I'm a little bit disgusted.
Deep breath.
As someone who is an alcoholic (I prefer addictive personalty disorder, since I don't actually drink) I am always amazed and offended by people who do not have an addictive personality (to the point of legitimate disorder) marginalizing and poo-pooing those weak willed drunks. It is something, and I assure you, that's a situation you can't fully comprehend or understand without going through it one way or another.
It is, as always, a game of semantics. I can argue that Alcoholism is genetic very easily. My father is an alcoholic, although 15 years sober. My brother is not an alcoholic. I am. I see a genetic component there, as that all of my traits and predispositions have to be genetic. Alcoholism, in my mind, is very nature and very little nurture. The research, and common sense shows that like red hair and extra digits, an addictive personality is inherited.
I can also argue that it is a disease, as Kitten said, dependant of course on the definition of such. A disease is something that is wrong with the perfect function of your body that you don't have full control over. Having, say, diabetes is a disease. It adds to the level of dis-ease in your life. If alcoholism is not a disease, than I demand you remove all other emotional and mental diseases. Schizophrenics (something I am also very familiar with) aren't sick, they just aren't trying hard enough to ignore the voices. Depressives are not sick, they just listen to too much Emo. People with OCD spectrum disorders are just seeking attention.
Allow me to try to define addictive personality disorder, for clarity. I would define it personally as a disorder in the physiological brain (meaning objective, meaning if you looked hard enough you could find it and point to it). Addiction is available to all, but for some we have a genetic disposition to be more effected by addiction. It is much, much harder for me to quit smoking than it is for you. Unfair, but the way it happens to be. It is also larger and fuzzier than that, in the sense that I also exhibit traits that are the same thing. I am intensely interested in things for about one week, and then move on to other things. This is a symptom of the same personality type.
If you both do not understand, or beleive in alcoholism, than I applaud how lucky you are to not either have to fight it, or have to fight your parents who have it. Please try to not come across as the "those people are just weak-willed" crowd, it is demeaning to your character.
And that AA is "shitty" and "takes up space secular programs should have", I can only laugh. So you cast scorn on the most positive secret society known to modern man, not because they are a religious institution (they are specifically not) but because they mention a higher power? You also say they explained that the higher power can be anything, including yourself, the door knob or nothingness. Did you miss the point? It is using the mind-tool that is belief to get people to overcome both an addiction and a mental illness, and you shun it? So as an atheist, pragmatic useful belief for the sake of healing is as much bull shit as the rest?
You don't beleive in higher powers? At all? I would love to see how you act around the police. If they are not a higher power than you, you should be belligerent and rude to the point that it would entertain me. What about God Damn Barky Obama, is he a higher power than yourself? There is no one or thing, the concept of the country you live in, math, language, culture, history...; that you consider higher than yourself? Shit.
I am an alcoholic, I don't ask for any special treatment, I don't want anything from you for it. But it is real, and we do suffer. You think part of the healing structure about making amends, apologizing for all the horrible things you did as an addict is stupid? Your arguing with about 3 or 4 generations of people saved. Millions upon millions of people working together to create a like minded community with the sole purpose of making the world a better place for all. But they use the term higher power, so they made the shit list. Unbelievable.
Thanks,
-Pip
Deep breath.
As someone who is an alcoholic (I prefer addictive personalty disorder, since I don't actually drink) I am always amazed and offended by people who do not have an addictive personality (to the point of legitimate disorder) marginalizing and poo-pooing those weak willed drunks. It is something, and I assure you, that's a situation you can't fully comprehend or understand without going through it one way or another.
It is, as always, a game of semantics. I can argue that Alcoholism is genetic very easily. My father is an alcoholic, although 15 years sober. My brother is not an alcoholic. I am. I see a genetic component there, as that all of my traits and predispositions have to be genetic. Alcoholism, in my mind, is very nature and very little nurture. The research, and common sense shows that like red hair and extra digits, an addictive personality is inherited.
I can also argue that it is a disease, as Kitten said, dependant of course on the definition of such. A disease is something that is wrong with the perfect function of your body that you don't have full control over. Having, say, diabetes is a disease. It adds to the level of dis-ease in your life. If alcoholism is not a disease, than I demand you remove all other emotional and mental diseases. Schizophrenics (something I am also very familiar with) aren't sick, they just aren't trying hard enough to ignore the voices. Depressives are not sick, they just listen to too much Emo. People with OCD spectrum disorders are just seeking attention.
Allow me to try to define addictive personality disorder, for clarity. I would define it personally as a disorder in the physiological brain (meaning objective, meaning if you looked hard enough you could find it and point to it). Addiction is available to all, but for some we have a genetic disposition to be more effected by addiction. It is much, much harder for me to quit smoking than it is for you. Unfair, but the way it happens to be. It is also larger and fuzzier than that, in the sense that I also exhibit traits that are the same thing. I am intensely interested in things for about one week, and then move on to other things. This is a symptom of the same personality type.
If you both do not understand, or beleive in alcoholism, than I applaud how lucky you are to not either have to fight it, or have to fight your parents who have it. Please try to not come across as the "those people are just weak-willed" crowd, it is demeaning to your character.
And that AA is "shitty" and "takes up space secular programs should have", I can only laugh. So you cast scorn on the most positive secret society known to modern man, not because they are a religious institution (they are specifically not) but because they mention a higher power? You also say they explained that the higher power can be anything, including yourself, the door knob or nothingness. Did you miss the point? It is using the mind-tool that is belief to get people to overcome both an addiction and a mental illness, and you shun it? So as an atheist, pragmatic useful belief for the sake of healing is as much bull shit as the rest?
You don't beleive in higher powers? At all? I would love to see how you act around the police. If they are not a higher power than you, you should be belligerent and rude to the point that it would entertain me. What about God Damn Barky Obama, is he a higher power than yourself? There is no one or thing, the concept of the country you live in, math, language, culture, history...; that you consider higher than yourself? Shit.
I am an alcoholic, I don't ask for any special treatment, I don't want anything from you for it. But it is real, and we do suffer. You think part of the healing structure about making amends, apologizing for all the horrible things you did as an addict is stupid? Your arguing with about 3 or 4 generations of people saved. Millions upon millions of people working together to create a like minded community with the sole purpose of making the world a better place for all. But they use the term higher power, so they made the shit list. Unbelievable.
Thanks,
-Pip
