Do You Think Addiction Is a Disease?
Question by Pride: Do you think addiction is a disease?
Four major national and international government health agencies, the World Health Organization, the American Psychiatric Association (APA), American Medical Association (AMA), and World Health Organization all define addiction as a primary chronic disease. Primary meaning that it is not caused by another disease, and chronic–well I hope everyone reading this knows what chronic means.
Any type of alcohol or drug use can cause permanent changes to the brain, no matter how slight the use. The extent of change in brain chemistry has to do with a person’s genes and the amount and frequency of use. A person can be a problem drinker or a problem drug user without having the disease.
Above are the things I do know. What I don’t know, and I don’t think anyone does, is at what point it becomes a disease. There is no quanifiable number such as with AIDs we say that when the persons T-cell count goes below 200 per microliter of blood. Is addiction
Addiction is not just a behavioral disorder as was once thought, or so the experts say. At first it is a choice to use alcohol or other drugs, but eventually the brain becomes so used to depending on the drug to produce neuro transmitters such as dopamine, serotonin, norepinephram, etc, that when the drug or drink is stopped the brain cannot produce enough of its own and things like withdrawals and depression, & anxiety occur. Even after the physical withdrawals stop, the person’s brain will cause cravings and a desperate feeling to drink or use again. There is no cure for this, but as groups like Alcoholics Anonymous have shown, the disease can be put into remission from active addiction.
I do agree with AA as they describe alcoholism…”cunning, baffleing, and powerful.”
Hopefully, there will be a cure one way, or at least effective medical treatment that can somehow stop the progression of the disease. For a person who is dying of cancer or whose love one is dying of cancer it may seem slightly insulting to call addiction a disease. The same would be true of someone who resents addicts or alcoholics for the inevitable negative impact it has on their lives, work, family, and those they interact with. (impaired driving etc.)
So what’s your position on the issue? Do you regard addiction as a disease or as a choice?
Best answer:
Answer by David
Addiction is a disease….
Answer by Petulia
I think addiction is a genetic predisposition to habit forming as a reaction to stress. I have had food addiction…and my food addiction led me not only to bulimia but anorexia aswell. I was also addicted to alcohol and cigarettes. I was never addicted to drugs though but my sister was addicted to drugs and still is addicted..she couldn’t stop. I was fortunate to quit all my addictions. I had the will power to heal from anorexia and bullimia also. Why could I heal from all my addictions but my sister couldn’t? I still struggle with food but I work out a lot and it helps me keep a healthy weight and a sense of self control. I know that addiction is like a huge hole that you can never fill up …not with any substance not with any form of entertainment or love…it just is always there and you have to learn to cope with it. It’s like I’m always hungry all the time but I just learned to ignore that nagging feeling. I don’t crave alcohol or cigarettes anymore but if ever I have a traumatic event occur, I kinda think about them.
If anorexia and alcoholism was a disease why is it that I am cured just by making the choice to change my ways ? Why dont they call cigarette smoking a disease…it was the hardest thing for me to quit seriously. I say that addiction is a genetic predisposition to forming negative habits as a way to deal with our stress. Some people find healthy ways to release stress at an early age and they form strong healthy habbits but others start by using bad habits to deal with stress and then find it hard to break out of that vicious cycle. I found exercise has been detrimental in helping me break my cycle of addiction .I don’t feel comfortable calling it a disease or a choice as such so I cannot give you the answer you are seeking but I hope you consider my opinions.
I see it as a switch that everyone has but some ppl’s switch gets turned on and cannot be turned off so easily as others. Those people’s who’s switch cannot be turned off are the alcoholics you see sleeping on park benches or the drug addicts living in cardboard boxes…they started and couldn’t quit.
Another thing is that I knew at an early age that I loved exercise and the way it made me feel so when I used it to help me get through my quit it worked for me. Most addicts started by trying to mask feeling of depression and they found that their addiction made them feel a bit better…that is the key…we want to feel better..we want the good feelings. Now when people don’t have anything else to turn to that is going to make them feel good they stick with the drugs or the alcohol etc.
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