The term alcoholic has been around for quite a long time, but has normally gone under the guise of simpler language, normally that of a drunk or a dipso. The term alcoholic became more well known and more common with the development of the twelve step fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous.
At this time, the idea of alcoholism being an illness was also being developed for pretty much the first time, and the term alcoholic really developed from that, as an alcoholic being a person who suffered from the illness or disease of alcoholism. The terms illness and disease tend to be bandied around pretty much inter changeably as regards alcoholism, but there is a difference. It is worth noting perhaps that AA refers to alcoholism as an illness, not a disease, although other people do often refer to it as a disease.
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So, an alcoholic is a person who suffers/recovers from the illness of alcoholism, but what exactly does that mean. Trying to define a persons alcoholism can be really difficult. If you have ever been to an AA meeting, you will hear people tell stories of their own drinking and where it took them and the sheer unmanagability of their lives.
That gives you some insight into what this is really about, but it is more than that A persons drinking, and the chaos that ensues is certainly a big part of it, but more than that is the attitude of the alcoholic towards alcohol as well as life generally. It's hard to define other peoples attitudes, but fundamentally an alcoholic will defend alcohol because the effect of alcohol on an alcoholic, whilst injurious in one sense, is also felt to be a feeling of safety, and it is ultimately that feeling of safety that is being protected. As ever check out Alcoholics Anonymous and Al-Anon.
Alcoholic - What Does It Mean? ALCOHOLIC
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