The question posed in the title is almost as much a subject of debate as any religious or political topic, and can almost be as volatile as those two topics are. The truth is that there are people who view alcohol addiction as a disease and others who do not.
Those who view alcohol addiction as a disease may actually feel that a person has no choice in the matter; it was bound to happen. To them, alcohol addiction should be considered as much a sickness as cancer, diabetes, or any other chronic disease, and alcohol recovery centers be viewed simply as other types of medical facilities. They may feel that because alcohol addiction is a disease that all the rights that are afforded to those who suffer from physical illnesses, such as addiction recovery treatment, paid or unpaid leave time from work, and other things should be afforded to those who suffer from this disease.
On the entire other end of the spectrum are those who firmly believe that alcohol addiction is a choice. They will argue that the person made the choice when he decided to take that first drink and any others that followed. They may feel that it is a weakness within that person and that he “deserves everything he gets”. They may resent the fact that some of their tax dollars go to fund addiction recovery programs, and, if their church or religion supports or provides addiction recovery centers, may make it clear that none of their offerings go toward these programs.
As with any other subject open for debate, there may be those who stand firmly in the middle. They are willing to listen to everyone’s defense of his or her beliefs, but are not really sure exactly what they feel where the matter is concerned.
No one can or should tell anyone how to think or feel on a matter. What should be done, however, no matter what one’s personal feelings are, is not to deny anyone seeking help for alcohol addiction access to information or resources that can help them find addiction recovery centers. Simply telling someone that an Internet search will show such websites as ours, http://www.recoverforever.com/, or providing them with a phone number (ours is 1-866-923-1134) is all that it takes to help a person.
