AA

[QuickHitCurepon]

Ex-news anchor back at KTVU as writer, reporter

I do not know how he did it, but the story of this news reporter is quite amazing.

If he did or had belonged to Alcoholics Anonymous, he must have broken every rule in the Big Book.

Alcoholics Anonymous: The Big Book

Are there any AA members here?

What could have helped this poor man before he got in too deep?

 

[QuickHitCurepon]

 

[Skull Pilot]

People usually have to get in too deep before they decide to make a change.

 

[The Great Goose]

It's usually other problems that make a person susceptible, like mental illness.

Bipolar actually goes away with alcohol. I don't have it but depression and anxiety caused me to drink.

 

[Compost]

Good for him. Just goes to show you can be down for a while but not out.

 

[QuickHitCurepon]

The days you are most uncomfortable are the days you learn the most about yourself.*

*"Probably why I've been laggin in my 4th step so long..chippin away at it today tho..Richie rich says.."

Alcoholics Anonymous Quotes

 

[QuickHitCurepon]

Alcoholism is an incurable disease. You will have it for life. Just like you can't turn a pickle back into a cucumber, you can't turn an alcoholic back into a normal drinker.*

*This disease works differently in different people, but you will always have the disease -Pamela Pickel

Alcoholics Anonymous Quotes

This attitude is why I did not go back to AA. I have attended idk three or four meetings, starting in 1985. The last time I went though was more than 20 years ago. I enjoyed the meetings. However, this kind of dogma stating you are either an alcoholic or not, and there is NO in between--now that I am much older--really turns my stomach.

The same as the rest of society, AA places labels on you. When I was young, I got a few labels, but with the wisdom of time, I began to ignore the few I allowed to stick. Now, I rarely even think about it.

Don't get me wrong. If it works, don't fix it, but AA is NOT for every problem drinker.

 

[Skull Pilot]

Alcoholism is an incurable disease. You will have it for life. Just like you can't turn a pickle back into a cucumber, you can't turn an alcoholic back into a normal drinker.*

*This disease works differently in different people, but you will always have the disease -Pamela Pickel

Alcoholics Anonymous Quotes

This attitude is why I did not go back to AA. I have attended idk three or four meetings, starting in 1985. The last time I went though was more than 20 years ago. I enjoyed the meetings. However, this kind of dogma stating you are either an alcoholic or not, and there is NO in between--now that I am much older--really turns my stomach.

The same as the rest of society, AA places labels on you. When I was young, I got a few labels, but with the wisdom of time, I began to ignore the few I allowed to stick. Now, I rarely even think about it.

Don't get me wrong. If it works, don't fix it, but AA is NOT for every problem drinker.

I don't subscribe to the addiction is disease line of thinking

Addiction is a behavior calling it a disease allows addicts to say they are not responsible

Is Addiction Really a Disease?

 

[Compost]

I don't think addiction is a disease either. I believe some people are more susceptible to it. It's personality, temperament that makes them more vulnerable, not disease. Some people overeat, that doesn't make them diseased. They are given food to comfort them as children or discover the joy of eating willy nilly somewhere along the line. With booze, it often starts when people are young, it's a social thing, it eases the stress of fitting in, etc.

There are other reasons people start to and continue to drink, of course. For those who become addicted, eventually drinking becomes a habit. Then that habit turns into a compulsion- for lack of a better word.

Like all ingrained habits, it can be very tough to quit. AA helps lots of people, but so does taking up a new hobby, or just toughing it out. I remember seeing a guy carrying around a jar with cigarette butts in it to help him quit smoking. Whatever works. Keep quitting till you quit. Removing the bad habit is more important than what label or blame you assign to that habit.

 

[Al Azar]

I don't subscribe to the addiction is disease line of thinking

Addiction is a behavior calling it a disease allows addicts to say they are not responsible

You're halfway there. Addiction is not a disease. Alcoholism is. People who don't understand the difference tend to conflate the two because they seem similar to the layman, but medical science knows better. Alcoholism has been known to be a disease since 1956 and was classified as such by the AMA, and in 1991 it expanded that to include its classification of alcoholism as both a medical and psychiatric disease.

Then, there's drug addiction. Dealing with that is pretty straightforward. Just say "no".

 

[Skull Pilot]

I don't subscribe to the addiction is disease line of thinking

Addiction is a behavior calling it a disease allows addicts to say they are not responsible

You're halfway there. Addiction is not a disease. Alcoholism is. People who don't understand the difference tend to conflate the two because they seem similar to the layman, but medical science knows better. Alcoholism has been known to be a disease since 1956 and was classified as such by the AMA, and in 1991 it expanded that to include its classification of alcoholism as both a medical and psychiatric disease.

