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  1. #51
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    Quote Originally Posted by bsnub
    Good god this been way over complicated. A few hours before bed start necking lagers follow that up with a few shots of whiskey. You will be out in no time and will sleep the whole night through. Your welcome.
    This really isn't good advice

  2. #52
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    Quote Originally Posted by redhaze
    This really isn't good advice
    Yes, you are correct. I cannot argue with you. What you have written is undisputably not good advice.

    So, why did you write it ? Everything I write is well intentioned and helpful.

  3. #53
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    WTF are you on about? LMAO, try thinking then typing. Its not difficult.

  4. #54
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mandaloopy
    Total opposite for me, I find it makes me sleep fitfully and spikes my energy levels at random points during the night.
    I sleep like total shit when I drink. I can fall asleep good enough, but I wake up shortly after tossing & turning. Cant regulate my body temp either. Need to piss etc...

    I sleep about a thousand times better when sober, fed, and after work.

    Sleep like total shit when I did something stupid or cringey at work... Lay around tossing & turning thinking about it. Should have done this, it would have been faster. Should have done that, would have avoided the problem. Blah Blah.


    I sleep terrible when I get home to Thailand from offshore. Too quiet. Nothing is moving. Not totally exhausted. Im all:

    Last edited by Slick; 26-03-2017 at 05:50 PM.

  5. #55
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    You must be more careful in your choice of words.

    You should have said something like " Your advice is unhelpful". You need to be specific and liberal use of the word "this" will only get you into trouble.

  6. #56
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    Quote Originally Posted by Digby Fantona
    You must be more careful in your choice of words.

    You should have said something like " Your advice is unhelpful". You need to be specific and liberal use of the word "this" will only get you into trouble.

  7. #57
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    I'm thinking you two need a Doobie to chill out

  8. #58
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    so Slick's on an oil rig, Chas is in Saudi.........

    hmmm


    10 Signs Youre Masturbating Too Much

  9. #59
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    ^ jellyfish all up in the shower

  10. #60
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    Quote Originally Posted by Digby Fantona
    You should have said something like " Your advice is unhelpful". You need to be specific and liberal use of the word "this" will only get you into trouble.
    Still not a clue what you are on about. You were clearly confused about something, still don't know what it was exactly. I think you were trying to argue with somebody else? Maybe you just got too excited and thought it was me. I don't know.

  11. #61
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    Quote Originally Posted by Digby Fantona View Post
    Only weak and feeble minded people become alcoholics. I like a drink.
    Hey know-it-all, cuntball. Alcoholism reaches people from many different angles.

    Quote Originally Posted by Chico View Post
    when ready for sleep, smoke a doobie and have a great nights sleep.
    Doesn't work that way for everyone.
    Last time I tried that, I ended up writing an opera...

    Quote Originally Posted by bsnub View Post
    Good god this been way over complicated. A few hours before bed start necking lagers follow that up with a few shots of whiskey. You will be out in no time and will sleep the whole night through. Your welcome.
    Yeah. If I tried that, I'd drink all night.

    Just like that old sage advice to drink before going to the bar.
    Your bill will be much less.
    Shit, I'd close the bar (or get thrown out of it) and invent the after hours.

  12. #62
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    Quote Originally Posted by hick
    Hey know-it-all, cuntball. Alcoholism reaches people from many different angles.
    Pissed again ?

  13. #63
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    Are you? LMAO. If not, seek counseling.

  14. #64
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    Quote Originally Posted by Digby Fantona View Post
    Pissed again ?
    Haven't had a drink in just about two years. Thanks for asking.



    That aside, look back at your posts and please tell me.



    Whatisyourmajormalfunction?

  15. #65
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    Melatonin is good and natural.

    Traxadone works really well but not every night.

    Hot milk helps.

    THe best way for me is to have an imaginary round of golf at my favourite course. Really, I never make the 18th hole. Alternatively, imagine a favourite walk that you know well.

  16. #66
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    Quote Originally Posted by Slick
    You, sir, are a fucking idiot
    Quote Originally Posted by Slick
    Please, do fuck off and go fist yourself.
    You shouldn't call people names.

  17. #67
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    Quote Originally Posted by ChalkyDee View Post
    THe best way for me is to have an imaginary round of golf at my favourite course. Really, I never make the 18th hole. Alternatively, imagine a favourite walk that you know well.
    I like that. I run through very similar processes / things in my head if I'm having a rough one.

