While it might not look like a disease to many, alcoholism is a medical condition that can be diagnosed and treated, like any other disease. Although alcohol consumption is common, in some people it can become a chronic disease, or long-term illness, that has serious medical consequences. There are no simple answers to the causes of alcoholism, but most experts agree that there are psychological, environmental, and biological/hereditary components to it.

Alcoholism is not based on poor morals or a character flaw, but on how alcohol interacts with certain physical and mental conditions, functions, and processes within the human body.