Is an alcoholic always an alcoholic?

Answer 1

That is a matter of semantics. Certainly alcoholics run the risk of re-activating their disease if they start drinking again, but those who recover usually are able to re-enter society and function as normally as they need to.

The big question is why anyone would want to take the chance of drinking, once they've overcome the issues surrounding it. You have to wonder where the compulsion to resume ingesting a known neurotoxin that might turn your life upside-down again would come from. I'd have to say either Alcoholism or insanity.

Personally, I'm afraid to find out, nor do I feel the need to do so.

The Jude Thaddeus Program (soberforever.net) appears to be the most effective approach to alcohol dependence and alcoholism in the world. It is a research project operated by the Baldwin Research Institute, a New York State not-for-profit organization owned by taxpayers.

Independently-conducted research has established an overall success rate of 63.5% for the Jude Thaddeus Program. This compares to a success rate in the range of 0-20% for conventional programs. Alcoholics Anonymous(AA) reports a success rate lower than 5%. Research also indicates that no treatment at all has a success rate of about 30%. This suggests that traditional programs are less effective than doing nothing.

Answer 2

No you don not have to be drunk, but you feel you have to drink most of the time for no obvious reason