The Difference Between Addiction And Alcoholism?
Alcoholism and addiction are similar in many ways one of them being the fact that they make a person experience a hopeless state of the body. However, there are some differences between them.
Even in NA or AA meetings, there is usually an unspoken taboo regarding those who identify as alcoholics and addicts especially during ‘closed’ meetings. But if you break down the specific aspects that each of us suffers from, it is more or less the same.
What is an addiction?
Addiction is usually associated with drugs and alcohol. However, it can also include physical things such as cigarettes and foods. Addiction also refers to abstract behaviors like gambling and buying harmless products like collectible novelties.
Addiction is usually categorized into two types: substance dependence or addiction to drugs and behavioral addiction which includes things like gambling addiction. When you are addicted to something, you cannot control how you use it to an extent that you become dependent on it.
There are people who don’t experience any significant problems when they engage in activities or consumption. However, others experience damaging physical and psychological effects when they become addicted to certain habits.
The American Society of Addiction Medicine recently came out with an updated definition of addiction. This definition identified 5 other aspects: impairment of behavioral control, inability to abstain for a long period, dysfunctional emotion responses and diminished recognition of problems. I believe that it is fair to say that those aspects can be applied to alcoholics and drug users.
Is alcoholism an addiction?
If an alcoholic looks at their problem from an objective point of view, they will realize that they share many issues with a drug addict. Obsession, inability to control their use, changing their thinking, making poor choices despite knowing the consequences of these choices, changes in their thinking all of which is under a shroud of denial; alcoholics and drug addicts are not that different. Alcoholism is another type of addiction but a form of addiction with a name.
Alcoholism is often regarded as a disease that is improperly named mainly because of the fact that it doesn’t deal with alcohol alone. An alcoholic will suffer even without consumption of alcohol.
If you ask a person who has been around Alcoholics Anonymous, you will realize that he or she will admit that his or her drinking problem was more of a solution than a problem itself. The person will tell you that he or she consumed alcohol to the point of dependence or in other words, addiction.
So what are the differences between alcoholism and addiction?
The differences between these two terms depend on how a person decides to deal with the problem. Some people have found a solution to their drinking problem in Alcoholics Anonymous.
Those addicted to heroin have been able to find a solution to their addiction in the rooms of Narcotics Anonymous. And there are those who have found a solution to their problems in both.
Some alcoholics have become addicted to other substances. Some drug addicts have stopped using drugs and become addicted to alcohol. In case you are an alcoholic or addict with a DUI case, then it may be a good idea to consider hiring a Houston DUI attorney.
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