The Question of Willpower
In the early to mid 1800s, the addiction focus was on alcohol, and addiction was attributed to a person's weak character and spiritual disobedience. It was thought that if a person were closely following God, he would be able to make responsible choices related to addictions.
Many institutions and organizations were developed during this time period to address these perceived moral and spiritual problems related to alcohol consumption. This causative theory still has its advocates even though there is now a multitude of evidence pointing to biological and genetic components that no one has the ability to control through willpower.
Dr. Benjamin Rush initially introduced what was a novel idea in 1784: addictions may have biological causes. At that time, Dr. Rush began to write about the consequences of chronic drunkenness and to expound his arguments that this was a biological disease that should be treated by physicians.
By 1810, Dr. Rush was firmly advocating that alcoholism be seen as a biologically based disease and fought throughout the rest of his career to establish treatment programs to work with addicted individuals from a medical perspective.
In 1825, Reverend Lyman Beecher wrote “Six Sermons on Intemperance” and warned people of the dangers of being addicted to distilled spirits. Dr. Samuel Woodward promoted creating inebriate asylums in 1830. A Home for the Fallen was opened in Boston in 1857. The movement to develop inebriate homes spread, and many alcoholic mutual aid societies were started.
Fact
Dr. Magnus Huss, a Swedish physician, described chronic alcohol consumption as a disease, and in 1849 he named this disease Alcoholismus chronicus. This introduced the term alcoholism and further supported the notion that alcoholism is a disease rather than a spiritual or moral weakness.
Bill W. and Dr. Bob S. met for the first time in 1935. They recognized that on their own, they were powerless to conquer alcoholism, and in that same year founded Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.), which continues to maintain an abstinent and spiritual basis for sobriety. The Saturday Evening Post wrote an article on Alcoholics Anonymous in 1941, and with this publication, A.A. began to spread around the country.
It is now accepted that a lack of willpower or moral failure is not the cause of addictions and that willpower alone will not free a person from addictions. Social, medical, educational, spiritual, and psychiatric communities all have something to contribute in understanding the causes of addictions, and support from all quarters may be necessary for the addicted individual to achieve recovery.
