Annie’s Mailbox: Why is alcoholism considered a disease

Dear Annie: Please tell me, when did alcoholism become a disease? A disease is when the body is ill and not functioning properly.

According to Webster’s Dictionary, addiction is the quality or state of being addicted, and continues that it is a “compulsive need for and use of a habit-forming substance (as heroin, nicotine or alcohol) characterized by well-defined physiological symptoms upon withdrawal.”

So why do alcoholics have a disease and those who abuse drugs are addicts? Why do we tolerate the double standard? – Ventura, Calif.

Dear Ventura: It’s not a double standard. Alcoholics are also addicts. The idea that addiction is a disease became popular in the ’70s, when those treating addicts realized that stigmatizing them as simply lacking self-control and having character deficiencies was prejudicial and counterproductive to effective treatment. We now know that some people are genetically predisposed to becoming addicted and that repeatedly abusing drugs or alcohol can alter the brain. But there is some argument that addiction is not as similar to a medical disease as it is to a chronic disorder or compulsive behavior, which is why support groups like Alcoholics Anonymous can be so helpful.