    If you get diverted into worry/concern or what have you, just start over at the top.

  18. #68
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    Quote Originally Posted by Digby Fantona View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Slick
    Never said to pop some pills but yeah I would say that a slight pill addiction would be preferable to alcoholism.
    Only weak and feeble minded people become alcoholics. I like a drink. Taking pills is idiotic.
    If this isn't some sort of sick humour, it's one of the most ignorant posts I've seen on an internet forum, anywhere!

    FYI, alcoholism is a disease that anyone can get. When people tell me to use my will power to quit drinking, I tell them to use their will power to stop diarrhoea, which is what you're spouting.

    Alcoholism is a disease. Are you some arogant twat who knows more than the expert doctors?
    I'm sure there are some real doctors in the following organizations who say alcoholism is a disease. I'll listen to them thanks.
    The American Medical Association, The World Health Organization, American Psychiatric Association, the American Hospital Association, the American Public Health Association, the National Association of Social Workers, the American College of Physicians , Joint Committee of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence and the American Society of Addiction Medicine

  19. #69
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    Too many espouse that alcoholism is a weakness. Oh Yea.

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    Quote Originally Posted by ChalkyDee
    If this isn't some sort of sick humour, it's one of the most ignorant posts I've seen on an internet forum, anywhere!
    Thank you. Alcoholism is not a disease. Fools who drink too much get diseases. It is all about will power and discipline. I am in total control of my own alcohol consumption and will never be an alcoholic. I have a life outside of alcohol and it defines what I am.

  21. #71
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    Quote Originally Posted by Digby Fantona
    Thank you. Alcoholism is not a disease. Fools who drink too much get diseases. It is all about will power and discipline. I am in total control of my own alcohol consumption and will never be an alcoholic. I have a life outside of alcohol and it defines what I am.
    Digby, you are an absolute stone cold idiot of the highest order.

    If there was ever a post that could be the dictionary definition of denial, it would be this post.

  22. #72
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    Quote Originally Posted by ChalkyDee
    FYI, alcoholism is a disease that anyone can get. When people tell me to use my will power to quit drinking, I tell them to use their will power to stop diarrhoea, which is what you're spouting.
    Addiction sucks. Some people are more predisposed to it for a variety of reasons. Nothing but sympathy for those who struggle with addiction.

    BUT, the disease thing....

    I mean, cancer is a disease. No one can just choose to get rid of cancer. But honestly, can you choose to stop drinking? Yeah, you can. So doesn't deserve to be lumped in the same category even though its a beast in its own right.

  23. #73
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    Quote Originally Posted by redhaze View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by ChalkyDee
    FYI, alcoholism is a disease that anyone can get. When people tell me to use my will power to quit drinking, I tell them to use their will power to stop diarrhoea, which is what you're spouting.
    Addiction sucks. Some people are more predisposed to it for a variety of reasons. Nothing but sympathy for those who struggle with addiction.

    BUT, the disease thing....

    I mean, cancer is a disease. No one can just choose to get rid of cancer. But honestly, can you choose to stop drinking? Yeah, you can. So doesn't deserve to be lumped in the same category even though its a beast in its own right.

    Alkies can't jut stop drinking. Heavy drinkers can, As the DSM IV states that Alcohol Dependence is not the same as Alcohol Abuse.
    Alcoholism is a 3-fold disease - physical, spiritual and mental.
    A physical craving once that first drink is taken. A spiritual malady and a mental obsession that one will someday be able to drink normally.

    Here's an interesting letter from Bill Wilson, the co-founder of AA to Carl Jung, and then a reply.

