This paper is on if alcoholism is a disease or not. I myself would feel the need to say yes it is. I say yes, because there are a lot of people in America that have this issue. There seems to be a lot of speculation on if it is a disease, or just a thing people pick up. Or they say alcoholism is a choice. Yes, the first taste of alcohol is a choice, but the addiction that follows it is not. I have caught a lot of slack with family over this topic, of if it is in fact a disease or if it is a choice.

I have read many websites on said topic. Is alcoholism a disease? According to Baldwin Research Institute,a group that advocates the theory that “…programs teach personal responsibility and choice are far more successful than programs that teach the disease theory , and programs that do not teach disease concept, and instead teach choice, have success rates of over 60% after five and even 10 years.” (Baldwin Institue 2003) The Baldwin Instiute claims that alcoholism is a choice not a disease. The Baldwin Institute asserts that, by applying the disease concept ( the most commonly accepted notion of alcoholism) to alcoholism, most treatment programs actually are “a threat to the health of the individual.” (Baldwin Research Institute

Dr. Herbertt Fingarette, a professor at the University of California and author of the book, Heavy Drinking: The Myth of Alcoholism as a Disease., has observed that in the disease theory of alcoholism, The condition, once it