Is alcoholism a disease or an addiction?
Dr Max Pemberton, author and MIND DOCTOR for the Daily Mail writes, in June 2015, commenting on the confusion created by referring to alcoholism as a disease rather than an addiction.
He says that the “Disease Model” of addiction was first promoted in the late 90’s in America, and soon spread to other parts of the world. The thinking was that drinking alcohol flicked a switch in some people’s brains that made it hard to stop. It is suggested that labelling alcoholism as a disease may have ensured that health insurers did not avoid funding treatment.
But the trouble with this labelling, as argued by Max Pemberton, and a recent article in the Lancet Psychiatry, is that it disempowers people. It takes away the element of personal responsibility and accountability. Max feels that drinking is an attempt to blot out intense emotional pain and psychological distress – recovering from an addiction is about taking responsibility and doing something about dependency.
Also, the model of thinking which says an alcoholic is a helpless victim, who can do nothing to help himself without the intervention of a higher power, is something that disempowers. Don’t think that Effective Hypnosis is against the higher power – we are all for it , but - recovery from addiction is possible with the power of the mind.
Hypnotherapy is an excellent way of tapping into the innate resources of the mind and can help to conquer alcohol addiction.
