re: Alcoholism - learned, genetic or both?

Everyone on my Mothers side were Alcoholics as was I. I just decided to stop and have been successful so far

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then you are what's known in the cult world of AA as a "dry drunk" and regardless of how you feel, are a miserable, white knuckled mess that will never find happiness until you join the cult, sort of like invasion of the body snatchers

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Meh. He might be okay without working the program. You, on the other hand, might need to clean your side of the street. I suggest asking yourself why you feel the need to at yourself. It's weird.

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How do you prove someone, who hasn't drank yet, is an alcoholic? If it's a disease, they are still suffering from it, even though they are not partaking.

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Don't answer a question with a question. So you are going on record as saying mental disorders are not diseases. Noted.

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I was poking fun at the cult that is AA

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I don't believe in alcoholism

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I think there is a difference between mental disorders and mental diseases.

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That isn't what you said.

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I'm just not going to recognize it as a disease.

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That's fine.

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If I wake up tomorrow and start chugging battery acid, does that constitute a disease?

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You aren't very good at this.

Alcohol influences a number of neuroreceptor systems, which makes it difficult to study. Predisposition to the disorder seems to be likely, however psychology isn't a cut and dry as "nature vs nuture" would suggest. There is an integrated approach to the field which takes into account both psyiological and social infulences when researching the etiology of any disorder.

Y'all making me want to drink.

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monkey see monkey do

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My father, grandfather, grandmother, uncle, and aunt were/are alcoholics.

I didn't *see* any of them drinking, but I probably have a problem myself.

So you tell me...

Psychological dysfunction is the breakdown in cognitive, emotional, or behavioral funtion. A psychological dysfunction may be present when a person reacts unusually to a particular circumstance. However we must consider both the intensity and frequency of their reactions to classify their behavior as a dysfunction. An individual’s reaction must also include distress or impairment that also deviates from typical human responses. Varying cultures have their own unique customs, rituals, religious or spiritual beliefs, and appropriate standards of behavior. Behaviors within the same culture may also vary between sexes. Therefore it is essential to consider these cultural standards when determining the potential existence of a psychological disorder. Thus, the DSM-5 defines psychological disorder as behavioral, psychological, or biological dysfunctions that are unexpected in their cultural context and associated with present distress and impairment in functioning, or increased risk of suffering, death, pain, or impairment.


AA as a therapy has been widely dimissed as an effective treatment. An even bigger failure is one of its offshoots, Gamblers Anonymous, has a 70%-90% dropout rate.

ETA: Perhaps a better statement would havery been AA isn't as successful a treatment as once believed. In my opinoon there are better alternitives. LINK

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AA as a therapy has been widely dimissed as an effective treatment. An even bigger failure is one of its offshoots, Gamblers Anonymous, has a 70%-90% dropout rate.

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one of the main problems I saw when I worked with the EAP was that everyone in charge was a "recovering" something and really had no professionally certificated credentials to be spreading their gospel, and if the underlings questioned anything at all they were deemed to be in denial and were set back in their "program," I'd say it probably fricks up as many or more than it helps, but then again that falls back to another of their incessant mantras, "it's all worth it even if it helps but one..."