a mental obsession

An alcoholic can not get any peace of mind due to a constant mental obsession for alcohol. “The alcoholic lives in compulsive slavery”( The Little Red Book 14). If alcoholism was just a matter of staying away from alcohol, the same way one would avoid a certain type of food that caused them to break out in a rash, it would indeed be a matter of just not drinking. Because an alcoholic’s body needs to have alcohol in order to function, the mind has no choice but to pay attention to that need. For example; If I break my leg, and have it in a cast, my mind is going to scream for relief whenever my pain medicine wears off until my leg has healed and I do not need it anymore. It is the same way with an alcoholics mind. The mind screams out for a drink because it is in pain. Former problem drinkers have described this as follows “The tyrant alcohol wielded a double-edged sword over us: first we were smitten by an insane urge that condemned us to go on drinking, and then by an allergy of the body that insured we would ultimately destroy ourselves in the process”(Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions 22). When an alcoholic tries to quit drinking, he will find that his mind demands that he go to the liquor store.

Alcoholism is a spiritual sickness

Some problem drinkers have lost faith, some never had any, and still others feel they are unworthy of Gods' grace. For one reason or another the problem drinker has lost touch with their spirituality. There is also the person who feels they are true believers, but one has to ask how this can be since they choose the drink over their spirituality regularly. This can be explained by their not being aware that they are physically unable to handle even small amounts of alcohol due to the physical allergy mentioned above.

There is hope

Many people do recover from this terrible disease, but they rarely can do it without help. This help can come from many sources. Treatment centers are usually the first place a problem drinker is educated about the disease of alcoholism. While some people are able to see and accept their plight immediatly, most problem drinkers stay in a state of denial until their lives become so unmanageable that they have to face up to their problem. Once the problem drinker can accept the hopelessness and futility of taking even one drink that person can begin the process of recovery. While some are able to make a recommitment to the church they grew up with, and stay sober through the church, many others have to start from scratch. In order to make a new connection with a higher power, who most choose to call God, many ex-problem drinkers like myself make this contact through a twelve step program .