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Alcoholism is a Disease - Yes

by Greg Fry
(Barrie On Canada)

I am a recovering alcoholic, sober 5 years. It has been said that alcohol was my solution not my problem ... I identify with that. I was an irritable child but when I took my first drink I felt calm and normal and fit in with other people.

Problem is when I first started I couldn't stop. After years my solution turned on me making me and my life miserable. I tried drugs a few times but couldn't do both. When they say alcoholics drink to feel normal and addicts use to get high I get it.

One last thing ... I read how alcohol is metabolised and after a few chemical changes hits my neural transmitters and it changes to a different chemical than normal people. This chemical creates a need for more, that tells me physically my body was born different than other people.

This doesn't happen with drugs, so yes I feel that my alcoholism is a disease

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I agree
by: Cassie

You're absolutely right Barrie. Although I was not a hyper active child, or a problem child in any way, when I was older and I started drinking it somehow shaved off all the hard edges of the world and made it appear softer. I thought it was great. But then when sober, I couldn't cope with those hard edges and so I used alcohol like a crutch. I felt like I needed it. If I was sad, I wanted a drink, if I was happy I would celebrate with a drink. If I was bored I would go out and drink, and so on. It became like the answer to life that I needed. It's awful to rely on something like that.

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Addiction is Addiction
by: Recovering Addict Married To Alcoholic

After my 5 year old son was kidnapped, I found comfort in Meth which was almost 10 years. As a child I too was also very irritable, hyper, parents couldn't control me or calm me down, sure didn't make me an alcoholic. Try ADHD, or just a kid that was irritable and hyper like millions of others.

Meth for me also felt as though it was my solution and not a problem because I finally felt normal, and happy too. But as you stated "alcoholics drink to feel normal and addicts use to get high", that's the biggest excuse if I've ever heard one. My lifetime alcoholic husband, and every other alcoholic he knows, drinks to get drunk. I smoked meth to feel normal, to be able to get out of bed, and to simply function... AND to get high, which is what made me feel normal. That's because I was addicted to something, same as you.

Also when you stated "few chemical changes hits my neural transmitters and it changes to a different chemical than normal people. This chemical creates a need for more" that is called drug or chemical dependency, which occurs whether you're popping painkillers, snorting cocaine, shooting heroine, or drinking alcohol. The same DOES occur with drugs, which is called an addiction. This happens when your body becomes tolerant to the foreign substance and changes the way it functions. So when you remove that substance, your body in turn reacts negatively telling you that it needs more.

I applaud that you have been clean for 5 years, and pray for you to have the strength to continue your sobriety, but being dependent on anything to make you feel normal, is an addiction. Being born with Downs Syndrome is a genetic mistake that the body sometimes allows, but your DNA and genes never mutated creating you to be born an alcoholic.

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Good Description
by: C-P

I like that ... started as a solution, but became my problem. Was similar for me - alcohol started as a solution to my anxiety and insecurity. Eventually emboldened me to try drugs and fell in love with them. Except I couldn't control it in the way 'normal' users or drinkers could ... and that's where the downward spiral started for me. Glad you recognise it and found a way out. Thanks for sharing.

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