DSM 5 Could Mean 40% of College Students Are Alcoholics

Started by jimmy olsen, May 17, 2012, 08:34:21 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Ed Anger

I want 70's fashion and interior design to return.
Stay Alive...Let the Man Drive

katmai

Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son

merithyn

Quote from: MadImmortalMan on May 18, 2012, 11:37:17 AM
I knew a real alcoholic once.

Me, too. I called him "Dad". :P

I've known quite a few people who self-identify as alcoholics who most likely were just problem drinkers when they were young. They have been clean and sober for decades, still go to AA meetings, and never crave the drink. But in their mind they are still alcoholics. *shrugs* If it helps them cope....
Yesterday, upon the stair,
I met a man who wasn't there
He wasn't there again today
I wish, I wish he'd go away...

Ideologue

Kinemalogue
Current reviews: The 'Burbs (9/10); Gremlins 2: The New Batch (9/10); John Wick: Chapter 2 (9/10); A Cure For Wellness (4/10)

CountDeMoney

Quote from: Ed Anger on May 18, 2012, 08:44:45 PM
I want 70's fashion and interior design to return.

I'd just be happy with my toys again.  You can keep the lava lamps.

I want my Six Million Dollar Man, Star Trek and Space:1999 action sets back.  :mad:

garbon

Actually this whole story looks like the case of a shoddy journalist.  Look at this sentence:

QuoteIf the change is finalized, anyone whose drinking or drug use creates any problems will essentially be an addict or alcoholic with a "mild" case of the disease and presumably, therefore, not someone who can learn control over his habits.

Hmm, the DSM classifies people whose actions cause problems for them in daily living as having a disease or disorder? What a surprise!

And where's the mention of the actual criteria in the article?
"I've never been quite sure what the point of a eunuch is, if truth be told. It seems to me they're only men with the useful bits cut off."
I drank because I wanted to drown my sorrows, but now the damned things have learned to swim.

Camerus

Quote from: merithyn on May 18, 2012, 09:37:51 PM
I've known quite a few people who self-identify as alcoholics who most likely were just problem drinkers when they were young. They have been clean and sober for decades, still go to AA meetings, and never crave the drink. But in their mind they are still alcoholics. *shrugs* If it helps them cope....

Where ex-alcoholics are concerned, I'm not sure it's useful or accurate to surmise you know their situations better than they do...

Admiral Yi

Quote from: Pitiful Pathos on May 19, 2012, 11:20:48 AM
Where ex-alcoholics are concerned, I'm not sure it's useful or accurate to surmise you know their situations better than they do...

Why is alcoholism different than any other type of self-perception that we disagree with?

Camerus

Because the effects and details of one's alcohol addiction are really only know to that person him/herself, particularly in the case of ex-alcoholics.   Unless you are my spouse or otherwise really unusually intimate with me, I have far more information available to me about my alcohol consumption and its effects on my life than you could ever hope to.  Contrast that with a self-perception, of, say, "I'm a good basketball player on our company team."  That is much more easily measurable to you when we play basketball together.

Admiral Yi

Quote from: Pitiful Pathos on May 19, 2012, 11:35:49 AM
Because the effects and details of one's alcohol addiction are really only know to that person him/herself, particularly in the case of ex-alcoholics.   Unless you are my spouse or otherwise really unusually intimate with me, I have far more information available to me about my alcohol consumption and its effects on my life than you could ever hope to.  Contrast that with a self-perception, of, say, "I'm a good basketball player on our company team."  That is much more easily measurable to you when we play basketball together.

Yet we constantly second-guess judgements that the principle naturally has more information on, like "I'm a thoughtful person," or "I'm very smart."

Camerus

Quote from: Admiral Yi on May 19, 2012, 11:39:35 AM
Quote from: Pitiful Pathos on May 19, 2012, 11:35:49 AM
Because the effects and details of one's alcohol addiction are really only know to that person him/herself, particularly in the case of ex-alcoholics.   Unless you are my spouse or otherwise really unusually intimate with me, I have far more information available to me about my alcohol consumption and its effects on my life than you could ever hope to.  Contrast that with a self-perception, of, say, "I'm a good basketball player on our company team."  That is much more easily measurable to you when we play basketball together.

Yet we constantly second-guess judgements that the principle naturally has more information on, like "I'm a thoughtful person," or "I'm very smart."

Again,  your examples are much more easily measurable to the outside observer.  "I'm an alcoholic" is basically an admission that alcohol is ruining one's life, and thus not as clear to most of one's acquaintances. You don't know the amount of alcohol the subject drinks, all the different behaviours he engages in when drunk, what his alcoholism has cost him in the past, whether he had promised to stop drinking before, the kind of self-loathing he feels the morning after, etc.  You just see him drinking (or not drinking) a few drinks at the bar when he is with you.  But when someone says "I'm very smart",  that is an example that is much more easily measured to outside observers.

Admiral Yi

All those things you mention are observable as well.

Martinus

Quote from: garbon on May 17, 2012, 10:03:02 PM
If it is impairing their ability to function/lead meaningful lives - sure why not?

The impairment is not a requirement for diagnosing alcoholism - hence the expression "functioning alcoholic". I think most people who drink regularly to feel better are alcoholics - I am and most of my friends are.

Martinus

Quote from: derspiess on May 18, 2012, 11:02:08 AM
In my book, an alcoholic is someone who is addicted to alcohol, period.  If someone just drinks a lot without any sort of addiction, he is just a heavy drinker. 

Yeah but addiction is a broad concept. Most heavy drinkers are definitely addicted psychologically - that does not mean that if they go cold turkey they get delirious or die, but it means they will get more stressed, cranky and have hard time relaxing, at least for a while.

Martinus

Quote from: viper37 on May 18, 2012, 12:42:44 PM
Quote from: Malthus on May 18, 2012, 12:26:04 PM
Sort of like when folks claim anyone who smokes pot is a "drug addict".  ;)
If someone can't enjoy himself/herself without his/her fix (pot, alcohol, harder drugs), than that person is a drug addict or an alcoholic.

This is not a very useful definition, really (especially when we are talking, like you, about stuff that is actually health damaging) because it cuts both ways as insufficient and does not really accomplish anything.