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Doctors redefine the meaning of addiction

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    New guidelines could increase number of people considered alcoholics

  • Duration 3:35
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Well you're probably an alcoholic and you don't even know it.

Because doctors with the American psyche -- psychiatric association -- rewriting the definition.

Of addiction.

The new symptoms of alcoholism include.

When alcohol is is often taken in larger amounts -- over a longer period of time then was intended.

Or when a great deal of time is spent in activities necessary to obtain alcohol.

Use the substance.

Or recover from its effects.

This from a -- guidebook that helps determine what insurance companies will cover among other things.

According to one study the proposed changes could increase the number of people diagnosed with alcoholism.

But -- 660%.

Doctor Arthur Caplan is with a -- the director of the center for bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania and joins us live -- good afternoon.

-- -- afternoon well I'm comforted and happy to report that everyone I know is an alcoholic.

But but but but but under this need -- new definition.

The definition that they're.

Putting forward and it's not the last word so there's still time to fix it.

He is obviously to be too broad too inclusive you can't have.

A category that takes every moderate and -- drinker and turned him into an addict.

I have some sympathy with the idea.

It we want to pinpoint.

Problems like binge drinking in university user of spring break that behavior that I know pretty well this.

Problems that we gotta get some attention to -- calling everybody and I met at an addict just doesn't fly one day of binge drinking.

In one month in college.

Makes that college student.

And alcohol.

Right and again it's just straining too -- to try him get some attention to a real problem which is.

If you have one day one month every month for years of college binge drinking.

Well I think you may be setting yourself up for problems later in life with alcohol or -- could be doing yourself -- In college just in terms of injury use them car accidents and all the rest of it.

Well that sounds more like bad decisions that that that that then a disease really.

I mean you you make the decision right -- -- I'm not diminishing alcoholism or anything like that but.

The college student to a couple years into school decides well I'm throwing one back and gonna pass out of the -- don't flow out.

Is part of a grand tradition of bad decisions.

Right now I think.

We think that would addiction.

He's craving compulsion and drives that you can't resist.

Sort of throwing your whole life in pursuit of the drug or the substance that really is compelling -- in ways that you cannot control in any way.

Then what we think it would binge drinking is a bunch of college kids making bad decisions so.

We don't need a book of bad decisions god only knows it would be a very very long book.

But we do one and not dismiss or minimized things like.

You know gone through college ball Lotto every weekend for four years that probably isn't good for us the difference is.

Let's not try to make everything into an addiction.

Give it that way somebody -- pay for it if everything's in addition.

But well I suspect that's part of what drives -- I suspect you're right you know giving it covered is a big -- have.

How low we pay attention of these definitions these days doctor Arthur Caplan call and out of Philly and the UK and it's nice to see doctor thank you so much that.

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