Andy Reid's son found dead

My opinion:

Alcoholism/addiction is a treatable disease. I am going to make my point about alcoholism, because it is what I understand best. One is born an alcoholic. It is an alcoholic's fault if he continues to take that FIRST drink after realizing he is alcoholic. He has no control over the second drink or beyond. Calling alcoholism a disease does not mean the alcoholic is devoid of responsibility. In fact, if an alcoholic is treating his disease appropriately, he will spend the rest of his life making amends for past wrongs.

Alcoholics -- those who have stopped drinking -- have been some of the wisest, kindest people I have ever known. And they take full responsibility for their past.

 

Guilt is a motherfucker.

 

There are a lot of diseases that depend on the person to be responsible for avoiding the problem. A diabetic needs to avoid sugar and keep his/her weight down, but very many don't. A depressed or bipolar person may need to take medication, but very many don't. Even heart patients and such sometimes don't take their medication, and disastrous results ensue. This doesn't mean those aren't diseases.

The problem with calling something alcoholism/drug addiction is a lot of times it's just irresponsible drunkenness instead of actual disease. For every person with an actual addiction, there are others using it as an excuse or crutch. But there are early signs of "finding" the actual disease -- brain scans and such, especially from young people, showing how their brains react to the particular substance.

In Garrett Reid's case, I have a hard time believing he still wanted to be doing drugs without some physiological component compelling him to do it. He wasn't just out partying, he was in the very depths of it all and couldn't stop.

 

^^^^^^^
Good post.

 

Does a person with lung cancer not have a disease if they chose to start smoking? Addiction is a disease, you may have your own opinion but you are wrong.

 

Addiction is a (complex) disease. One of the symptoms of which is that the disease itself prevents you seeking its cure.

 

The brain is a complex organ. Whether someone calls addiction a disease or not does not change the fact there are processes inside the brain that determine the choices we make.

 

Good points. Legitimate question though - why is alcoholism considered a disease while smoking is not? I don't see the distinction.

 

If these processes "determine the choices we make," how is it there are so many people who have managed to make different choices than the ones they originally made?

My brother is a recovering alcoholic. He ruined two marriages and fucked up the lives of four children because he liked going out, getting loaded and chasing strange.

Then he stopped. Hasn't had a drink in 10 years, and is actively trying to repair the relationships he damaged with his irresponsible behavior. How would this be possible if there was simply something physiological in his brain that dictated he continue abusing alcohol?

Really just sounds like a convenient way to avoid responsibility for one's fuck-ups.

 

Or maybe the urge and the need to drink wasn't as strong when he decided to quit, which allowed him to clean up his life.

 

I think most people would consider the "nicotine addiction" component of smoking a disease - that's why it's so incredibly hard to quit and so easy to relapse. I know the American Heart Association does, at least.

Hokie - The physiological changes in the brain dictate how your body responds to the alcohol/nicotine/opioid/whatever, which can in turn drive your desire for them. I'd guess your brother doesn't let himself drink at all, because the way his body responds to even one beer would be enough so send that addictive component of his brain, the dopamine receptors and all that fun, spiraling back out of control.

If he didn't have a disease, then once he stopped his initial compulsive behavior, then he should have been able to return to social drinking. The fact that almost all alcoholics can't do that to me indicates there's something deeper going on.

All that said, having an illness does not absolve one of the responsibility to treat it, and it doesn't give you carte blanche for the bad decisions you make to cause it or because of it.

 

Good friend had a kid who was a teenage alcoholic. According to the dad, there's a body of research showing that the brain reacts to alcohol differently at different ages. Could be your brother experienced that.

Or it could be he was never really an alcoholic and was just tremendously immature. I really think it can go either way, but there is definitely a component that makes it a disease.

There aren't a lot of diseases that operate on the "If you do this, you WILL get this" principle. The behaviors just increase the likelihood.