Talk:Dipsomania

Early remarks
Adrian Edmondson? Yeah, his character in Bottom might be dipsomaniac or drunk or alcoholic, or what ever you want to call Edward Hitler. But is there any practical evidence that Ade himself, might have same kind of tendencies? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.128.193.166 (talk) 23:55, 24 October 2008 (UTC)

The Hemingway and Monroe entries were vandalized-- I fixed them, but there may be more vandalism I didn't catch, and I don't know if either individual was actually supposed to be on the list to begin with-- it's pretty much entirely unsourced, which is not surprising, considering the dubious believability of "Dipsomania". --Duckflesh (talk) 06:18, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

An anon user pasted a long, text'''ttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dipsomania&oldid=26259404

Presumably this is public domain, but would need much editing. Ianb 09:44, 23 October 2005 (UTC)

Should there not be at least some mention that dipsomaniacs only drink during certain periods and not constantly? That they usually have long sober periods as well? (What in Swedish is called a "periodare"?)

How is an "uncontrolable urge" different from an addiction? i edited the article so that it mentions that dipsomania is periodic, and not a lifestyle like alcoholism ~nayt1
 * I hadn't heard about this before seeing this article, but I feel like i have something similar to it - it's not a physical dependency because it happens even when I haven't had alcohol in months, and that dependency is part of what makes something feel appropriate to call addiction in my head. I agree with the paragraph below here with the platonic regard for alcohol bit. Anafyral (talk) 10:45, 26 January 2023 (UTC)

Indeed. Dipsomania is an unavoidably Romantic term, which (perhaps unfairly) separates it from true alcoholism. One finds it difficult to imagine a dipsomniac waking up every morning with the DTs. If, indeed, there is such a thing as true authentic dipsomania, it must exist independently of alcoholism as a disorder which is less dictated by a chemical addiction to the hydrocarbon alcohol, and which is characterised by a platonic regard for alcohol as an elevator of mood. Perhaps, for arguments sake, the dipsomniac should be compared with the Opium-Eater, rather than the binge-drinker. Dipsomniacs "choose" to indulge sporadically, despite their actual physical addiction. Call it "controlled addiction", if you like. It may be an uncontrollable urge, but it is not ongoing, and so it seems to me it must have a psychological component which trumps the base chemical addiction. Wow. This is a long subscript to a little-read article of dubious interest on an otherwise popular website... Cravenmonket 02:07, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

I have to disagree with Duckflesh in that there is "dubious believability" of dipsomania. As an addiction specialist, I can say without question, this phenomenon does exist, contrary to the unfounded claim that it is "dubious". I would suggest that Duckflesh do a little more research into the field of addictive behaviours and note that this not only occurs with alcohol, but with many other substances which have mood altering effects, including food. Several European studies ( Grunner, et al) have studied the effects of dipsomania on predominantly non-drinkers who experience this unexplainable functioning within the brain. As far as editing goes, I dont think there is much to edit based on the dearth of research into alcoholism and dipsomania. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.50.230.143 (talk) 14:46, 11 January 2008 (UTC)

This page should be removed as it incorrect and misleading. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Goodwise (talk • contribs) 18:15, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

I was glad to see this page! This condition exists and is destructive. What about the idea that it can morph into a more chronic condition as well? Page should be researched and updated since it is an important problem to confront.

Dipsomaniac vs alcoholic
The definition of dipsomania is very close, identical some would say, to the definition of alcoholism, especially when you consult with the actual people involved. In the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous (Chapter 3) alcoholics describe themselves thus: "We alcoholics are men and women who have lost the ability to control our drinking. We know that no real alcoholic ever recovers control. All of us felt at times that we were regaining control, but such intervals, usually brief, were inevitably followed by still less control, which led in time to pitiful and incomprehensible demoralization." The term "alcoholic" is a recent invention; before AA, chronic drinkers were called dipsomaniacs. Their family would refer to them as dips, or dipsticks, or worse. Bushcutter (talk) 03:05, 22 July 2008 (UTC)

A person called Billy O'Shea is mentioned as a well known Irish stage and television personality - has anyone heard of this person? - the whole list of dipsomaniacs is very suspicious...

