Anti Social

[ViTO]

Wait.... being Anti Social is now an illness? I'm sorry but that is the biggest pile of crap i've ever heard. I guess that it was created by the same people who decided Alcoholism is an disease and not an addiction.

oh stop being so.... umm......... whats the word I'm looking for

Anti Social !

[unorignal]

Alcoholism is a disease and usually goes hand in hand with being anti social.

[juneau]

Wait.... being Anti Social is now an illness? I'm sorry but that is the biggest pile of crap i've ever heard. I guess that it was created by the same people who decided Alcoholism is an disease and not an addiction.

oh stop being so.... umm......... whats the word I'm looking for

Anti Social !

ROFL.

[random_id]

Alcoholism is a disease and usually goes hand in hand with being anti social.

Not really, no - I know many alcoholics who usually prefer to drink their stuff in a company of similar people

[RobotBanana]

Alcoholism is a disease and usually goes hand in hand with being anti social.

[rant]

I disagree. Alcoholism is not a real disease, nor is obesity. Call me mean, but I don't pity people who claim that they're diseased because they have a drinking problem. Too fat? Run some laps. Addicted to booze? Get a friend to take away the bottle, smack you in the head, and teach you a lesson. (Or go to an AA meeting.) You don't have tumors, you don't have a short-circuit in your brain, and you don't have any lifeless limbs. You're not sick, you just don't care enough to help yourself or seek help from someone else. There are plenty of groups/organizations out there that can help.

Did anyone see the South Park episode on alcoholism? It pretty much sums up my feelings.

[/rant]

[mapes]

This just in....

Stupidity is now classified as a disease....and it's contagious!

Close your eyes and plug your ears, otherwise you might be infected as well!

Main symptoms:
A deterioration of the part of the brain responsible for intelligent thought and common sense.
An overwhelming urge to spread this disease to others.
A permanent nervous tick that causes a person to blurt out "its not my fault!" at regular intervals, or whenever reality gets in their way.

There is only one known cure at this time. Idiot Genocide.

Oh god I think I caught the stupid bug...you see I had to take my fingers out of my ears in order to type the post.

[random_id]

Alcoholism is a disease and usually goes hand in hand with being anti social.

[rant]

I disagree. Alcoholism is not a real disease.
[/rant]

Actually, yes, it is, based on official definition of the word "disease":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disease
http://webster.com/dictionary/disease
Or do you think that drinking huge amount of alcohol doesn't "impair normal functioning"? :P

[RobotBanana]

Or do you think that drinking huge amount of alcohol doesn't "impair normal functioning"? :P

I claim the next Nobel prize for my cure for the deadly alcoholism. Here we go...

Pour the bottle down the drain. And that one. That one too.

When I hear the word "disease" I think of cancer, or AIDS, etc. Drinking until you can't stand straight, sobering up, and then doing it again doesn't seem to resemble cancer. See where I'm going with this?

It's self inflicted, and there's a pretty simple solution to it. Stop drinking. If you can't, have someone else make you stop drinking. Hopefully you have a friend or family member that notices the problem and tries to help. That doesn't quite work with other "real" diseases. You can't just say "stop getting tumors, cancer boy!" You'll probably get punched. Repeatedly.

Regardless of whether or not someone claims it to be a disease, I'll never consider it to be one. "I have alcoholism" is just a way to say "I'm a drunk" when you want pity.

Bringing it back to the original topic, labeling people as being "inflicted" with antisocialism (hmm... not quite the word I was looking for... heh) just doesn't seem right. As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't even really impair a person. If they'd rather do something alone, so be it. They're not freaks, they're not odd. They just like spending time alone, whether it be to practice for American Idol or contemplate the meaning of life... Or play lots and lots of video games.

[random_id]

Bringing it back to the original topic, labeling people as being "inflicted" with antisocialism (hmm... not quite the word I was looking for... heh) just doesn't seem right. As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't even really impair a person.

Yes, it does. If an antisocial person is, say, located in a group of people (especially not a well-known ones), he might feel uneasy/nervous/shy/(insert any other unpleasant feeling), to the point of being unable to properly converse with those people, thus being mentally impaired in some aspects (such as in ability to speak). It's just a single example of being impaired by being antisocial, I can probably come up with more of them, some of which come from my own experience :P

[RobotBanana]

Yes, it does. If an antisocial person is, say, located in a group of people (especially not a well-known ones), he might feel uneasy/nervous/shy/(insert any other unpleasant feeling), to the point of being unable to properly converse with those people, thus being mentally impaired in some aspects (such as in ability to speak). It's just a single example of being impaired by being antisocial, I can probably come up with more of them, some of which come from my own experience :P

I agree with that, although it depends on the severity of the person's "antisocialness." I think in most situations, people can cope with having to communicate with others. I'm a bit antisocial myself (along with 3/4 of the rest of us on the Internet? ), but I can still work in groups. Of course I'd much rather work alone (I'm a control freak, and I don't like leaving tasks that influence myself to others, so I usually keep checking in), but I don't have a problem communicating with my group members.

I've never come across someone that is antisocial enough to actually struggle to communicate. If the nervousness/paranoia is strong enough to actually impede on your ability to speak, then I think that person would be in a category separate from simply being antisocial.

