Addiction a disease?

jackieatx

My husband is a drug and alcohol counselor and we have both been clean and sober for three years. There is no difference between any addiction, just the severity of the low that you go to. In fact many recovering addicts and alcoholics replace their former addiction with a food addiction.

ggcat

I think Ken made some really good points.

I also think arguing about semantics is counterproductive.

me too!

2_young_2B_old

I believe addiction is complex but I do not believe it's a disease. My dad was an alcoholic. He was mentally disturbed but not diseased

RejoicingL

Addiction starts with a choice. Most diseases do not. Also, most mental health issues are considered disorders, not diseases, right?

DieVixen

addiction is not a disease,that is just an excuse addicted people use. I speak from experiance on that one

RejoicingL

Diabetes, emphasema, lung cancer, melanoma, heart disease, high bp- these are all considered to be diseases. However, the choices those affected make are what trigger the "disease." Tanning or refusing to use sunscreeen, despite what we know about the effects of those actions, and their causational links to diseases, refusing to eat healthy, despite what we know about the onset triggers of heart disease and diabetes... they're choices too. You make that choice to not use sunscreen, to get into the tanning bed, to pick up that frid chicken, to smoke that cigarette...

This is a very good point. Hadn't thought about it that way....

Savemyshannon

The way I always understood it...

when discussing non-chemical addiction (food, sex, gambling), it's important to remember that the person isn't actually addicted to (insert object here). When you are doing something that you love--having sex, winning a lot of money, eating delicious food--your brain releases a hormone called dopamine, which is the human body's own "reward system". An addict doesn't get addicted to ice cream. He doesn't NEED ice cream to function. He does, however, get addicted to that feeling--that rush, that high, of doing something that you love.

This is why Parkinson's patient often deal with depression--the brain cells that create dopamine start to die off and the patient stops feeling that happiness and that reward system.

So yes, I believe that addiction is absolutely a disease and it is possibly to be addicted to almost ANYTHING. Because you don't get "addicted to" working out or having sex or gambling or playing video games or eating food, you get addicted to the hormonal changes that take place in your body while you're doing it. And once hormones come into play, you're working with a chemical dependency, just like drugs and alcohol.

BVannillie

Addiction is not a disease. Addicts just prefer it to be called that because then they can blame something other then their weak will and bad choices, IMO. Once you've made those choices you can choose to change. No matter how hard that choice is, it's still a choice you can make. People with diseases do not have that option.

Chelle_Davis

addiction is a disease no doubt. but i don't believe in being addicted to food.

Easily said by someone who's never been there.

softballsharie

Addiction is not a disease. Addicts just prefer it to be called that because then they can blame something other then their weak will and bad choices, IMO. Once you've made those choices you can choose to change. No matter how hard that choice is, it's still a choice you can make. People with diseases do not have that option.

Medically speaking, addiction is a disease. So get off your high horse. Sorry that my doctor prescribed me pain killers and my brain had a chemical change to the point where if I stopped taking them I would withdraw. Do more research before you make naive comments like this again. You haven't been there, and you have NO IDEA what you are talking about.

softballsharie

I'm sorry to hear that you are suffering from the disease of addiction. I am also sorry to hear that whoever is treating you for this disease has misinformed you on your diagnosis. Please refer to the American Journal of medicine for some more guided information.

I respect that your OPINION is that it is a disorder. However, I'm not sure why anyone would consider it a disorder, as it is a disease.

My addiction is (was) smoking. I have quit, (6 months ago) however I recognize that the urge to smoke will probably never disappear. I don't see an addiction to cigarettes something to see a doctor over.

Does an addiction to cigarettes really constitute the term disease? The urge to smoke came in 2 forms, physical withdrawal from nicotine and also as a mental "crutch" when stressed etc. Just because an addiction to cigarettes isn't as severe as say, heroin, doesn't make it any less of an addiction. I do understand how different substances can form different types of addictions. I do see all forms of addiction as a disorder, but can they all be considered a disease?

They all are considered a disease. I just quit smoking 3 months ago as well. I would say it is the same thing (neurologically speaking) just not as hard (mentally speaking).

softballsharie

Addiction starts with a choice. Most diseases do not. Also, most mental health issues are considered disorders, not diseases, right?

Wrong, they used to be considered disorders. Until they took the chemical imbalances more into play. Addiction doesn't always start with a choice. It can start with a prescription, it can start with underlying genetics (ex. people that get addicted to food have to eat, they don't have a choice to eat, and then genetics can cause them to be addicted to food). Do more research.

softballsharie

addiction is not a disease,that is just an excuse addicted people use. I speak from experiance on that one

If you are speaking from experience, then you are speaking from an extremely misinformed experience. Any medical professional that you would have sought for help with your addiction would have told you differently, and would have explained to you the chemical imbalances and genetics that come into play with the disease of addiction.

foxyforce

you are totally speaking from one school of thought

stop trying to educate people and learn what discourse means

the apa lists it as a disease...they also listed hysteria as a mental illness

don't be a reductionist and slamming people with false info, one theory, one thought. learn to be open minded to others, there are other theories. not everything is black and white. we get it, YOU think it is a disease. other people would beg to differ, me being one of them.

foxyforce

addiction is not a disease,that is just an excuse addicted people use. I speak from experiance on that one

If you are speaking from experience, then you are speaking from an extremely misinformed experience. Any medical professional that you would have sought for help with your addiction would have told you differently, and would have explained to you the chemical imbalances and genetics that come into play with the disease of addiction.

i am pretty sure that anyones experience is their own and accurate, you can't tell someone that they have misnformed experience. professionals are NOT always correct.

