Addiction a disease?

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  • softballsharie
    softballsharie Posts: 176 Member
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    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
    softballsharie Posts: 176 Member
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    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
    softballsharie Posts: 176 Member
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    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
    foxyforce Posts: 3,078 Member
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    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
    foxyforce Posts: 3,078 Member
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    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
    AmyFett Posts: 1,607 Member
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    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
    myfitnessnmhoy Posts: 2,105 Member
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    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
    BVannillie Posts: 140
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    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
    DieVixen Posts: 790 Member
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    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
    softballsharie Posts: 176 Member
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    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
    janeite1990 Posts: 694 Member
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    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
    thebaconbeast Posts: 560 Member
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    I'm addicted to a lot of things but I wouldn't say I had a disease :laugh:
  • jcmartin0313
    jcmartin0313 Posts: 574 Member
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    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
    RealWomenLovePitbulls Posts: 729 Member
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    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.

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