How would it feel if you had an ailment for which there was no 100% efficient treatment for, and for people to tell you it is all within your control? Webster’s dictionary defines disease as “a condition of the living animal or plant body or one of its parts that impairs normal functioning and is typically manifested by distinguishing signs and symptoms.” (Merriam-Webster.com) Alcoholism is an incurable disease caused by a variety of factors such as personal history, genetics, personality, and personal choices rather than a disorder. Many people discredit the theory of alcoholism as a disease
If we analyze the definition of a disease, it is easy to see that alcoholism impairs standard functions and has apparent symptoms. The American Medical Association defines addiction as “a primary, chronic disease of brain reward, motivation, memory, and related circuitry. Dysfunction in these circuits leads to characteristic biological, psychological, social and spiritual manifestations.” (ASAM.org) Towards the beginning of the 20th century, many physicians began to try to help addicts rather than punish them. In the 1930s E. M. Jellinek, the Director of the Center of Alcohol Studies at Yale Medical School, released his book defining alcoholism as a medical disease. His theory relied on alcoholism as having different stages that progressively worsen. These stages include pre-alcoholic phase, prodromal phase, crucial phase, and the chronic phase, in which daily drinking is the primary focus of life and health problems begin to occur. Alcoholism is unable to be cured because alcohol changes the brain’s chemistry, increasing neurotransmitters that drive the brain’s pleasure centers, but over time these deplete. As tolerance increases, the abuser must take in more to feel the effects, which further damages both the body and brain. Eventually, if the alcohol-dependent behavior continues, it can become fatal.
The disease theory depends on alcoholism being a physical addiction that cannot be controlled, is distinguishable by specific symptoms, and requires specialized medical treatment. Alcoholism can be diagnosed by symptoms such as cycles of physical cravings and withdrawal symptoms such as shaking, sweating, nausea, and dizziness. Alcoholism is considered a disease of the brain, “alcohol addiction is mediated by complex neural mechanisms that involve brain circuits and neuroadaptive changes in a variety of neurotransmitter and neuropeptide systems.” (NCBI.nlm.nih.gov) On average alcoholics die about 12 years sooner than non-alcoholics. This figure does not include suicides, car accidents, homicide and other accidental deaths. 50% of the risks of becoming an alcoholic comes from a person’s genetic history. Other factors include a person’s environment, upbringing, expectancies of what drinking will do, and individual response to drugs and alcohol.
No matter how long a person has been sober, they will continue to be an alcoholic. Because special nerve pathways in the brain were highly and permanently sensitized to alcohol by earlier heavy drinking. After years of sobriety, even the smallest amount of alcohol can cause an irreversible cascade of mental and physical events. According to the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation this happens in stages, the first a euphoric recall, the second is obsession, the third compulsion, and the fourth is physical craving. While someone may have been sober for years, beneath the surface of his or her consciousness lies Chronic Relapsing Brain Disease. While the initial decision to drink alcohol is voluntary, with continued use, a person’s ability to exert self-control can become seriously impaired. Brain imaging studies of people with addiction show physical physical changes in areas of the brain that are critical to judgement, decision making, learning and memory, and behavior control.
According to the New York Post, addiction is not a disease because people are able to use exercise of their will. Luckily many people struggling with addiction are able to stay sober. Just because there is no cure for alcoholism, this does not mean that those struggling with addiction should feel powerless. This should not become an excuse for continued drinking. Another claim made is that alcoholism changes the brain, because everything we do changes our brain. From falling in love to having children, but these things are not to become fatal like alcoholism does. They do not change the structure of the brain in the same nature that substance abuse does. There are also claims that humans can rewire their brains. After suffering from addiction people can teach themselves to go to other things by building new neural paths and breaking old ones.
While exercise of will may work for some people trying to break their addiction, many people suffering do not have this type of control. Because alcoholism is a disease do not meant that I person can remain sober. But almost all alcoholics cannot go back to drinking a moderate amount after being sober, even if its been years.