More about alcoholism...

I read another article on The New Relevant web site that looks further into how alcoholism occurs in the human brain that I think is worth looking at.

Entitled, Thanks to Rare Alpine Bacteria, Researchers Identify One of Alcohol's Key Gateways to the Brain, the article is one of many these days that touts the idea that one can stop alcoholism by stopping the drinking.

While it's certainly true that one will not get drunk if one does not take that first drink, what we know today is that alcoholism is a multi-faceted disease that manifests in more than just drinking. In fact, it is, as the AA Big Book notes, a disease of the body and an illness of the mind. I'll go so far as to agree with many people that the disease of alcoholism is also a deeply seated defect in one's spirituality that must be addressed in order for the disease to be arrested. If it is not, we usually get what is known as a cross over disorder...the person may stop drinking but move on to excessive spending, uncontrollable sexual activity, gambling, eating, or any other number of compulsive behaviors. The need is not just for the alcohol. The need is for the effects of that alcohol...effects that can be achieved by the obsessive and compulsive use of other substances or behaviors that produce the same feelings in the body and the mind.

So, while I pass this article along and value what it says, I think it is only a partial answer. It is at the cutting edge of what we know about alcoholism for sure. But, the information we have also known about for dozens of years about alcoholism as a disease expands this awareness. It's just too bad that research dollars are not being spent on finding out about the full nature of how alcoholism works. Maybe someday, but not today.

All the best,

Roger W.