    My dear Dr. Jung:
    This letter of great appreciation has been very long overdue.
    May I first introduce myself as Bill W., a co-founder of the Society of Alcoholics Anonymous. Though you have surely heard of us, I doubt if you are aware that a certain conversation you once had with one of your patients, a Mr. Rowland H., back in the early 1930's, did play a critical role in the founding of our Fellowship.
    Though Rowland H. has long since passed away, the recollections of his remarkable experience while under treatment by you has definitely become part of AA history. Our remembrance of Rowland H.'s statements about his experience with you is as follows:
    Having exhausted other means of recovery from his alcoholism, it was about 1931 that he became your patient. I believe he remained under your care for perhaps a year. His admiration for you was boundless, and he left you with a feeling of much confidence.
    To his great consternation, he soon relapsed into intoxication. Certain that you were his "court of last resort," he again returned to your care. Then followed the conversation between you that was to become the first link in the chain of events that led to the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous.
    My recollection of his account of that conversation is this: First of all, you frankly told him of his hopelessness, so far as any further medical or psychiatric treatment might be concerned. This candid and humble statement of yours was beyond doubt the first foundation stone upon which our Society has since been built.
    Coming from you, one he so trusted and admired, the impact upon him was immense. When he then asked you if there was any other hope, you told him that there might be, provided he could become the subject of a spiritual or religious experience - in short, a genuine conversion. You pointed out how such an experience, if brought about, might remotivate him when nothing else could. But you did caution, though, that while such experiences had sometimes brought recovery to alcoholics, they were, nevertheless, comparatively rare. You recommended that he place himself in a religious atmosphere and hope for the best. This I believe was the substance of your advice.
    Shortly thereafter, Mr. H. joined the Oxford Groups, an evangelical movement then at the height of its success in Europe, and one with which you are doubtless familiar. You will remember their large emphasis upon the principles of self-survey, confession, restitution, and the giving of oneself in service to others. They strongly stressed meditation and prayer. In these surroundings, Rowland H. did find a conversion experience that released him for the time being from his compulsion to drink.
    Returning to New York, he became very active with the "O.G." here, then led by an Episcopal clergyman, Dr. Samuel Shoemaker. Dr. Shoemaker had been one of the founders of that movement, and his was a powerful personality that carried immense sincerity and conviction.
    At this time (1932-34) the Oxford Groups had already sobered a number of alcoholics, and Rowland, feeling that he could especially identify with these sufferers, addressed himself to the help of still others. One of these chanced to be an old schoolmate of mine, Edwin T. ("Ebby"). He had been threatened with commitment to an institution, but Mr. H. and another ex-alcoholic "O.G." member procured his parole and helped to bring about his sobriety.
    Meanwhile, I had run the course of alcoholism and was threatened with commitment myself. Fortunately I had fallen under the care of a physician - a Dr. William D. Silkworth - who was wonderfully capable of understanding alcoholics. But just as you had given up on Rowland, so had he given me up. It was his theory that alcoholism had two components - an obsession that compelled the sufferer to drink against his will and interest, and some sort of metabolism difficulty which he then called an allergy. The alcoholic's compulsion guaranteed that the alcoholic's drinking would go on, and the allergy made sure that the sufferer would finally deteriorate, go insane, or die. Though I had been one of the few he had thought it possible to help, he was finally obliged to tell me of my hopelessness; I, too, would have to be locked up. To me, this was a shattering blow. Just as Rowland had been made ready for his conversion experience by you, so had my wonderful friend, Dr. Silkworth, prepared me.
    Hearing of my plight, my friend Edwin T. came to see me at my home where I was drinking. By then, it was November 1934. I had long marked my friend Edwin for a hopeless case. Yet there he was in a very evident state of "release" which could by no means accounted for by his mere association for a very short time with the Oxford Groups. Yet this obvious state of release, as distinguished from the usual depression, was tremendously convincing. Because he was a kindred sufferer, he could unquestionably communicate with me at great depth. I knew at once I must find an experience like his, or die.
    Again I returned to Dr. Silkworth's care where I could be once more sobered and so gain a clearer view of my friend's experience of release, and of Rowland H.'s approach to him.
    Clear once more of alcohol, I found myself terribly depressed. This seemed to be caused by my inability to gain the slightest faith. Edwin T. again visited me and repeated the simple Oxford Groups' formulas. Soon after he left me I became even more depressed. In utter despair I cried out, "If there be a God, will He show Himself." There immediately came to me an illumination of enormous impact and dimension, something which I have since tried to describe in the book "Alcoholics Anonymous" and in "AA Comes of Age", basic texts which I am sending you.
    My release from the alcohol obsession was immediate. At once I knew I was a free man. Shortly following my experience, my friend Edwin came to the hospital, bringing me a copy of William James' "Varieties of Religious Experience". This book gave me the realization that most conversion experiences, whatever their variety, do have a common denominator of ego collapse at depth. The individual faces an impossible dilemma. In my case the dilemma had been created by my compulsive drinking and the deep feeling of hopelessness had been vastly deepened by my doctor. It was deepened still more by my alcoholic friend when he acquainted me with your verdict of hopelessness respecting Rowland H.
    In the wake of my spiritual experience there came a vision of a society of alcoholics, each identifying with and transmitting his experience to the next - chain style. If each sufferer were to carry the news of the scientific hopelessness of alcoholism to each new prospect, he might be able to lay every newcomer wide open to a transforming spiritual experience. This concept proved to be the foundation of such success as Alcoholics Anonymous has since achieved. This has made conversion experiences - nearly every variety reported by James - available on an almost wholesale basis. Our sustained recoveries over the last quarter century number about 300,000. In America and through the world there are today 8,000 AA groups.
    So to you, to Dr. Shoemaker of the Oxford Groups, to William James, and to my own physician, Dr. Silkworth, we of AA owe this tremendous benefaction. As you will now clearly see, this astonishing chain of events actually started long ago in your consulting room, and it was directly founded upon your own humility and deep perception.
    Very many thoughtful AAs are students of your writings. Because of your conviction that man is something more than intellect, emotion, and two dollars worth of chemicals, you have especially endeared yourself to us.
    How our Society grew, developed its Traditions for unity, and structured its functioning will be seen in the texts and pamphlet material that I am sending you.
    You will also be interested to learn that in addition to the "spiritual experience," many AAs report a great variety of psychic phenomena, the cumulative weight of which is very considerable. Other members have - following their recovery in AA - been much helped by your practitioners. A few have been intrigued by the "I Ching" and your remarkable introduction to that work.
    Please be certain that your place in the affection, and in the history of the Fellowship, is like no other.
    Gratefully yours,
    William G. W.
    Co-founder Alcoholics Anonymous

