I’ve heard the term many times that alcoholism is a thinking disease. The longer I attended AA, I realized that there was much truth to be understood in this statement. Even prior to medical research finding facts to support the idea, alcoholics who participated in the Alcoholics Anonymous program knew it was true.
We have all heard the term chemical dependence. This is where the physical body becomes dependent upon some sort of narcotic or alcohol.
As a person in recovery, I can say that the thinking patterns of the brain and bodily functions have this weird relationship when it comes to an alcohol addiction. I’ll never forget the feeling of my body craving more of the liquid substance and how my mind was so obsessed with wanting more alcohol.
It’s really odd to wake up in the morning and all you can think about is where you will get the next drink from. Your brain is constantly reminding you that it wants you to get drunk throughout the entire day. The thoughts are relentless. They are so overpowering that self-will just isn’t enough to change your alcoholic mind. It’s like being on a locomotive that is traveling at full speed and wanting to stop the train, but you have no brakes.
They have a saying in AA that goes like this, “stinking thinking.” You will hear it referred to often by alcoholics in recovery meetings. Sometimes someone in a meeting will say that it was their best thinking that brought them into the program.
People in AA understand that they are wired differently than other people. The insanity of the disease of alcoholism is not something that can be explained. It has been deemed cunning, baffling and powerful. The thinking patterns of an alcoholic sure do not make any sense. This is why a normal person has such a difficult time coping with the stupid things alcoholics do. It is a disorder that is not so easily understood by anyone who has never battled with being addicted to alcohol.
For instance, my ex-sister in-law once attempted to kill herself by overdosing on prescription pills. What was her reason for this? Well, she had been trying to get into a 28 day treatment program, but she had no money. Someone explained that because she wasn’t a threat to herself or someone else that she did not qualify for financial aid. You guessed it, she took enough pills to cause her to be admitted into the hospital. She was so bad that they called an ambulance to rush her to the emergency room. She actually almost killed herself…for real.
Now that is insane thinking. It makes no sense at all to the normal person, but to an alcoholic/drug addict this sort of thing can seem like the logical thing to do.
I have heard it said so many times; “why don’t the just quit?” Most family members, friends, spouses and co-workers don’t understand what an addiction to alcoholic is like for the abuser. They think the problem drinker should just be able to decide to stop, like flipping a light switch on or off. They say things like; “they are throwing their life away” or “they are ruining their family” or “can’t they see what they are doing to their life.” I remember a young man who could have easily been an MD. Instead of pursuing to accomplish something with his scholastic abilities, he chose to clean pools and party with his bachelor friends throughout the week.
I got a little off focus from my original intent. My point was that an alcoholics/addicts thinking can be insane. The crazy things they do never makes any sense to normal people.
All I know is that alcoholics cannot stop thinking about getting the next drink. They plan their entire day around getting intoxicated. This was my personal experience. There’s a saying: “a man with an experience is never at the mercy of a man with an argument.” I am truly convinced that alcoholics suffer from a thinking disease. Other people with addictive personalities who have sobered up will tell you the same sort of things that I’ve mentioned here. If you take the time to attend an AA meeting you will discover that the disease of alcoholism really is a disorder in the thinking patterns of addicts/alcoholics.
[…] Oct 18, 2011 … People in AA understand that they are wired differently than other people. The insanity of the disease of alcoholism is not something that can be … [more] […]
We understand the addiction to alcohol. It’s the hatefulness, meanness and not being accountable for it we don’t understand!!!
You take other people down with you.
I am a 51 year old woman. I had a wonderful career, and I threw it all away because my drinking was so out of control. I know what it is like to plan everythng around alcohol. I could count how many drinks everyone around me had drunk. Getting drunk for me was not a choice when I was in my full blown addiction. I do think differently than other people who can drink “normally”. It was an obsession. If I stop with my sobriety, I never know what is going to happen next. I could die easily. My body has an allergic reaction to alcohol. I could always drink far more, and much more quickly than anyone else; that is, until it hit me full force. My identity was tied up in my profession. When I lost my job, I lost my identity. But nothing could keep me from drinking, not even my family. With AA I found the solution. If you have a loved one who suffers, you cannot force sobriety. It is not your fault.
[…] hearing your story from you on that part of your life and it might help many of us who cannot understand the alcoholic’s thinking during their drinking periods or even when they are trying to […]
[…] You must accept this right now. The only thing that the mind of a problem drinker thinks about more than anything in the world is where they will get the next drink from. The thoughts drive them, move them and dominate their lives. People in AA call it “stinking thinking.” […]