Addiction in America

[Not Afraid]

Originally Posted by €uroMeinke

That said I find addiction baffling as it is one of those things that's hard to define. I can match drink for drink with an alcoholic and yet the effect is quite different for me, so it's not a measure of how much.

It's easy to point to people and speculate about them being an addict (whether or not they agree), but what really is the marker?

No, it's not a measure of how much or when. A person can switch from normal drinker to alcoholic quickly or slowly; at a young age or at an old age; by having one daily drink, lots of daily drinks or just the occasional binge. It's not about how much a person drinks but what happens when a person drinks. It's very much a PHYSICAL illness that effects the mind as well as the body.

There usually is no marker - although some people show signs of the disease from the start. In others, it takes time to manifest itself. Just like cancer starts as a small cell mutation, alcoholism may start with few warning signs. However, by feeding the disease, it continues to grow.

The baffling part about addiction is the mental trickery that goes on. That trickery is precisely why the concept of AA seems to work. The alcoholic has no power over the disease so, by giving the power over the disease away to a "higher power" the disease can be fought.