AmyFett

Diabetes, emphasema, lung cancer, melanoma, heart disease, high bp- these are all considered to be diseases. However, the choices those affected make are what trigger the "disease."

not always...

I figured I'd add an explanation. There are different types of diabetes, type 2 is the one you're thinking of. People get lung cancer who don't smoke. What about from asbestos? My mother has a form of heart disease that she had/has no control over what-so-ever. It just happened to her unfortunately. There's nothing she can do about it, or nothing she could have done differently.

myfitnessnmhoy

I was speaking to a gym member and one the things he brought up was he had a hard time losing weight because he was suffering from the disease of food addiction.
I don't consider food addiction a disease because if the person doesn't eat there's no disease. I consider any addiction a disorder and not a disease.

Your thoughts?

If you can separate the person psychologically from their disorder, they can see the disorder as something separate from themselves and it makes it easier to deal with in some people. Once you remove the self-judgement (you're lazy and you've caused this yourself) and turn it into self-enablement (you're strong enough to beat this external factor that has caused your problem), a lot of people can find more strength to deal with it.

Is it actually a disease? Hell no.

But if you have a patient whose outcome can be improved by calling it that, it's all good.

BVannillie

Addiction is not a disease. Addicts just prefer it to be called that because then they can blame something other then their weak will and bad choices, IMO. Once you've made those choices you can choose to change. No matter how hard that choice is, it's still a choice you can make. People with diseases do not have that option.

Medically speaking, addiction is a disease. So get off your high horse. Sorry that my doctor prescribed me pain killers and my brain had a chemical change to the point where if I stopped taking them I would withdraw. Do more research before you make naive comments like this again. You haven't been there, and you have NO IDEA what you are talking about.

Funny, because people on here who are also addicts have said they do not believe they suffer from a disease. Stop lying to yourself.

DieVixen

addiction is not a disease,that is just an excuse addicted people use. I speak from experiance on that one

If you are speaking from experience, then you are speaking from an extremely misinformed experience. Any medical professional that you would have sought for help with your addiction would have told you differently, and would have explained to you the chemical imbalances and genetics that come into play with the disease of addiction.

Spending 17 years high as a kite is not what I would call misinformed. I also needed no help from anyone to get past my addiction I just stopped,right around the same time I stopped making excuses and took responsiblity for myself

softballsharie

Addiction is not a disease. Addicts just prefer it to be called that because then they can blame something other then their weak will and bad choices, IMO. Once you've made those choices you can choose to change. No matter how hard that choice is, it's still a choice you can make. People with diseases do not have that option.

Medically speaking, addiction is a disease. So get off your high horse. Sorry that my doctor prescribed me pain killers and my brain had a chemical change to the point where if I stopped taking them I would withdraw. Do more research before you make naive comments like this again. You haven't been there, and you have NO IDEA what you are talking about.

Funny, because people on here who are also addicts have said they do not believe they suffer from a disease. Stop lying to yourself.

It doesn't matter if they believe they are suffering from a disease or not. It is called a disease in the medical community, so until the people that know most about disease stop calling it one, then there is no reason to call it anything else. Once you know more than the thousands of doctors that call it a disease, I will definitely believe that what you are saying has any truth to it at all. Until then, it is medically a disease. I'm not lying to myself. I see 2 medical doctors monthly for my addiction, as well as a psychiatrist, and a counselor. They all tell me it's a disease. They have ten fold more experience than you in this area, and I'm sure they have more education in it than you as well. What on earth are you basing your facts on? It seems to me, that you are basing them on your own opinion.

janeite1990

I wouldn't say addiction is attributable to laziness, but I struggle with idea of addiction being a disease, too. Some people beat cigarettes, alcohol, and food addictions. Some people beat cancer. I'd say the difference is that people fighting cancer can't generally apply lots of will-power, discipline, and motivation to beat it. Addiction, at least in some part although maybe not completely, lies within the responsibility of the individual.

thebaconbeast

I'm addicted to a lot of things but I wouldn't say I had a disease :laugh:

jcmartin0313

In May of 2013 the DSM-V will be released and it will contain the term Addiction in place of Dependence. This means the APA will recognize addiction as a mental disease process regardless of what you think or believe. Science and medicine is not based on the general lack of knowledge displayed in this thread thank god.

RealWomenLovePitbulls

I think that some people have a harder time controlling themselves than others, but i would say it is more of a disorder than a disease. It can be changed, but the person has to be willing to change. I'm not saying that it's not a struggle for some people, and it may remain a struggle for them day after day, but if they really want to, they can do something about it, unlike someone who has cancer, you can't just will that away, no matter how hard you try. If you try hard enough, you can beat an addiction though.