Overview
Alcoholism refers to the compulsive and habitual consumption of alcohol in spite of worsening consequences, health or social.
The history of terms used to describe compulsive and habitual substance use are as varied as presentations of substance use disorders themselves. “Alcoholism” and “alcoholic” have a lot of baggage that produces a lot of stigma, though some groups, particularly Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.), embrace the term as one that can bring unity among their fellowship. Sharing at a meeting usually begins by announcing “my name is… and I’m an alcoholic/addict.” SMART Recovery, Recovery Dharma, Refuge Recovery, and other groups either forego this tradition or discourage its usage to create distance from the stigma. “Alcohol use disorder” is more commonly used in clinical contexts. For the purposes of this site, “alcoholism” is often used for brevity and interchangeably used with “alcohol use disorder” or “substance use disorder” in hopes of diluting the stigma.
History and Etymology
Magnus Huss termed habitual drunkenness as “Alcoholismus Chronicus”, from which we get the term “alcoholism.”