It is important to discern between alcoholism and dipsomania. Many of my silly friends are full on drug abusers and dipsomaniacs...but they contain their wacky antics to particular evenings or day-binges of imbibing and are not susceptible to alcohol or drug consumption in unacceptable settings.

Also, Edgar Allan Poe was not a dipsomaniac, just a wacky fellow! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.19.181.154 (talk) 08:43, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

Merge into Alcoholism
As there isn't any scientific/medical information on this page, recommend merging into alcoholism and making a subsection with a description of the etymology and history of the term dipsomania.--Xris0 (talk) 00:32, 3 January 2009 (UTC)

Agree. I defer to experts in the field, but references to dipsomania seem to be rare and skewed towards the historical. There is a smattering of references that refer to dipsomania as different from alcoholism in that dipsomania is periodic rather than chronic. However, this definition seems to be very close to what is now called "binge drinking" which gets lumped into alcoholism. The list of "dispomaniacs" should be deleted unless someone has direct references describing these people as dipsomaniacs as opposed to alcoholics. There is no mention of dipsomania on the NIAAA website for what that is worth.Desoto10 (talk) 22:06, 7 January 2009 (UTC)

I also agree with Xris0's proposal; I've just learned of this term today and I'm also considering expanding upon what is already in this article, but I still think it should be merged with the article on alcoholism.

Agree with Desoto10 reference to binge drinking. Disagree that it should be removed. This is a very valuable and interesting contribution as encyclopedic reading should be.72.222.212.99 (talk) 20:30, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Disagree. It is the first time I hear about the term and if we would like others to find this information as quickly as we did, we must leave it separate. Bp. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.78.74.175 (talk) 13:57, 30 January 2009 (UTC)

I'm divided on this. I believe that they should be separate articles because dipsomania is an ancient term that describes a less modern understanding of how alcoholism works on a medical basis. On the other hand, even alcoholism has been deprecated by more accurate terms like alcohol dependence and endogenous conditioning to alcohol. I would say that an extensive discussion of the history of the term dipsomania and how it relates to alcoholism should be kept on a Dipsomania page, but that a note should be put on Alcoholism's terminology section indicating that it is effectively a synonym. Robert Rapplean (talk) 22:06, 25 February 2009 (UTC)

Disagree on merge. -- Lucas20 (talk) 22:18, 4 March 2009 (UTC)

I couldn't put it any better than Mythobeast above - I wholly agree with him.Selinda (talk) 08:30, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

Disagree on merge, for reasons Mythobeast/Robert Rapplean discussed. This is a fundamentally different conceptualization of alcohol dependence. For WP, it doesn't matter which one is correct, only that some people conceptualize(d) it this way.Aroundthewayboy (talk) 13:36, 26 April 2009 (UTC)
 * Also, there are 6 disagrees and 3 agrees, over a period of 3 months. I think the consensus is pretty clearly to disagree, so the merge tag should be removed.Aroundthewayboy (talk) 13:39, 26 April 2009 (UTC)

Cures section
On the other hand, in the modern world, there are many treatments (chemical, pharmaceutical, and spiritual) for dipsomania and alcoholism. Most current treatments are covered and linked through the alcoholism and related articles.

I'm replacing 'spiritual' with 'psychological', as the term spiritual is vague and unfalsifiable, leave it for use in articles about religion. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Daemonax (talk • contribs) 22:34, 31 January 2009 (UTC) DONOT MERGE —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.19.181.154 (talk) 08:47, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

Famous dipsomaniacs
I removed this section, but it was restored by another editor as it "helps to explain what a dipsomaniac is". I don't think that it does this, or that it's appropriate for the article, and have removed all living people from the list as it's inadequately sourced and there's no consensus. Also does everyone listed here meet the requirements? Peter&#160;James (talk) 20:05, 25 February 2013 (UTC)
 * I just restored some examples, because I think that they hopefully do illustrate what was considered a dipsomaniac historically (as distinct from an alcoholic today). I hope my edit might prompt a respectful discussion, though, to see whether there is a consensus to remove or retain these examples. Aroundthewayboy (talk) 03:22, 5 January 2019 (UTC)

Origin of term
Is it contradictory that it's stated the term was coined in the 19th century but there is an 18th century sculpture titled it, depicting it as the first image? Frobird (talk) 15:08, 18 March 2020 (UTC)