Stop Drinking Now .. Looking at Alcoholism as a Disease

Many people have a problem when thinking of alcoholism as a disease because it simply doesn't seem like one. It doesn't look a disease; nor does it sound, smell, or act like a disease. To cap it all, it regularly denies it exists and refuses to accept treatment.

The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence offers a detailed and complete definition of alcoholism, but perhaps the simplest way to describe it is "a mental obsession that causes a physical compulsion to drink." Alcoholism has been accepted by professional medical organizations for many years as a major, constant, progressive and at times deadly disease.

What is a mental obsession? Have you ever had a song playing continuously in your head? It might be a song from the radio or a commercial you heard on television, but it keeps on playing ... and playing and playing.

Mental Obsession Do you remember what it was like? No matter what you did, that stupid melody kept repeating in your head. You may have tried to listen to another tune, whistle or sing another song, or turn on the radio but the one in your head just kept on playing. We have all been there. There was something going on in your mind that you didn't consciously put there and no matter how hard you tried you couldn't get it out!

That is an example of a simple mental obsession -- a thought process over which you have no control. Such is the nature of the disease of alcoholism. When the drinking "song" starts playing in the mind of an alcoholic, he is powerless. He didn't put the song there and the only way to get it to stop is to take another drink.

However, the problem with an alcoholic's mental fixation with alcohol is the obsession is much more subtle than simply a song playing in his mind. The sad fact is he may not even know it's there. All the alcoholic recognizes is that there is a sudden urge to take a drink -- a physical compulsion to drink.

Progressive Disease What aggravates the problem is the progressive nature of the disease. In the early stages of the "mental obsession" having one or two drinks may be all that is needed to get the "song" to stop. Soon it will take six or seven drinks and then later possibly ten or twelve. It comes to a point when the only time the song stops is when he passes out.

The progression of the disease is so slow that even the alcoholic himself can, at times, fail to recognize the point at which he loses control and alcohol takes over his life.

It can't be any wonder that denial is a common symptom of the illness. For those that do recognize there is a problem help can be as close as the white pages of the telephone directory. Unfortunately there are those who need help however they do all they can to resist it, for these people intervention may be the only alternative.
Discover how to Stop Drinking Alcohol found at http://www.stopdrinkingadvice.org/guide written by Ed Philips and get free advice to help you Quit Alcohol Today.