Is Addiction a Disease?

Question

Lately there has been a lot of debate on calling addictions, diseases. Some scientists clearly label addictions as diseases, while others say it's merely a disorder and the patient isn't choosing to get help.

Growing up in a family of alcohol addicts, I can't say that alcoholism is a disease. They CHOSE to drink every day.

Diseases are cancer, multiple sclerosis, etc. Not an alcohol or drug addiction.

Would like to hear more insight on this!

Answer

Let me put this straight

Experimenting the drug is a choice. You choose to experiment heroin, for example.

But once you get addicted to it, it is not a matter of choice ANYMORE. It becomes a disease that requires intensive treatment. Then your freedom to choose is taken from you because of the disease.

Answer

There is a genetic component for addiction. 
Certain individuals are predisposed to becoming addicted, be it to alcohol, drugs, self harm, sex, etc. 
That's why you tend to see a line of alcoholics or drug addicts in one family. 
In those cases, which are not so rare, of course the choice to partake in the addictive activity was theirs, but it is definitely much much harder for those individuals to quit.
Bottom line;  If addiction runs in the family, take care of yourself. Watch yourself around drugs and alcohol. Look for the signs of addiction within yourself. It is 100% preventable, but once they're there it is physiologically proven that some individuals are much less mentally equipped to handle the addiction or get themselves out of it.

Answer

There are genetics involved and you can try to guess what your triggers are, but not everyone has the same triggers. It's a disease that is triggered.

Answer

100% I believe it's a disease and also a mental health disorder. My dad has been addicted to heroin, cocaine and apparently meth for years. Yes he chose to do the drugs at first but once he became addicted it was out of his control. He constantly fights himself because he doesn't want to do it anymore but his body is telling him he needs it. He has tried to get help but the pain he deals with due to withdrawal is just too strong. Never has he compared it to having cancer etc. but to say it's not a disease because he chose to do it is ridiculous. People every day choose to smoke and choose to do other things that harm their body which leads to diseases as well.

Answer

When addictions get to the point that your body is running to sustain the addiction it is very clear that it's a disease. Alcoholics can't just stop drinking, detoxing from alcohol can lead to death if not done properly. Detoxing from other drugs is extremely dangerous too and quitting cigarettes cold turkey can even cause miscarriage. Your body becomes taken over by the entity of the addiction. There's a choice in seeking those substances in the first place, but addiction is not a choice.

Answer

It is a choice. You choose to take the drug, you become depended on it (chemical imbalance) which is where people think it's a disease, it still isn't. You have to make the choice to stop. Like people say, the addict has to do and want it for themselves. No one else. Send them to rehab 600 times but if they don't want to MAKE THE CHOICE to change, they will not. They will go through withdrawals, (because chemical imbalance, they become dependent) it is not a disease.

Answer

It's not a disease, it's a matter of self control.

Answer

I have never met an addict that feels that they have a diesease in the sense of cancer , heart disease, diabetes, etc . But a disease in the sense that there is something different in the way that their brain works , that not everyone else has.  Not ever person is going to take a drink and feel the need to have another . Certain drugs may make one person sleepy and groggy while it will make someone else happy and entergetic . Everyone's brain chemistry is different , you can't judge someone based on your life.  Some people may have been abused , or some trauma that they are trying to numb with drugs or alcohol, other may go threw terrible stuff and not turn to drugs or alcohol... and that's great if you are that strong. Some people aren't. I've never met an addict that says oh feel sorry for me I have a disease I can't help it , it's more I have this disease that I need professional help to learn how to overcome.

Answer

I grew up with a mother who was a drug addict, along with other family members. Because of the resentment I felt, I also used to say that it was a choice and it's not a disease but I was wrong. I let my anger cloud the truth and that's not right. Addiction is a disease. It's not an opinion, it's a fact. Medical professionals will tell you it's a disease. Addicts need intense treatment to recover and even when they do, they still live with the urges and the struggle every single day. It's extremely insensitive and wrong to say that people choose to be addicted to drugs. They may have chosen to try drugs but that doesn't mean they ever wanted to become an addict.

Answer

Mental illness alters the way you behave. So you're right that people can control their behavior. But the problem is that people who have problems with addiction often lack impulse control (among many, many other factors that are too much to list here).

Also, there is something in their brain chemistry that drives them to use the drug/drink alcohol.

As far as calling it a disease, that's a matter of semantics, since disease from a medical perspective are specific things. Like Parkinson's Disease is not Parkinson's Disorder because we know neurologically what goes wrong to cause this set of symptoms.

So yes, addiction is a disorder.

Is Addiction a Disease?

Let’s Glow

Glow is here for you on your path to pregnancy

25+ million

4.8 stars

20+

Getting Pregnant

Pregnancy

1st Year (Baby & You)

Baby Products