But It Doesn't Act Like A Disease

Dateline: 02/26/97

One of the difficulties in recognizing alcoholism as a disease is it just
plain doesn't seem like one. It doesn't look, sound, smell and it certainly
doesn't act like a disease. To make matters worse, generally it denies it
exists and resists treatment.

Alcoholism has been recognized for many years by professional medical
organizations as a primary, chronic, progressive and sometimes fatal
disease. The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence offers a
detailed and complete definition of alcoholism, but probably the most simple
way to describe it is "a mental obsession that causes a physical compulsion
to drink."

Mental obsession? Did you ever wake up in the morning with a song playing
over and over in your head? It might have been a commercial jingle you heard
on television, or a song from the radio, but it kept playing ... and playing
and playing.

Remember what that was like? No matter what you did, that silly tune kept on
playing. You could try to whistle or sing another song or turn on the radio
and listen to another tune, but the one in your head just kept on playing.
Think about it. There was something going on in your mind that you didn't
put there and, no matter how hard you tried, couldn't get out!

That is an example of a simple mental obsession -- a thought process over
which you have no control. Such is the nature of the disease of alcoholism.
When the drinking "song" starts playing in the mind of an alcoholic, he is
powerless. He didn't put the song there and the only way to get it to stop
is to take another drink.

The problem is the alcoholic's mental obsession with alcohol is much more
subtle than a song playing in his mind. In fact, he may not even know it's
there. All he knows is he suddenly has an urge to take a drink -- a physical
compulsion to drink.

Compounding the problem is the progressive nature of the disease. In its
early stages, taking one or two drinks may be all it takes to get the "song"
to stop. But soon it takes six or seven and later maybe ten or twelve.
Somewhere down the road the only time the song stops is when he passes out.

The progression of the disease is so subtle and usually takes place over
such an extended period of time, that even the alcoholic himself failed to
notice the point at which he lost control -- and alcohol took over -- his
life.

No wonder denial is an almost universal symptom of the disease. For those
who have come to the realization that they do have a problem, help may be as
close as the white pages of the telephone directory. But for those who need
help and do not want it, intervention may be the only alternative.