The "disease" of alcoholism.

[chezlaw]

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No one's taken Phil's bait wtf?

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we recognise Phil's condition as a disease.

chez

[ChrisV]

bait?

[ChrisV]

oh that phil. never mind.

[ChrisV]

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Is it a disease? No more than the mental "disease" that causes someone to each too much and get fat - which isn't labelled as a disease, funnily enough.

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Obesity is a Chronic Disease
The American Obesity Association (AOA) believes that obesity is a disease. We want obesity understood by the health care community and patients as a serious disease of epidemic portions.

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http://www.obesity.org/treatment/obesity.shtml

I agree btw, I don't think any form of addiction is a disease exactly. That said, forms of addiction which cause serious physiological suffering to anyone who tries to quit (heroin, crystal meth, etc) should be recognised as being in a different class to, say, shopping or sex "addictions".

[Phil153]

ChrisV - With obesity, the overabundance of fat on your body is the disease, not the mental weakness/addiction that causes you to shovel food into your mouth until you turn into an unhealthy blob.

[ChrisV]

Well, OK, but when people talk about an "obesity epidemic" in the Western world, what they mean is people eating too much and not exercising enough. Of course you can be obese without that, but any classification of obesity as a disease would effectively classify being a lazy overeater as a disease.

The difference between that and, say, cirrhosis of the liver, another disease secondary to an addiction, is that you can't cure cirrhosis of the liver by not drinking anymore, whereas you can (in many cases) cure obesity by eating a good diet and getting your fat ass off the couch.

[tomdemaine]

How to test if something is a disease.

1. Offer sufferer $1,000,000,000 to stop smoking, drinking, having cancer, eating to much, having diabetes etc for one week

2. If they accept it's not a disease!

[vhawk01]

[ QUOTE ]
How to test if something is a disease.

1. Offer sufferer $1,000,000,000 to stop smoking, drinking, having cancer, eating to much, having diabetes etc for one week

2. If they accept it's not a disease!

[/ QUOTE ]

If they accept or if they carry out the deal? Obviously everyone would accept. The question is, would they be able to deliver?

This is a good point. What do you think the alcoholic would do if offered this deal? He would probably spend every dime he had on every possible treatment plan, take it incredibly seriously, pay someone huge amounts to follow him around all day and prevent him from drinking, etc. He could probably win this bet. But aren't the previously listed things, then, just the 'cure?'

[arahant]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
How to test if something is a disease.

1. Offer sufferer $1,000,000,000 to stop smoking, drinking, having cancer, eating to much, having diabetes etc for one week

2. If they accept it's not a disease!

[/ QUOTE ]

If they accept or if they carry out the deal? Obviously everyone would accept. The question is, would they be able to deliver?

This is a good point. What do you think the alcoholic would do if offered this deal? He would probably spend every dime he had on every possible treatment plan, take it incredibly seriously, pay someone huge amounts to follow him around all day and prevent him from drinking, etc. He could probably win this bet. But aren't the previously listed things, then, just the 'cure?'

[/ QUOTE ]

Also, 'alcoholism' is not equivalent to 'drinking'. I think pretty much everyone would agree that cessation of drinking for one week doesn't make you any less of an alcoholic.

[vhawk01]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
How to test if something is a disease.

1. Offer sufferer $1,000,000,000 to stop smoking, drinking, having cancer, eating to much, having diabetes etc for one week

2. If they accept it's not a disease!

[/ QUOTE ]

If they accept or if they carry out the deal? Obviously everyone would accept. The question is, would they be able to deliver?

This is a good point. What do you think the alcoholic would do if offered this deal? He would probably spend every dime he had on every possible treatment plan, take it incredibly seriously, pay someone huge amounts to follow him around all day and prevent him from drinking, etc. He could probably win this bet. But aren't the previously listed things, then, just the 'cure?'

[/ QUOTE ]

Also, 'alcoholism' is not equivalent to 'drinking'. I think pretty much everyone would agree that cessation of drinking for one week doesn't make you any less of an alcoholic.

[/ QUOTE ]

While I agree, it is sort of question-begging. Thats only true if there is some actual thing or disease which we can call alcoholism. If alcoholism ISNT a disease, but is simply a description of a behavior, then you aren't an alcoholic as soon as you stop drinking, getting fired from jobs, beating your wife, or whatever.