Initially it allowed people to treat alcoholics in a humane way, rather than a dehumanized way. But there are definitely some problems with
the disease model. Many people do not fit the classic model, but nevertheless they have significant problems with abuse. People who do not have
physical dependency, which do not have long histories of drinking problems, who do not have significant psychological and social problems, they don’t fit the disease model.

If we have a disease with a physical component, is a spiritual approach the best way to treat it? For instance, the Alcoholics Anonymous treatment, which focuses on, among other things, admitting wrongs to God and getting closer to him.

Some experts believe that some alcoholics who have the characteristics he mentions suffer from a disease. But others, with lesser alcohol abuse problems, may not. There are more of them than there are of the classic alcoholics. The idea that alcoholism is a disease rests as much on belief and conjecture as it does on scientific evidence.

The disease model of alcoholism has been no more productive of positive therapy outcomes than have any of the countless, uni-dimensional views of alcoholism that coexist with it.

In some ways that alcoholism has been viewed since the mid-19th century, when alcoholism was considered, to be a spiritual weakness. So the treatment was to throw the drunkards in jail and have clergy come and work with them.

The temperance movement blamed the problem not on the alcoholics but on the alcohol itself and moved to have it prohibited. After prohibition, the notion arose that alcohol was a disease. Alcoholics Anonymous fostered that notion from its
inception in the 1930s, according to a spokeswoman who, in accordance with AA practice, asked to remain anonymous.

After World War II, psychologists blamed personality defects and conflicts and prescribed psychotherapy. In the 1950s, some pointed a finger at the ready availability of alcohol and social norms that condoned drinking.

The problem with all these models is that they tend to emphasize one cause in isolation from everything else. They view alcoholism as resulting from the angers individual’s — interaction with his or her environment.

It’s more complex than saving it’s a disease or not a disease. Treatment of alcoholism can be tailored to each individual depending upon which factors
seem to have contributed most to his condition. The idea that alcoholism is a
disease has political implications, too.

It says there’s only a certain class of people who are going to have problems with alcohol, and they can’t drink. Everybody else can drink with impunity. And so the liquor industry supports the notion.

For-profit alcoholism treatment centers also stand to gain from the 30-day stay that many of them require for alcoholism, Hester says. Nevertheless, evidence continues to mount that alcoholism can be the result of biological
disorders. Interestingly the sons of alcoholics have a decreased reaction to modest amounts of alcohol and characteristically have altered brain waves.

Excessive drinking and drug usage are frequently viewed as a psychological problem, one that can only be solved when the abuser realizes why he or she became dependent. In counseling jargon, the problem has been dubbed as chemical dependency. Solving chemical dependency isn’t easy.

Many treatment plans for addicts of alcohol or drugs forget that physiological reasons for abuse exist, The alcoholic starts out drinking the same as anyone in society as a whole. But an alcoholic’s body doesn’t accept liquor as easily. Usually his or her biological makeup dictates that the body get more and more liquor.

The alcoholic no longer drinks to feel high, but drinks to feel normal Their bodies crave alcohol. Without it, they suffer a physiological withdrawal. The same applies to drug addicts. Chemical dependency comes in liquid forms, tablet forms or forms which you smoke or inject,” she said. It’s the same disease.

Once the addict is safely off the liquor or alcohol, he or she may think it’s safe to resume the old habits again, only this time in moderation. That’s where the physical urge comes in. Physiological cravings take over, calling for more and more of the alcohol or drug, until the addict is back where he or she was before kicking the habit. Dependency follows predictable patterns similar to other diseases. The final stages of alcoholism set in about a dozen years after the woman takes her first drink, and about two dozen years after the man sips his first.

Experts aren’t sure of the reason for the disparity. Alcohol or drug dependency is in its advanced stages when the victim suffers withdrawal if the liquor or drug is absent. Withdrawal involves the classic shaky appearance, elevated blood pressure, body temperature and pulse and heavy perspiration. Continued withdrawal usually leads to hallucinations and seizures — symptoms of a physical, not mental or psychological, dependency. The psychological changes needed to recover from the dependency come in recognizing the disease and in altering lifestyles to accommodate it.

The chemical dependent goes through the same process as the person who has been told he has diabetes or heart disease Ms. Woodard likens chemical dependency to heart disease, hypertension, diabetes and other chronic diseases. The disease won’t go away, but it can be controlled with changes in behavior.

For some diseases, that means changes in diet and exercise, but for the alcoholic or drug addict, it means avoidance of the substance triggering the dependency. The disease has been around since man has been around, but it’s the disease some experts say they know the least about. What they don’t know is why it happens. Medical and nursing schools rarely include chemical dependency as a disease, and that’s something that’s evolving.

Most dependents repeatedly deny their problem, and almost never think of it as a disease. They think alcoholism is associated with the guy who drinks out of a brown paper bag Only 2 percent of alcoholics are derelicts. The vast majority are people who will hang onto their jobs, even after the rest of their lives fall apart.

The addict will lose everything else, but try to hold on to the job. Spouses, other family members and friends may drift away, but the job is usually of the utmost importance to the alcoholic. They’ll say, ‘I can’t be an alcoholic because I work every day.

Work inability usually comes at the late stages of alcoholism. At first, the dependent may arrive late or leave early now and again… The practice becomes more frequent, until days are missed. Because recovering alcoholics can be productive workers some patients will be referred to a detox center by their employers, with insurance covering the cost. The patients get counseling, along with their spouses, families, friends, ministers, employers or anyone
important in their lives.

A person can’t control his disease by willpower, but he can control his recovery. Finding that path to drug or alcohol independence depends on recognition and acceptance of the disease.