[Trooper110]

Seeing as it's not necessary to be a drunk to have alcoholism necessarily, you can classify it as a disease. Medically it is classified as a disease, and it's not based off the fact that the person is drunk all the time. Go read up on it and maybe you'll get a little understanding of it instead of just saying stop drinking or get your friends/family to help.

Here's an article you can start with.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoholism

[Rovey Wade]

I think trying to compare the diseases people are trivializing (alcoholism, addictions, so on) to diseases such as AIDS or the flu is misguided.

I don't think said people are recognizing that mental health is as relevant as physical health.

[RobotBanana]

Seeing as it's not necessary to be a drunk to have alcoholism necessarily, you can classify it as a disease. Medically it is classified as a disease, and it's not based off the fact that the person is drunk all the time. Go read up on it and maybe you'll get a little understanding of it instead of just saying stop drinking or get your friends/family to help.


Here's an article you can start with.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoholism

Erm... I just read the entire article, and alcoholism is exactly what I thought it to be. Here's just a few quotes...

In common and historic usage, alcoholism refers to any condition that results in the continued consumption of alcoholic beverages despite the health problems and negative social consequences it causes. Medical definitions describe alcoholism as a disease which results in a persistent use of alcohol despite negative consequences. Alcoholism may also refer to a preoccupation with or compulsion toward the consumption of alcohol and/or an impaired ability to recognize the negative effects of excessive alcohol consumption. Although not all of these definitions specify current and on-going use of alcohol as a qualifier, some do, as well as remarking on the long-term effects of consistent, heavy alcohol use, including dependence and symptoms of withdrawal.

What I got from that was alcoholism is an addiction to alcohol. It eventually becomes uncontrollable. ("I can stop whenever I feel like it."). Like an addiction to drugs, there are also withdrawal symptoms. Of course, the addiction can lead to more health problems.

A elderly neighbour of mine was an alcoholic. He eventually died of liver failure. When he wasn't drunk (or rather, wasn't overly drunk) he was a good guy. Give him a beer, and suddenly you had a problem.

Identification of alcoholism may be difficult because there is no detectable physiologic difference between a person who drinks frequently and a person with the condition.

Kind of speaks for itself...

Treatments:
Treatments for alcoholism are quite varied because there are multiple perspectives for the condition itself. Those who approach alcoholism as a medical condition or disease recommend differing treatments than, for instance, those who approach the condition as one of social choice.

Most treatments focus on helping people discontinue their alcohol intake, followed up with life training and/or social support in order to help them resist a return to alcohol use.

a.k.a. Help from friends or AA. To use my exaggerated cancer comparison once again, there are no tumors that have to be removed. You just have to help the person realize what the alcohol is doing to them, and set them up to be able to help themselves.

I know comparing diseases is probably a bad idea, but it's an easy way of trying to get my point across. Obviously, mental health is very important. A lack of it can ruin your life, as evidenced by all of the devastating diseases/disorders/conditions. It can also lead to serious physical problems. However, unlike, say, Schizophrenia, the alcoholism "disease" is curable by just trying to help the person. You don't need meds (although of course they are available to help). Maybe a comparison to a light case of depression would be a better idea. With just a little guidance and some tips to help pull you through, you can shake it off. I'm not discrediting depression -- it can be very painful and harmful -- but I wouldn't classify it as a disease. I see it as more of a condition.

The article also talks about alcoholism being sort of genetic...

Those who possess the A1 allele (variation) of this polymorphism have a small but significant tendency towards addiction to opiates and endorphin releasing drugs like alcohol.

Nothing has to be wrong with your brain to become an alcoholic. The absolute worst thing that can be passed on genetically is the risk that you could become addicted a little easier than other people.

I guess what I'm trying to say is I don't consider it a disease because you have the power to avoid it, and you have the power to "cure" it. It IS in your control, whether or not you realize it. People today have just decided to slap a special name on an addiction to alcohol, and why I do not know. Maybe to invoke sympathy, maybe to try to be politically correct.

If anyone actually read what, looking back on it, seems to be an essay, please let me know if I'm overlooking something. I strongly believe that I at least have a good point in all of this; I wouldn't still be discussing this if I was just trying to look like a jerk.

[random_id]

I guess what I'm trying to say is I don't consider it a disease because you have the power to avoid it, and you have the power to "cure" it.

So basically you have your own definition for this word. You should've just said so directly instead of writing so many letters

[RobotBanana]

So basically you have your own definition for this word. You should've just said so directly instead of writing so many letters

Haha, well if that's the only issue here, I probably should've.

So then, not to start another essay, do you consider drug/cigarette addiction to be a disease as well?

It seems my issue here is I don't consider an addiction to be a disease, in my sense of the word. When I hear disease, I immediately think of the more well-known things like cancer, or the "more serious" forms of mental illness. I don't think it's fair to put alcoholics into the same category as those suffering from what I consider to be a real disease. It just doesn't seem right. I have much more sympathy for someone who suffers from cerebral palsy or Lou Gehrig's than someone who has a drinking problem, which I think is reasonable...