Transcript
People often are curious about if there are myths about alcoholism and there are. One myth is that alcoholics are drunks forever. Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic. And that may be true, but that doesn’t mean that people are drunk forever. People stop. People are very successful with different ways of treating their alcohol problems.
A second myth is that alcohol problems are a moral failure, and that all that’s needed is willpower. Therefore, that lack of willpower is what causes the problems. Well, in fact, that’s not true. Alcohol problems are generally caused by a genetic predisposition and physical changes and, therefore, physical dependence on alcohol that develops.
A final myth is that people with alcohol problems are all people who are down and out, who are drunks on the street, whose lives and physical beings are in tatters. That’s a myth. In fact, people with alcohol problems come in all stripes; men, women, young and old, people who hold down jobs, people who appear successful but have alcohol problems.
So those are three common myths associated with problematic alcohol use.