Then, there's drug addiction. Dealing with that is pretty straightforward. Just say "no".

Alcohol is a drug

Alcoholism is an addiction to alcohol

 

[Al Azar]

I don't subscribe to the addiction is disease line of thinking

Addiction is a behavior calling it a disease allows addicts to say they are not responsible

You're halfway there. Addiction is not a disease. Alcoholism is. People who don't understand the difference tend to conflate the two because they seem similar to the layman, but medical science knows better. Alcoholism has been known to be a disease since 1956 and was classified as such by the AMA, and in 1991 it expanded that to include its classification of alcoholism as both a medical and psychiatric disease.

Then, there's drug addiction. Dealing with that is pretty straightforward. Just say "no".

Alcohol is a drug

Alcoholism is an addiction to alcohol

The disease may present an addiction component as well.

 

[Skull Pilot]

I don't subscribe to the addiction is disease line of thinking

Addiction is a behavior calling it a disease allows addicts to say they are not responsible

You're halfway there. Addiction is not a disease. Alcoholism is. People who don't understand the difference tend to conflate the two because they seem similar to the layman, but medical science knows better. Alcoholism has been known to be a disease since 1956 and was classified as such by the AMA, and in 1991 it expanded that to include its classification of alcoholism as both a medical and psychiatric disease.

Then, there's drug addiction. Dealing with that is pretty straightforward. Just say "no".

Alcohol is a drug

Alcoholism is an addiction to alcohol

The disease may present an addiction component as well.

Addiction follows behavior
One is not an alcoholic or an addict of any kind until the repeated behavior of drinking or taking drugs establishes the physical dependence on the drug of choice

Behavior begets addiction

 

[Al Azar]

Addiction follows behavior
One is not an alcoholic or an addict of any kind until...

You are mistaken. Primary alcoholics are born that way and may never know it until they take their first drink. It's a disease they were born with, ready to manifest itself when triggered. It's a genetic disease.

Secondary alcoholics have succumbed to the disease later in life as a result of what and how much they ingest, as is the case with many of us who suffer heart disease and diabetes.

It isn't addiction nor comparable to addiction. That's an entirely different mechanism of substance dependence and has no disease factor.

 

[Skull Pilot]

Addiction follows behavior
One is not an alcoholic or an addict of any kind until...

You are mistaken. Primary alcoholics are born that way and may never know it until they take their first drink. It's a disease they were born with, ready to manifest itself when triggered. It's a genetic disease.

Secondary alcoholics have succumbed to the disease later in life as a result of what and how much they ingest, as is the case with many of us who suffer heart disease and diabetes.

It isn't addiction nor comparable to addiction. That's an entirely different mechanism of substance dependence and has no disease factor.

No one is addicted to alcohol before they have had a drink. No one

 

[Al Azar]

Addiction follows behavior
One is not an alcoholic or an addict of any kind until...

You are mistaken. Primary alcoholics are born that way and may never know it until they take their first drink. It's a disease they were born with, ready to manifest itself when triggered. It's a genetic disease.

Secondary alcoholics have succumbed to the disease later in life as a result of what and how much they ingest, as is the case with many of us who suffer heart disease and diabetes.

It isn't addiction nor comparable to addiction. That's an entirely different mechanism of substance dependence and has no disease factor.

No one is addicted to alcohol before they have had a drink. No one

Of course not. Alcoholism isn't an addiction. It's a disease. Some are born with it. Most acquire it later in life.

 

[Skull Pilot]

Addiction follows behavior
One is not an alcoholic or an addict of any kind until...

You are mistaken. Primary alcoholics are born that way and may never know it until they take their first drink. It's a disease they were born with, ready to manifest itself when triggered. It's a genetic disease.

Secondary alcoholics have succumbed to the disease later in life as a result of what and how much they ingest, as is the case with many of us who suffer heart disease and diabetes.

It isn't addiction nor comparable to addiction. That's an entirely different mechanism of substance dependence and has no disease factor.

No one is addicted to alcohol before they have had a drink. No one

Of course not. Alcoholism isn't an addiction. It's a disease. Some are born with it. Most acquire it later in life.

Everyone acquires it if they drink enough to get addicted to alcohol

Behavior precedes addiction

 

[Al Azar]

You know very little about this subject. Educate yourself.

 

[Skull Pilot]

You know very little about this subject. Educate yourself.

I have.

Addiction is a set of behaviors.

https://www.amazon.com/The-Biology-Desire-Addiction-Disease/dp/1610394372&tag=ff0d01-20

Written by a cognitive neuroscientist who was also an addict