I cant comment on whether Alcoholism it is a disease or not. But it definitely runs in families. I have seen people from the same family struggle terribly with substance issues and other families who expose themselves to the same risks (drugging and drinking) and are able to moderate later in life without any problems. There is something in the genetic makeup that predisposes a person to substance abuse in my opinion.
...
We agree on something? So be it. Have studies been done involving adopted children who's birth parents were alcoholic? The old "Nature vs. Nurture" argument.
Yes, but adopted kids from bad households often have other issues or were effected by a mom who smoked crack while pregnant or a dad who beats or terrorizes the kid... or just plain neglect. Early childhood develpment is very important, regardless of whether or not the kid remembers it. Nurture actually effects nature. Who... You should know that kids from those
romanian orphanages pretty much always have majorly different brains (my mom studied neurology and was interested). It's not because of how they were born, but how that early childhood development (being strapped down to a bed and not rotated / traumatized every day. If you adopt em right after birth from the same bunch they're usually ok, but the longer they're mistreated the more radical the
difference is in brain imaging.So. Could it possibly be that the neglectful and/or abusive behavior or the parents could cause a brain disorder cropping up later in development as misbehavior? IMO drinking is likely a symptom, at least at first, and not the problem itself. Do some people get physically addicted to alcohol? Duh. But even that physical compulsion is the effect of a cause, a decision to drink regularly enough to form a dependency. IMO, Humans are habit forming machines, but habits can be broken and un-learned. The whole disease model is flawed, IMO. It makes it seem as if some people are pre-disposed to behavior and therefore should be let off the hook.
If that was true (which it's not) I'll go drink a bottle of vodka right now, put a few slugs in somebody like Cartesano, and claim insanity because of a mental disease(alcoholism). Aah.. but the law doesnt work that way because for the most part it's basic principles are based on logic.
IMO the whole "alcohol made me do it" is a bullshit AA-derived cop-out to make people feel good. It's what I call "forgiveness of sins". AA offers a method of salvation by purging. A cult of confession... It makes people feel good and addicts them to the meeting, but ultimately, are the issues that might have caused those people to drink in the first place actually addressed? Maybe i'm not the best person to ask, about this since i'm not a drunk, but perhaps I am, since I can see it from the outside. Plus, I was forced to attend a lot of AA meetings at Benchmark and that was the impression I got.
One staff guy used to say "i'm allergic to alcohol. when I drink i break out in handcuffs". If that is true to that person, it means that if they drink they are deciding to commit a crime. Tell that same person they are powerless over alcohol and you are basically saying "you're sick and you're going to commit crime, because you're going to drink. because it all depends on whether your god has it in his plan, which is all in your head, which means it's really a crapshoot (depending on whether or not you believe your god hates you or you deserve punishment for your actions further creating guilt that is later purged in the cult of confession (4th step "inventory", sharing, etc...)). Coercion and self-fulfilling prophecies or not, if god exists, I really don't think "i was drunk.... it was the alcohol" is going to cut it for, e.g. running a kid down in a car. If you're sorry, you're sorry, but don't say "it wasn't my fault".
What do you think is going to happen when you tell people that they're parents were alcoholic, it's genetic, and they "can't" control their drinking, hence what they do isn't really all their fault. It gives them an excuse to behave badly and some abuse that. I do NOT think people should ever be left off the hook for things done under the influence of alcohol. People have a choice to drink to excess, choose to become intoxicated and hence have to learn to live with the consequences of their actions while intoxicated (i.e. killing a person). If a person can safely be intoxicated and it helps him/her (for example, a writer), then let that person. On the other hand, if a person commits a crime against another person, that person should be incarcerated for that crime. Treatment should never be coerced (and isn't really treatment if it is... treatment implies effectiveness. cercion isn't effective in the long term even if it was ethical.)