    Dear Mr. W.
    Your letter has been very welcome indeed.
    I had no news from Rowland H. anymore and often wondered what has been his fate. Our conversation which he has adequately reported to you had an aspect of which he did not know. The reason that I could not tell him everything was that those days I had to be exceedingly careful of what I said. I had found out that I was misunderstood in every possible way. Thus I was very careful when I talked to Rowland H. But what I really thought about was the result of many experiences with men of his kind.
    His craving for alcohol was the equivalent, on a low level, of the spiritual thirst of our being for wholeness, expressed in medieval language: the union with God.*
    How could one formulate such an insight in a language that is not misunderstood in our days?
    The only right and legitimate way to such an experience is that it happens to you in reality and it can only happen to you when you walk on a path which leads you to higher understanding. You might be led to that goal by an act of grace or through a personal and honest contact with friends, or through a higher education of the mind beyond the confines of mere rationalism. I see from your letter that Rowland H. has chosen the second way, which was, under the circumstances, obviously the best one.
    I am strongly convinced that the evil principle prevailing in this world leads the unrecognized spiritual need into perdition, if it is not counteracted either by real religious insight or by the protective wall of human community. An ordinary man, not protected by an action from above and isolated in society, cannot resist the power of evil, which is called very aptly the Devil. But the use of such words arouses so many mistakes that one can only keep aloof from them as much as possible.
    These are the reasons why I could not give a full and sufficient explanation to Rowland H., but I am risking it with you because I conclude from your very decent and honest letter that you have acquired a point of view above the misleading platitudes one usually hears about alcoholism.
    You see, "alcohol" in Latin is "spiritus" and you use the same word for the highest religious experience as well as for the most depraving poison. The helpful formula therefore is: spiritus contra spiritum.
    Thanking you again for your kind letter.
    I remain
    Yours sincerely
    C. G. Jung*
    "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God." (Psalms 42:1)

  24. #74
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    Quote Originally Posted by ChalkyDee
    Alkies can't jut stop drinking.
    Yes, they can. It really is just that simple. They can, and many do quit every single day.

    Look, I'm not saying that anybody who is addicted dosen't need help and support along the way, or that it isn't incredibly difficult to end or control an addiction, but anybody with an alcohol problem absolutely can make the choice to stop drinking.

    I don't think its an empowering message to tell people that their drinking is a disease. Disease implies something you can't control. And you can control the choice to drink. You get to decide. These people aren't random victims of a disease. You don't "acquire" alcoholism, and its just downright insulting to imply that it is in any way the same as something like cancer.

    Alcoholism is the cumulative result of many, many individual choices to pick up a drink.

    Choices can also lead you to not pick up that drink.

    That isn't a disease.

