>>>>>Don't know if this helps... hopefully it sparks an idea. It seems when you get in this state you post a lot about music. I know when I get depressed I sit in a dark room for hours and listen to music, reminisce, and spend hours on the web and that can't be healthy.
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>Do you consider drug dependencies a diesase?
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Asking for simple response along just one dimension might not be adequate even if ONLY asked about some of the complex behaviours grouped as alcohol dependancy. See Charles' answer for some of the factors involved just from metabolical side.

Classifying it as disease (even though diesase can happen) for me is nothing but a way to decide who is footing the bill, and sometimes a legal cop-out (which in almost all cases is wrong from my POV, but I can't change it).

And for me realizing there is an affinity/proclivity to use some substances more than the norm which SHOULD form the basis for a "disease" definition. In day2day life of a person it should not result in it being used as an excuse, but as a motivation to copy/change behaviour/hack yourself. Also realizing a) that people have their ups and downs and b) that falling off the wagon results in different degrees of damage across people.