Is alcoholism a disease?

Question

If so, then why is it the only one to require a "spiritual" solution?

Answer 1

no

Answer 2

Yes, alcoholism is a disease but spiritualism is only part of the solution. Abstaining from alcohol is a huge part of the solution too! Spiritualism is almost like having something there to help you through the disease. Not all addicts, alcohol or drug, use spiritualism as part as the solution. It is just use in 12 step programs and many treatment programs. I will say this though as a drug and alcohol counselor, any way you or anyone else can stay clean and sober good for you! But having a spiritual solution does tend to make things just a little bit easier.

Answer 3

It is most definitely a disease. Any type of addiction is a disease because it has a direct effect on the physical being. However, addictions have a double edged sword if you will, they also feature a psychological disease where the patient's mental state can cause adverse effects on the physical being. As for a "spiritual solution", I don't know if you were trying to be funny (if you were, it didn't work) But any disease that so affects the person's mental state is most effectively treated when you treat the whole being, mind, body and soul.. you use medicines to heal the body, psychotherapy to heal the mind and some sort of emotional/spiritual(notice I did NOT say religious) therapy that teaches the patient that no matter what has transpired in their life that has brought them to this point, they still have worth as a human being and a purpose that may only reveal itself to them over time. This gives the patient the strength of resolve and the will to keep on fighting the addiction. And, unlike diseases such as measles, mumps, etc....Addiction never goes away. It stays with you, just a step or two away, ready to exploit any moment of weakness. Recovering alcoholics have a saying, "one drink is too many and 50 drinks aren't enough". Because all it takes is that one drink to get you started back on the cycle of self-destruction. How do I know all this? I am one.

Answer 4

Well, there is no straight answer for that question. Some psychologist would say that, yes it is a disease; there is a genetic component that creates a certain suscepiblity for alcoholism. Others would disagree. A number of treatment techniques do use a disease model of substance abuse, including alcoholism. AA does use a spiritual model, but this spitual model has been applied to all sorts of other application, gambling, sex, narcotics, etc. Regardless of whether one sees it as a disease or a spiritual problem or whatever, there are places that individuals can get help and individuals do have the capacity to recover. It takes work and dedication, but AA has shown that millions of alcoholics worldwide have been able to beat it.

Answer 5

Diseases can be caught by exposure to germs or viruses, so in that sense alcoholism isn't a "disease". But it is an illness just like someone who suffers from severe depression or some other form of mental illness.

I don't know what you mean by a "spiritual" solution since that could have two meanings. If you are making a joke about alcohol being referred to as "spirits" that's one thing. But in another sense the solution to alcoholism is spiritual because many a recovered alcoholic can testify that it wasn't until they filled the God shaped hole in their heart by turning to Jesus and receiving God's Holy Spirit that they were freed from the compulsion to try and fill it with the deceptive spirit of alcohol.

Answer 6

Alcoholism cannot be cured, only arrested. Treatment is not always successful, and relies on the alcoholic’s ability to control their addiction. In 1956, the American Medical Association (AMA) determined alcoholism to be a disease because it met all 5 AMA criteria necessary to be such: pattern of symptoms, chronic, progressive, subject to relapse, and treatable. The disease of alcoholism can also be fatal.

Answer 7

Alcoholism, drug addiction, overeating, gambling are all diseases that can be managed through a spiritual solution. One of them is Alcoholics Anonymous or A.A.

Answer 8

I think alcoholism can lead to many dreadful conditions and open a persons system to certian diseases, but in and of itself, I think alcoholism is a learned behavior, not a disease entity. Is smokeing cigarettes a disease too then?

Answer 9

its not one spiritual solution its 12 steps and yes its a disease go to www.alcoholics-anonymous.org -

Answer 10

in away it because only to an alcoholic because if he or she take the first drink it hard for the person to stop phenomenon craving the body wants more of effect it gives off this goes with any drug the person take take the test dont drink nothing and go to the bar and dont drink and see how your body reacts and how your mind start racing thats how find if your drinking has progressed

Answer 11

Not an disease. any think above limit is dangerous. and we can call it as disease