re: #360 BlueGrl21

I got where you were going with that. My dad is an alcoholic. He can get himself up every morning, hold down a professional job well, and get home before he absolutely must have alcohol. He “functions.” But he’s still an alcoholic, still has all of the brain chemistry changes alcohol brings to an alcoholic, probably still has the liver damage (I know he has the stomach damage) of heavy drinking. He’s learned how to live with his disease but he’s still an alcoholic.

My husband’s mother died of liver damage due to her drinking. She held down a demanding job her whole life. She’d get home and hit the bourbon. Alcoholic.

So i get what you’re saying. Having the disease is binary.

We look at alcoholism as a disease, but it may just be a symptom of a diseased society where people can’t cope without self-medicating.