Alcohol Addiction

Alcoholism, also known as alcohol dependence, is a disabling addictive disorder. It is characterized by compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcohol despite its negative effects on the drinker’s health, relationships, and social standing. Like other drug addictions, alcoholism is medically defined as a treatable. The term “alcoholism” is a widely used term first coined in 1849 by Magnus Huss, but in medicine the term was replaced by “alcohol abuse” and “alcohol dependence” in the 1980s DSM III. Similarly in 1979 an expert World Health Organization committee disfavored the use of “alcoholism” as a diagnostic entity, preferring the category of “alcohol dependence was called dipsomania before the term “alcoholism” replaced it.
We have never called alcoholism a disease because, technically speaking, it is not a disease entity. For example, there is no such thing as heart disease. Instead there are many separate heart ailment, or combinations of them. It is something like that with alcoholism. Therefore we did not wish to get in wrong with the medical profession by pronouncing alcoholism a disease entity. Therefore we always called it an illness, or a malady  -- a far safer term for us to use.
In professional and research contexts, the term “alcoholism” sometimes encompasses both alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence.] and sometimes is considered equivalent to alcohol dependence.
In psychology and psychiatry, the DSM is the most common global standard.