Quote:
Originally Posted by jeremywilhelm
I've never understood alchoholism. If you can't control it, why do it?
Do they just think it's not a problem? And if you know it IS a problem, why drink? It's like putting your hand into a fire. Ow, that fire hurts, but maybe THIS time it won't burn me?
I am not trying to be ignorant. I just don't understand that, if you know you are a bad drunk, why drink?
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You are being ignorant of addictions in general and I know of no way to explain to someone who claims not to understand. It is a real phenomenon and addiction affects most of the human race to varying degrees. For some addictions and some people, it simply is beyond regular willpower or volition or rational sense as you might comprehend it, especially if those addictions exist to counteract other problems in that person's life that seem unbearable without them.
For someone who is suffering from stress or depression and self-medicating for example, the analogy would be more like your hand is already in the fire and you are experiencing pain on a subtle or even subconscious level that is more or less unbearable and the alcohol puts out the fire to offer temporary relief only to cause other problems that can harm you in a different way but you do it any way since it hurts less in the short term and it is convienient because of its abundance in society and the social circles and habits we exist in.
Alcoholism is no different from an addiction to painkillers for a chronic injury that causes constant pain. It is no different from having a drug habit. It's no different from being a sex addict where temptations are on every restaurant menu. It might be worse because the issues and symptoms are not as apparent but they have as much aggregate affect and it's an easy slipperly slope since you don't realize it happening like the frog you put into water you slowly heat until it's boiled alive without realizing it.
I have my own addictions and unhealthy habits. Fortunately (or unfortunately), alcohol is not among them because I have a defective enzyme and I get poisoning and really sick after a few beers. Hell, I had a pint of Keith's the other day and had a raging headache all night. Two years ago in Belgium, two shots of tequila and I was lying in the gutter in the street. I've read that certain alcoholism treatments induce the same reactions to stop alcoholics from drinking.