Is Alcoholism a Disease?

Although alcoholism does not have the symptoms of a normal disease, it can be called a mental or a psychological disorder. It all starts with getting obsessed with the idea of drinking. The mental obsession which drives a person to repeatedly drink is nothing but a thought process over which there is no control.

The thought process repeatedly occurs in the brain driving the person to fix a drink. The person is unable to get over the physical compulsion and craving to have a drink. Since man does not consciously put the thought in his mind, he is not able to control the effect and feels the only way to get the thought out is to do what his mind says.

The most difficult part of all this is that most of the times, the alcoholic does not even know the thought is there hidden in his mind surfacing repeatedly. He is not able to understand what is driving him towards this undesirable habit. This is why even if an alcoholic genuinely puts in effort to stop drinking and wants to give up the habit he is not able to do so without professional help.

One important fact to be noticed is that alcoholism as a disease progresses very fast without the person’s knowledge. The fact that one or two drinks satisfies his or her craving may soon sub consciously increase to six or seven drinks and worsening further to even ten or twelve drinks. By the time the person realizes it is usually too late. The drinking stops only if the person passes out. By this time alcohol has wholly and completely taken over his or her life.

Rehabilitation and help is in the hands of the affected person. If he is mentally prepared to come out of the obsession, he can approach one of the innumerable help centres. If he needs help but is not willing to take it, then intervention is the only alternative.