Is it a choice to drink?

Question

I know a person who is an Alcoholic. I want to know how many people out there believe that alcoholism is a "disease" or is it a "choice". I personally believe it to be a "choice" and an addiction because diseases are incurable and there are many recovering alcoholics.

I am not saying that this addiction is "easy" to beat by no means. But ultimately it is that persons "choice" to have that drink. How do you explain all those recovered alcoholics?

What is everyone else's thoughts on this?

Answer 1

it is a choice to take that 1st drink. after that the addiction takes over. i believe that it is a disease of the mind. much like OCD. an alcoholic obsesses on alcohol then relieves his obsession with the compulsion to drink.

Answer 2

I subscibe to the theory that all illness and disease as well as all habits come from the same place. Our illness and habits manifest because of unreconciled fear, pain and other emotional issues. They become a physical problem when we have ignored the inner situation for so long that our body has to get our attention in some obvious way. People go to rehab and deal with emotions to resolve addictions. Mostly we still just try and cover up physical symptoms of illness by taking drugs (legal or otherwise).

Curing disease or addiction can only come from an inner reconciliation. Sometimes we are ready to take the first steps to confront our issues. Sometimes we aren't. The person with the incurable illness may be in more denial than the alcoholic, believing that life's circumstances made them sick, rather than something obvious like alcohol.

Answer 3

Yes, it is your choice to drink. Drinking responsibly is also a choice. Drinking alcoholic drinks takes control of your emotions, you do and say things that you will not normally. You are ultimately responsible for your actions. That is the reason why recovered alocholics will always have to stay away from or associate with people who use alchol. It is not a disease, it is a choice that can be stoped with right help and willingness on the person's part.

Answer 4

Yes it is a chose to drink. But, when you do it everyday, it's no
longer a chose it's a decease that over rules you, and you are
as people well know an alcoholic that has no chose. It is like a drug that you can become addicted to this person chooses to stay that way. On the other hand, there are those alcoholic's who have lost family, friends, jobs, houses, and when they hit rock bottom, they want serenity, hope, forgiveness and Sobriety therefore go to A.A. Nobody is perfect, but after they have been Sober & Clean for a while, want to take back their lives and start over again.
I hope I've answered your question and what you wanted to know on this topic? Take Good Care
Summer

Answer 5

Well where to start on this one!!
I'll have to start of by saying it is a choice. Its a choice to take that first drink ect. My family has long line of alcholics (literally generations with my father being one) and while I went down a close call I made the choice not to drink alot because I think I am prone (by way of genetics) to possibly becoming an alcoholic. So instead of continuing to go down that path I did a lot of homework and self study. Growing up with someone like that I made sure I wouldnt be like that.
There is a pretty strong genetic link in some aspects that havent been mentioned so I will mention them here.
First of all studies indicate many who abuse alcohol have a problem with sugar breakdown with thier body and have a tendancy to be on the "hypoglycemic" side. This is interesting when you consider alcohol breaks down to mostly sugar in the body.
Also studies indicate due to poor health care and poor public awareness of mental diseases and disorders many people find ways to self medicate through the use of street drugs or alchohol. (this saves face because most people would rather be thought of as the one who drinks too much that the one who has some sort of mental problem)
With me and my father we both share the low blood sugar thing and I would say both have a strong tendancy for Attention Deficit Disorder (I have the diagnosis...he doesnt but has the syptoms big time)
With these factors infuencing me I have made a stern effort to monitor my alcohol intake. I can tell you though that it would be easy to fall into that stream because as someone who has ADD I cant tell you how wonderful it feels sometimes to have a couple Mind Erasers as it makes the world basically shut up for me. I know this sounds strange but ask anyone you know with ADD and what they expereince is constant sensory input they can not block out, so a little booze goes a long way to actually feel "normal". Yes there are medications and this and that but many times the side effects are so horrid its worse that the disorder itself.
So given that, if I was a depressive person and one to think that the world really sucks I would be really prone to drinking more. Would I have made the choice...yes indeed....but for some people sometimes when you go years with maybe an undiagnosed mental disease anything to maybe feel somewhat normal can get out of control easily. At that point it is no longer a choice because the addiction owns you.
I Have seen my dad make attempts to quit and to sum it up it appears very painful. Shakes, vomitting even hallucinations.
When he drinks he feels at peace, when he was sober he didnt remember drinking that much. Only when he started having liver failure did he start to see the light. And still to this day he drinks. Yet his excuse is that it is only beer....which granted he has significantly cut down.
Any addiction skews your perception....thats what addiction is all about....99% of it is the thought that "everything is under control"

Answer 6

It is a disease because you are never fully recovered.
So, a "disease" refers to the body that is NOT in a normal stale of affair, and certainly the alcoholic is that: not normal in a functional order. The body has become dependent on alcohol to EASE a pain that has been caused by taking alcohol into it then it is unable to function ably with the amount of alcohol needed to take the pain away or deaden it. Realistically then, the person has taken into his / her body that which alters the mood for a while, deceptively giving apparent relaxation but in fact disabling it so that it can't respond so as to meet the environmental needs.

Answer 7

Choices can lead to addictions and not only to alcohol but other drugs as well. Not all diseases are incurable, just like alcoholism, people can be cured from diseases, be it a physical disease or an emotional disease which I think alcoholism can be a combo...physical because it can break down the body and lead to other diseases and emotional as it can break down the mind and the ability to make rational choices.

Lots of choices we make can lead to poor health, too much sun, smoking, too much food etc...all of it can lead to disease.

Answer 8

All alcoholics start out as social drinkers. If you drink before forty you are a fool, if you don't drink after forty you are a fool. As soon as an alcohol drink tastes good, don't touch it for 4 months. Some people become addicted after one drink( could be a genetic link). I drank a six pack in the hot summers for thirst(worked good), but I lost my six pack(beer belly) and 30 years now, still can't get rid of it.

Answer 9

Hi. It may start out as a choice, but becomes an addiction. Some have addictive personalities and some do not.

Answer 10

For some people it's a choice. Others unfortunately are quickly addicted. Anybody that chooses to drink heavily for some period of time will most likely become addicted as well.