Quote Originally Posted by thegnome54 View Post
But if you don't have control, how can you realize you have a problem and choose to go to AA meetings, devoting several hours a day to trying to fix the problem? That is a form of control.
The step is "We admitted we were powerless over (fill in the blank), and that our lives had become unmanageable."

That "fill in the blank" bit is what you are missing. We do not convince ourselves we are in some nebulous state of infantile helplessness - but we recognize that we have lost control over alcohol or drugs or whatever else it may be that we have become addicted to, and that we are unable to fix it ourselves.

I really dislike the "disease" thing as well. It is bullshit, as far as I'm concerned - especially when that "disease" can get you into a class of people receiving special treatment for a "disability." My family's life has been deeply impacted by an alcoholic who has embraced this notion, and by other family members who refuse to hold her responsible for her actions as a result.

Genetic propensity or not, we make the choices - right up to the point where we lose control. We choose ourselves to that point. We choose to stick that needle in our arm or take those pills or snort or smoke or drink or whatever. There are consequences to choices... and one of the consequences to certain choices happens to be addiction. It doesn't just fall out of the sky and hit you.