Rating: 
Summary: I'm a Drunk, and My Genes Made Me Do It! (Oh really?)
Review: This second installment of Ms. Ketcham's ode to biogenetics is just another in a dreadful line of Alcoholism-as-Disease "experts" trying to convince alcohol abusers that they are fated (somehow) by their genetic makeup, and that their only hope is lifelong conversion to public confession at support group meetings.I am an AA memebr who has not been taken in by this latest wave of self-serving pomp by a cultural paradigm that exists to keep itself alive by employing thousands of severely-underpaid paraprofessionals who hang their hats on the idea that their problems are not of their own making. Of the scores of books written recently on acetaldehyde, dopamine receptors, a1 allele, etc., not one pro-disease author can explain why a person still retains the free-will to take or not take a drink. Humans are not robots. No matter how difficult a person's personal situation is, no matter how fearful he may be, he still has the ability to change his life once and for all. The alcoholism industry's only purpose is to indoctrinate their clientele into the Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous and its sister 12-Step societies and to convince the families of alcoholics that everything will be okay so long as they usurp their responsibilities for their own families to the medical practitioner. And all with a healthy bill for services rendered for good measure. (Let's not forget the dozens of feel-good books one must purchase for the bathroom shelf to be able to cope through the day!) After all, who in his right mind relishes the thought of admitting that his problems are his own fault? The idea of blaming something, anything, even some mysterious biogenetic disease, is much more appealing than saying "It's all my fault." This makes everyone feel better. This reviewer has even heard at the funeral of one alcoholic, "That disease had him 'til the end." It makes even the grieving family feel more comfortable blaming a fictitious disease than the person in the casket. This is the true reason for the disease concept of alcoholism. It is amazing how many thousands of individuals have actually been duped into believing that they are powerless. Whatever happened to the limitless abilities of human power? Ketcham et al vehemently deny that people with alcohol problems can feel safe in overcoming addictions permanently. We are told to always be on guard, that we are never truly out of the woods. If cancer patients were told this, doctors would have their licenses to practice medicine revoked. Here's a hint to those who may be skeptical as to this review: A true disease is one that is a bodily lesion that can be found in a corpse. There is no visibly identifiable gene or bodily lesion that can be called alcoholism. There never was, and there never will be. In the last hundred years, beginning with psychiatrists, the idea of disease has been expanded to include anything that has "observable signs and symptoms." That is to say, anything that a clinician can write down and bill you for. As such, gambling, sex, and love can become diseases. Hasn't anyone noticed that support groups now exist for these so-called new diseases? What's next? Knucklecrackers Anonymous? Don't laugh. In this day and age, anything is possible.
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