eeeee eeeeeee eeeee eeeee e  eeeee eeeee   eeeee eeee e    e eeeee
  8   8 8  8  8 8   8 "   8 8  8   8 8   8     8   8    8    8   8
  8eee8 8e 8  8 8eee8 eeee8 8e 8e  8 8e        8e  8eee eeeeee   8e
  88  8 88 8  8 88  8 88    88 88  8 88 "8     88  88   88   8   88
  88  8 88 8  8 88  8 88ee8 88 88  8 88ee8     88  88ee 88   8   88

                                   "Open the pod-bay doors, Hal."

There is plenty of controversy about whether alcoholism even exists or, if it does, if it really is a disease. The original use of the term disease in Alcoholics Anonymous was metaphorical, aimed at destigmatizing the condition and describing its relentless course if untreated. But alcoholism, along with anxiety and depression, has come to count as a disease in the diagnostic manuals used by psychotherapists and physicians. This means that, at least for prescription and insurance purposes, they are diseases. Yet this pathologizing of elements of human experience begs the question: What makes heavy drug or alcohol use, long-term sadness, or heightened anxiety a disease?