# Is alcoholism a harder addiction to break than any other? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 11, 2008, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alcoholism-a-harder-addiction-to-break-than-any-other/472166 "2008-11-11T06:09:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alcoholism-a-harder-addiction-to-break-than-any-other/472166/21 "2008-11-11T20:26:32Z")
Ah…thanks. I never would have come up with that answer. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alcoholism-a-harder-addiction-to-break-than-any-other/472166/22 "2008-11-11T20:27:08Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Food is a hard one, since you have to eat something to stay alive, and can’t go cold turkey, so to speak. And food is certainly ever-present. That’s what I think, I just didn’t read all of the posts before I posted. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alcoholism-a-harder-addiction-to-break-than-any-other/472166/23 "2008-11-11T22:38:36Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Food is a hard one, since you have to eat something to stay alive, and can’t go cold turkey, so to speak. And food is certainly ever-present. > [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](#): > > Replace “drinking” with “eating” and you’ll see why I consider food addiction to be the most insidious. Everything else that’s been mentioned, a person can survive without. Not so much without food! Imagine you’re an alcoholic or a druggie, yet you HAVE to continue to use at least 3 times a day, but NO MORE than that. How excruciating would that be? Agreed!! I wish there was more recognition of the validity of food addiction. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alcoholism-a-harder-addiction-to-break-than-any-other/472166/24 "2008-11-11T22:59:08Z")
Ditto. One of the women I sponsor (alcohol & drugs) is also working steps on an eating disorder, and it’s a bitch. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alcoholism-a-harder-addiction-to-break-than-any-other/472166/25 "2008-11-11T23:12:42Z")
Statistically, stimulants like methamphetamines and crack cocaine have the highest relapse rates/lowest sustained abstinence rates. The theory goes is that the reward is so strong, and delivered so quickly to the brain via smoking it that it results in rapid remodeling of the pain/pleasure/reward centers of the brain itself, many of which changes seem to take years to return to normal, if they ever do. Glad I stuck with opiates, alcohol and pot when I abused substances! After about 3 years of sustained abstinence, I felt pretty normal most of the time. ---
**Author:** ![sherrylynn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3be4f8/32.png) [@sherrylynn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sherrylynn)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2008, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alcoholism-a-harder-addiction-to-break-than-any-other/472166/26 "2008-11-11T23:48:48Z")
> [@EmAnJ](#): > > Video Lottery Terminal. The ones people sit at for hours and hours, gambling their money away. Thank you - I would never have guessed that! ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alcoholism-a-harder-addiction-to-break-than-any-other/472166/27 "2008-11-12T00:02:51Z")
My mother went cold turkey off cocaine when she took a bad hit that paralyzed her for a couple of hours. She still smokes. My brother, who is in general a waste of skin, is and probably always will be an addict. He also smokes. Almost the only thing neither of them ever became addicted to was alcohol; in fact, I wonder if it’s genetic in some way, because they have well-documented addictive personalities, and both of them as well as I despise the taste of alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![PopeJewish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@PopeJewish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PopeJewish)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alcoholism-a-harder-addiction-to-break-than-any-other/472166/28 "2008-11-12T00:31:01Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > I’m trying to wrap my head around this comment. Can you please elaborate? Thanks. sorry. what I meant was alcohol in a lot of ways brings you down, I know a lot of people who feel depressed when they drink. But it’s physically a depressent, it slows you down. Many of the other addictions are stimulants, but most importantly they make you happy (Meth, for example. Even Nicotine is a stimulant. Heroin brings you down, but it creates a sense of euphoria) so Alcoholics are more prone to depression than people addicted to some other substances, like those I just mentioned ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alcoholism-a-harder-addiction-to-break-than-any-other/472166/29 "2008-11-12T01:16:09Z")
All the drugs were hard to quit. The problem was the common denominator: ME. You can’t tell anything useful from a TV show. This is not reality. They select people who they think will make the best show. And they have to select those who were dumb enough to sign the release form. By the time a lot of addicts are through, we don’t have any family willing to be in the same room with us. The difference between an Addict and an Alcoholic? Alcoholics like their dope wet. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alcoholism-a-harder-addiction-to-break-than-any-other/472166/30 "2008-11-12T05:40:13Z")
I am an alcoholic, my problem is Gus. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alcoholism-a-harder-addiction-to-break-than-any-other/472166/31 "2008-11-12T12:40:23Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Glad I stuck with opiates, alcohol and pot when I abused substances! After about 3 years of sustained abstinence, I felt pretty normal most of the time. Man, I envy you. I have been sober 11 years, and I still feel like I am hungover most of the time. What is your experience with people dependent on benzodiazepines? I was stuck on them at a pretty high level (6-7mg per day) for over four years, and I feel like some kind of permanent change happened that will never heal. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alcoholism-a-harder-addiction-to-break-than-any-other/472166/32 "2008-11-12T12:57:35Z")
> [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](#): > > Replace “drinking” with “eating” and you’ll see why I consider food addiction to be the most insidious. Everything else that’s been mentioned, a person can survive without. Not so much without food! Imagine you’re an alcoholic or a druggie, yet you HAVE to continue to use at least 3 times a day, but NO MORE than that. How excruciating would that be? Shopping/spending are problematic for the same reasons. Few people can get by without buying things - so there isn’t a cold turkey. And social rituals are based around it. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alcoholism-a-harder-addiction-to-break-than-any-other/472166/33 "2008-11-12T13:43:43Z")
I had a very nasty run in with benzodiazepines. Far harder to not use than tobacco. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2008, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alcoholism-a-harder-addiction-to-break-than-any-other/472166/34 "2008-11-12T21:20:31Z")
Perhaps one of the biggest differences would be how far gone you’d have to be to be considered to have a big problem. Alcohol is so omnipresent that you have to abuse it long-term generally before others will see a problem. Cocaine, though, would be widely viewed as a serious problem with even one use. So alcohol might have the chance to make serious, long-term behavioral and personality changes. If you do something for twenty years, it might be a lot harder to stop than if you’ve done it for two weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alcoholism-a-harder-addiction-to-break-than-any-other/472166/35 "2008-11-13T00:04:52Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Man, I envy you. I have been sober 11 years, and I still feel like I am hungover most of the time. > > What is your experience with people dependent on benzodiazepines? I was stuck on them at a pretty high level (6-7mg per day) for over four years, and I feel like some kind of permanent change happened that will never heal. While benzo withdrawal takes a while, it shouldn’t take that long. I’d suggest that someone with that type of complaint consult their physician to ensure no physical problem such as hypothyroidism, etc is going on. Then a visit to a certified addictionist or psychiatrist with strong addiction medicine credentials could be considered. I’m also a big proponent of both physical exercise and participation in a mutual help group for optimal outcomes from chronic substance abuse. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alcoholism-a-harder-addiction-to-break-than-any-other/472166/36 "2008-11-13T00:55:50Z")
Thanks **Qadgop** , I will look in to that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-alcoholism-a-harder-addiction-to-break-than-any-other/472166.md?page=1)