Alcoholism is a personal choice.
"WHAT?!! Alcoholism and addiction are diseases! How can you claim them as a personal choice? How dare you, sir!"
Please allow me to elaborate...
Nobody finds their way into recovery on the best day of their life. I have yet to meet the person who woke up on their first day of sobriety, looked out the window and proclaimed, "What a beautiful day! The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and all is right with the world. By golly, I think I'll check myself into rehab today!" No. The vast majority of recovering alcoholics/addicts come crawling into sobriety on the worst day of their miserable lives. Typically, their finances, relationships, health, spiritual wellbeing and mental stability lay in a heaping wreck; a mere shadow of what used to be a normal life. They have hit "bottom."
Currently, there exist two accepted versions of "bottoming out" - The"High Bottom" drunk and the "Rock Bottom" drunk. "High Bottom" describes an individual who discovers they have a problem prior to total self-annihilation. Many times these people find the rooms of recovery via a Court Card (court ordered sobriety) and account for a very small minority in the world of recovering alcoholics/addicts (they're the lucky ones). Much more prevalent is the "Rock Bottom" drunk, an individual who manages to completely dismantle his/her life, sacrificing everything to the gluttonous god of addiction, prior to self-realization. They drag themselves, broken, bloody, and beaten, into the rooms of recovery in hope of picking up the pieces. Personally, during my constant pursuit of sobriety (in my younger years), I accomplished both levels of "bottoming out" (regrettably, on more than one occasion).
But we still have yet to categorically define the problem...
enotalone.com defines alcoholism as "... a primary illness or disorder characterized by some loss of control over drinking, with habituation or addiction to the drug alcohol, causing interference in any major life function, e.g. health, family, job, spiritual, friends, legal." I appreciate this definition as it qualifies alcoholism to affect some loss of control, not total loss of control. In other words, you don't have to be a gutter-bum to qualify as an alcoholic/addict.
Still others define alcoholism as, "the inability to stop after one drink," or "drinking only to get drunk," or "drinking on a daily basis," or "the inability to drink like a gentleman/lady" (to name but a few).
For me, when I wanted to drink, I did. When I didn't want to drink, I did anyway. In as such, I'm an alcoholic.
But the definition I have found best suits my disease is, "An inability to control and enjoy, simultaneously." Believe it or not, I can control my drinking. I possess the ability to walk into a bar, have one drink, and walk out. That is a fact. Another fact ... under no circumstances will I enjoy that single beverage. Every sip I take will be consumed with the overwhelming desire to order a second (and third) cocktail. I will leave after that one drink, but only after ripping myself away from the bar. My only avenue for enjoyment comes with cleaving off the governor and drinking until I run out of money and/or slip into unconsciousness. One drink is too many and 20 drinks are never enough. I can control. I can enjoy. I simply cannot do them both at the same time. In as such, I am an alcoholic.
Which brings me back to my original statement, "Alcoholism is a choice." I never chose to be an alcoholic or an addict. I did, however, choose to admit that I had a problem. Nobody can tell you if you're an alcoholic. That's a decision you have to make. You can choose to keep drinking, ignore the problem, eventually destroy your life and dig an early grave, or you can choose to admit you have a problem, give sobriety a go, and learn what it means to live a happy, joyous, and free life.
The choice is yours.
enotalone.com defines alcoholism as "... a primary illness or disorder characterized by some loss of control over drinking, with habituation or addiction to the drug alcohol, causing interference in any major life function, e.g. health, family, job, spiritual, friends, legal." I appreciate this definition as it qualifies alcoholism to affect some loss of control, not total loss of control. In other words, you don't have to be a gutter-bum to qualify as an alcoholic/addict.
Still others define alcoholism as, "the inability to stop after one drink," or "drinking only to get drunk," or "drinking on a daily basis," or "the inability to drink like a gentleman/lady" (to name but a few).
For me, when I wanted to drink, I did. When I didn't want to drink, I did anyway. In as such, I'm an alcoholic.
But the definition I have found best suits my disease is, "An inability to control and enjoy, simultaneously." Believe it or not, I can control my drinking. I possess the ability to walk into a bar, have one drink, and walk out. That is a fact. Another fact ... under no circumstances will I enjoy that single beverage. Every sip I take will be consumed with the overwhelming desire to order a second (and third) cocktail. I will leave after that one drink, but only after ripping myself away from the bar. My only avenue for enjoyment comes with cleaving off the governor and drinking until I run out of money and/or slip into unconsciousness. One drink is too many and 20 drinks are never enough. I can control. I can enjoy. I simply cannot do them both at the same time. In as such, I am an alcoholic.
Which brings me back to my original statement, "Alcoholism is a choice." I never chose to be an alcoholic or an addict. I did, however, choose to admit that I had a problem. Nobody can tell you if you're an alcoholic. That's a decision you have to make. You can choose to keep drinking, ignore the problem, eventually destroy your life and dig an early grave, or you can choose to admit you have a problem, give sobriety a go, and learn what it means to live a happy, joyous, and free life.
The choice is yours.
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