Addiction a disease?

Jersey_Devil

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

camelgirlmn

INTERESTING FACT: ANY DRUG THAT YOU QUIT AND HAVE WITHDRAWLS FROM WILL NOT KILL YOU. THE ONLY THING THAT CAN KILL YOU FROM WITHDRAWING IS ALCOHOL.

Are you saying this to argue that addiction is not a disease? There are thousands of diseases that cause suffering but not death. As a matter of fact, there are quite a few types of cancer that cause suffering and not death.

NO, I JUST STATED IT AS A RANDOM FACT. ADDICTION AND DISEASES SOMETIMES RUN HAND IN HAND.

ninerbuff

You guys can all say all you want about thinking it's a disease or not thinking it's a disease. When your "opinion," is published in a medical journal and peer reviewed... then I will be able to agree with you.

Until then, addiction is medically considered a disease. End of story.

As much as I opine that addiction is more a disorder than an disease, I have to concede here with you that medically it's considered a neurological disease. So yes I will say from now on it's a disease.

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diddyk

The only people that wouldn't consider it a disease are:

1. People who don't have any kind of degree in medicine at all.
2. People who haven't been through it.
3. People who haven't done enough research on it to fully understand the chemical/genetic imbalances that can make you more likely to have an addiction.

If it wasn't a disease, it wouldn't be called one. Plain and simple.

I respectfully object.

I have addictions, a disorder and a disease.

My issues with addiction are different from my anxiety disorder which is different from my psoriasis.

Addiction does do significant damage both physically and mentally, and can cause diseases and other disorders, however to me it is a disorder.

OMG_Twinkies

Substance addiction is a disease; your brain chemistry changes after long-term or heavy use of the drug. For example, long-term or heavy use of "uppers" floods your brain with dopamine, causing the individual to "feel good, happy, content, etc." After time, the brain is flooded and overwhelmed with dopamine on a consistant basis because the user will need to take more and more in order to achieve the same high. The brain ends up halting its own dopamine production, therefore causing the user to be physically incapable of producing that neurotransmitter naturally, meaning they are also physically incapable of feeling "happy, content, etc." Or, in other words, they are in a constant state of depression. So yes, it is a disease.

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...

softballsharie

The only people that wouldn't consider it a disease are:

1. People who don't have any kind of degree in medicine at all.
2. People who haven't been through it.
3. People who haven't done enough research on it to fully understand the chemical/genetic imbalances that can make you more likely to have an addiction.

If it wasn't a disease, it wouldn't be called one. Plain and simple.

I respectfully object.

I have addictions, a disorder and a disease.

My issues with addiction are different from my anxiety disorder which is different from my psoriasis.

Addiction does do significant damage both physically and mentally, and can cause diseases and other disorders, however to me it is a disorder.

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.

softballsharie

Substance addiction is a disease; your brain chemistry changes after long-term or heavy use of the drug. For example, long-term or heavy use of "uppers" floods your brain with dopamine, causing the individual to "feel good, happy, content, etc." After time, the brain is flooded and overwhelmed with dopamine on a consistant basis because the user will need to take more and more in order to achieve the same high. The brain ends up halting its own dopamine production, therefore causing the user to be physically incapable of producing that neurotransmitter naturally, meaning they are also physically incapable of feeling "happy, content, etc." Or, in other words, they are in a constant state of depression. So yes, it is a disease.

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...

I REALLY like this explanation. I would like to add to it as well, if you don't mind. Nature and nurture are both in play in all of the above stated diseases. For example, many people can smoke cigarettes for their whole life, and never have the above mentioned diseases. However, people with the genetics that make them more prone to the disease almost will always end up with the above mentioned diseases from smoking.

In my case, I believe both nature and nurture were at play making me more likely to develop the disease of addiction. In my family, addiction runs rampant. My grandmother was addicted to heroine, a few of my aunts and uncles have been addicted to pain killers, and tons of people in my family have issues with alcohol addiction. I was put on pain killers for a few months for a back injury from falling down the stairs. I know many people who were put on pain killers for this amount of time, and then just stopped taking them. However, when I was taken off the pain killers, I went through withdrawals, and sought out illegal ways to obtain them because of how I felt without them, and the intense cravings that the addiction was causing. However, if I hadn't given into those cravings and just dealt with the withdrawals, I would have never had any illegal drug problems. So yes, will power probably could have helped me, but I also believe that genetics were at play.

diddyk

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?

_the_feniks_

As a family member and friend of addicts, I feel it is 50/50. 50% genetic and 50% coping skills. It is true that the use of alcohol, chemicals or food begins with a chosen behavior. But if addiction develops, the problem has moved outside the realm of free choice. It has developed into a long term mental and physical neurological disorder.

Anybody who says addiction is simply a choice is, well, simply a f^(ktard.

bigdawg025

Ok... let me put a slightly different spin on this...

Since addiction is not a "disease" as you suggest... (which I agree I would say 95% with you)... is mental illness or depression 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.