  25. #75
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    Quote Originally Posted by redhaze View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by ChalkyDee
    Alkies can't jut stop drinking.
    Yes, they can. It really is just that simple. They can, and many do quit every single day.

    Look, I'm not saying that anybody who is addicted dosen't need help and support along the way, or that it isn't incredibly difficult to end or control an addiction, but anybody with an alcohol problem absolutely can make the choice to stop drinking.

    I don't think its an empowering message to tell people that their drinking is a disease. Disease implies something you can't control. And you can control the choice to drink. You get to decide. These people aren't random victims of a disease. You don't "acquire" alcoholism, and its just downright insulting to imply that it is in any way the same as something like cancer.

    Alcoholism is the cumulative result of many, many individual choices to pick up a drink.

    Choices can also lead you to not pick up that drink.

    That isn't a disease.
    I think you're confusing Alcohol abusers with alcohol dependants.

    The very definition of an alcoholic is "someone who has lost the power of choice in picking up a drink"

    Alcoholics can not quit using their own will-power.

    Managing Alcoholism as a Disease
    By Thomas R. Hobbs, Ph.D., M.D.
    Thomas R. Hobbs, Ph.D., M.D., is medical director of the Physicians’ Health Programs (PHP). The PHP, a program of The Educational and Scientific Trust of the Pennsylvania Medical Society, is a confidential advocacy service for physicians suffering from impairing conditions.
    Published February 1998
    The debate on whether alcoholism is a disease or a personal conduct problem has continued for over 200 years. In the United States, Benjamin Rush, MD, has been credited with first identifying alcoholism as a "disease" in 1784. He asserted that alcohol was the causal agent, loss of control over drinking behavior being the characteristic symptom, and total abstinence the only effective cure. His belief in this concept was so strong that he spearheaded a public education campaign in the United States to reduce public drunkenness.
    The 1800s gave rise to the temperance movement in the United States. Alcohol was perceived as evil, the root cause of America’s problems. Accepting the disease concept of alcoholism, people believed that liquor could enslave a person against his or her will. Temperance proponents propagated the view that drinking was so dangerous that people should not even sample liquor or else they would likely embark on the path toward alcoholism. This ideology maintained that alcohol is inevitably dangerous and inexorably addictive for everyone. Today, we know that strong genetic influences exist, but not everyone becomes addicted to alcohol.
    The temperance movement picked up steam in the late 1800s and evolved into a movement advocating the prohibition of alcohol nationally. Banning alcohol would preserve the family and eliminate sloth and moral dissolution in the United States, according to supporters. Backed by strong political forces, legislation was passed and prohibition went into effect in 1920. Paradoxically, the era of prohibition also marked the death of Victorian standards. According to A. Sinclair in his book, Prohibition: The Era of Excess, a code of liberated personal behavior grew and with it the idea that drinking should accompany a full life. Drunkenness represented personal freedom. Due to public outcry, prohibition was repealed in 1933.
    Soon after prohibition ended, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) was born. Formed in 1935 by stockbroker Bill Wilson and a physician, Robert Smith, AA supported the proposition that an alcoholic is unable to control his or her drinking and recovery is possible only with total abstinence and peer support. The chief innovation in the AA philosophy was that it proposed a biological explanation for alcoholism. Alcoholics constituted a special group who are unable to control their drinking from birth. Initially, AA described this as "an allergy to alcohol."
    Although AA was instrumental in again emphasizing the "disease concept" of alcoholism, the defining work was done by Elvin Jellinek, M.D., of the Yale Center of Alcohol Studies. In his book, The Disease Concept of Alcoholism, published in 1960, Jellinek described alcoholics as individuals with tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, and either "loss of control" or "inability to abstain" from alcohol. He asserted that these individuals could not drink in moderation, and, with continued drinking, the disease was progressive and life-threatening. Jellinek also recognized that some features of the disease (e.g., inability to abstain and loss of control) were shaped by cultural factors.
    During the past 35 years, numerous studies by behavioral and social scientists have supported Jellinek’s contentions about alcoholism as a disease. The American Medical Association endorsed the concept in 1957. The American Psychiatric Association, the American Hospital Association, the American Public Health Association, the National Association of Social Workers, the World Health Organization and the American College of Physicians have also classified alcoholism as a disease. In addition, the findings of investigators in the late 1970s led to explicit criteria for an "alcohol dependence syndrome" which are now listed in the DSM IIR, DSM IV, and the ICD manual. In a 1992 JAMA article, the Joint Committee of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence and the American Society of Addiction Medicine published this definition for alcoholism: "Alcoholism is a primary chronic disease with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations. The disease is often progressive and fatal. It is characterized by impaired control over drinking, preoccupation with the drug alcohol, use of alcohol despite adverse consequences, and distortions in thinking, mostly denial. Each of these symptoms may be continuous or periodic."
