People have been drinking from brown paper bags for years now throughout the western world, although it is difficult to say from when it has been part of our culture. The terminology alcoholism though dates back to 1849 and has been attributed to Magnus Huss, who was a pioneer is related alcohol to serious health conditions.

The word (alcoholism) came to be recognized in the United States with the founding and growth of a support group in 1939 called Alcoholics Anonymous, or ‘AA.’ Alcoholics Anonymous does not place a definition on alcoholism, but compares it to an allergy and an illness, focusing on a team support method of accountability and responsibility.

The first Doctor to classify problems in chronic alcoholics was E. Morton Jellinek from New England. He defined an alcoholic as being a person who through the consumption of such large quantities of alcohol, had resulted in dramatic effects on his or her bodily and or mental health. These changes would also end up affecting the alcoholic’s personal relationships and or their employment capabilities.

He therefore concluded that treatment was necessary and nothing much has changed since then except that the definition has been slightly altered by a number of medical affiliations. The word alcoholism is currently referred to by the American Medical Association as a particular chronic primary disease.

Some minorities in the medical field, such as Herbert Fingarette and Stanton Peele, argue against alcoholism being considered a disease. But, critics of the disease theory acknowledge that the word alcoholism; refers to a disease, and use the term heavy drinking; when discussing the harmful effects of alcohol consumption.

So due to the fact that alcoholism does not actually have a concluded definition, the disease itself is not always easy to detect. It is extremely difficult to really pick out the differences between an alcoholic and somebody who just drinks on a regular basis. If you need a more detailed review regarding the disease of alcoholism then you should start off by having a look at the stopdrinking.org blog which is packed with useful information.