    Despite the numerous studies validating the disease model of alcoholism, controversy still exists. In his 1989 book, Diseasing of America, social psychologist Stanton Peele, Ph.D., argues that AA and for-profit alcohol treatment centers promote the "myth" of alcoholism as a lifelong disease. He contends that the disease concept "excuses alcoholics for their past, present, and future irresponsibility" and points out that most people can overcome addiction on their own. He concludes that the only effective response to alcoholism and other addictions is "to recreate living communities that nurture the human capacity to lead constructive lives."
    Surprisingly, Dr. Peele’s view that alcoholism is a personal conduct problem, rather than a disease, seems to be more prevalent among medical practitioners than among the public. A recent Gallop poll found that almost 90 percent of Americans believe that alcoholism is a disease. In contrast, physicians’ views of alcoholism were reviewed at an August 1997 conference held by the International Doctors of Alcoholics Anonymous (IDAA). A survey of physicians reported at that conference found that 80 percent of responding doctors perceived alcoholism as simply bad behavior.
    Dr. Raoul Walsh in an article published in the November 1995 issue of Lancet supports the contention that physicians have negative views about alcoholics. He cites empirical data showing physicians continue to have stereotypical attitudes about alcoholics and that non-psychiatrists tend to view alcohol problems as principally the concern of psychiatrists. He also contends that many doctors have negative attitudes towards patients with alcohol problems because the bulk of their clinical exposure is with late-stage alcohol dependence.
    Based on my experiences working in the addiction field for the past 10 years, I believe many, if not most, health professionals still view alcohol addiction as a willpower or conduct problem and are resistant to look at it as a disease. Part of the problem is that medical schools provide little time to study alcoholism or addiction and post-graduate training usually deals only with the end result of addiction or alcohol/drug-related diseases. Several studies conducted in the late 1980s give evidence that medical students and practitioners have inadequate knowledge about alcohol and alcohol problems. Also, recent studies published in the Journal of Studies on Alcoholism indicate that physicians perform poorly in the detection, prevention and treatment of alcohol abuse.
    The single most important step to overcoming these obstacles is education. Education must begin at the undergraduate level and continue throughout the training of most if not all specialties. This is especially true for those in primary care where most problems of alcoholism will first be seen. In recent years, promotion of alcohol education programs in medical schools and at the post graduate level has improved. In Pennsylvania, for example, several medical schools now offer at least one curriculum block on substance abuse. Medical specialty organizations, such as the American Society of Addiction Medicine, are focusing on increasing addiction training programs for residents, practicing physicians and students.
    Also, an increasing number of hospitals have an addiction medicine specialist on staff who is available for student and resident teaching, as well as being available for in-house consultations.
    The American Medical Association estimates that 25-40 percent of patients occupying general hospital beds are there for treatment of ailments that result from alcoholism. In the United States, the economic costs of alcohol abuse exceed $115 billion a year. Physicians in general practice, hospitals and specialty medicine have considerable potential to reduce the large burden of illness associated with alcohol abuse. For example, several randomized, controlled trials conducted in recent years demonstrate that brief interventions by physicians can significantly reduce the proportion of patients drinking at hazardous levels. But first, we as physicians must adjust our attitudes.
    Alcoholism should not be judged as a problem of willpower, misconduct, or any other unscientific diagnosis. The problem must be accepted for what it is—a biopsychosocial disease with a strong genetic influence, obvious signs and symptoms, a natural progression and a fatal outcome if not treated. In the past 10 years, the medical profession’s and the public’s acceptance of smoking as an addictive disease has resulted in reducing nicotine use in the United States. I feel that similar strides can be made with alcohol abuse. We must begin, as we did with nicotine, by educating and convincing our own colleagues that alcoholism is a disease. We must also emphasize that physicians have played a significant role in reducing the mortality and morbidity from nicotine use through patient education. Through strong physician intervention, I believe that we can achieve similar results with alcohol abuse.

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