Addiction a disease?

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  • mscrumbyy
    mscrumbyy Posts: 116
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    I think of addiction as a disease,but I've never really thought about food addiction. When I think of addiction, it's consuming and it means once you start you can't stop- for example alcoholics. One drink will lead to another and every recovering alcoholic that I know (which sadly is a fair few) can't ever drink again because they can't enjoy "just a few". For them simply "not drinking" doesn't mean it's no longer there, they can't ever go back to it even just in small amounts.

    Is food addiction a real thing in the USA? Over here in England I've never heard anyone say they're addicted to food and get away with it. Sugar/caffeine in food maybe, but never food in general.
  • foxyforce
    foxyforce Posts: 3,078 Member
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    addictions are very serious, and no just about having a weak will

    that being said, i also don't agree with the theory that they are a disease. i think it is learned behaviour but some, like drugs, are just harder to kick due to all the synapse action the brain is getting
  • rmartin72
    rmartin72 Posts: 1,094 Member
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    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 agree with you!!
  • foxyforce
    foxyforce Posts: 3,078 Member
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    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.

    way to reduce something
    that is ONE school of thought, so don't generalize people

    i have been through alcohol addiction, and i work in a treatment centre, and i don't think it is a disease. there is more than one theory.
  • AmyFett
    AmyFett Posts: 1,607 Member
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    I don't believe addiction is a disease. That's an excuse. Hate on me all you will. I was addicted to alcohol for 2 years. I kicked it. I don't want the stuff now. It was a choice I made to start, choice to keep drinking, and choice to stop. Same with food, drugs, anything of the like. My opinion.
  • AmyFett
    AmyFett Posts: 1,607 Member
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    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.

    way to reduce something
    that is ONE school of thought, so don't generalize people

    i have been through alcohol addiction, and i work in a treatment centre, and i don't think it is a disease. there is more than one theory.

    I agree, I've been through it, and I've seen others go through it. I STILL don't think it's a disease. It's a poor choice.
  • sistasledge101
    sistasledge101 Posts: 80
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    I don't wanna sound mean but I think addiction is just people that are too weak to stop doing whatever it is that there "addicted" to. Canser is a disease,in my opinion eating,drugs,drinking ect.,isn't!

    ^^this
  • Montanarush
    Montanarush Posts: 76
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    No!
  • TrailRunner61
    TrailRunner61 Posts: 2,505 Member
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    People are 'addicted' to food because they have a mental disorder that has not been addressed!
  • AmyFett
    AmyFett Posts: 1,607 Member
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    No no no no no. If an alcoholic doesn't drink, the disease is most assuredly still there. If a drug addict doesn't use, the disease is still there. The alcohol and drugs are just a symptom, not the disease itself.

    If a diabetic controls her blood sugar with insulin, isn't she still a diabetic? If a hemophiliac controls his bleeding by avoiding being cut, isn't he still a hemophiliac? If a person with an allergy to peanuts doesn't eat peanuts, isn't he still allergic?

    If an alcoholic or drug addict simply avoids alcohol & drugs and does nothing more, they will be a miserable sot. Addiction is a disease that affects the thinking. Addictive thoughts rage through the addict who doesn't use or drink. Food is no different in that aspect. In fact, it is considered more difficult for the food addict, for one can live without drugs and alcohol, but one must eat.


    ^^^ This. Is truly sad how uneducated people are about addiction, and its to no fault of their own, but the way society views things. Unless you suffer yourself or know someone who does, its easy to cast those people off as weak. They're not.

    They are though. I've been through it. I was weak. My husband YEARS ago, was into coke, doing and selling. He was weak. It took a machine gun to his head to get him to smarten up. He quit that day, got out of selling and doing. Hasn't since. Maybe we're just different from everyone else on the whole planet who's been addicted, I don't know. But it's not a disease. Saying it is, is just an excuse.
  • foxyforce
    foxyforce Posts: 3,078 Member
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    and i also don't think alcohol or drugs...or food...is a "symptom" of the disease. they don't just manifest themselves. the unwilling desire that haunts and ****s you is the symptom. the food IS not. don't blame the food people!
  • foxyforce
    foxyforce Posts: 3,078 Member
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    People are 'addicted' to food because they have a mental disorder that has not been addressed!

    i agree that there are definite mental health issues that need to be addressed. this is all semantics though. disorders are not the same as a disease.
  • gsager
    gsager Posts: 977 Member
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    And therein lies the biggest contribution to prejudice with addiction and addicts, IMO. The problem with that logic is that you are judging a disease by its treatment and not by its symptoms. Only the general public does that. Very few, if any, scientific, medical or gov organizations will do this. Addiction and diseases are defined by their symptoms.
    Again, my opinion is addiction is a disorder just like those that are deemed mental disorders. I'm not prejudicial about seeking treatment nor using medical means to assist, I just don't believe that addiction is on the same level as a disease like cancer.
    I'm an alcoholic, I've been sober for 23 years. I do think it's a disorder and not a disease. And even though I don't drink, I still have the disorder. I will use food, people...things outside myself to make me feel different.
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,220 Member
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    My opinion is that addiction is not a disease. If a person never starts smoking they are at a very low risk for becoming addicted to it. People can't just avoid getting cancer. I have a friend who avoids the sun, constantly covers up and wears sunscreen because her family has a history of skin cancer, she still got it.
  • alerica1
    alerica1 Posts: 310 Member
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    Maybe, if you don't believe in addiction, you should read "The Doctor's Opinion" on page xxv, of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th Edition. Just sayin.
  • hazelovesfood
    hazelovesfood Posts: 454 Member
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    Most of how we eat is down to how we have been brought up and the foods we have been given. My son never puts salt on his food as i have never added it to his food as a small child even though i add salt myself.No one is perfect and alot of us use food as a weapon and also as gift to make things better. We go out for a lovely meal because we want to celelbrate stuff, we say its our birthday lets induldge, and why not life woudlnt be worth living if we didnt,but for people that have never been given anything but healthy foods, they dont realise how these foods call you, once you have had one peice of choc as a child they will want more as you have shown them there is stuff out there that tastes so much better than veg say.
    I know kids that have never had soda in there lives and have no idea what it is, this is a good thing I wish I had stuck to my own ideas when mine were little instead of taking notice of the way my parents thought they should eat.I dont even think its a disorder its just once your body gets used to sugar etc and lots fo carbs, it just wants more and more, all we do is feed the addiction in side of us, which may happen totally by accident.
  • softballsharie
    softballsharie Posts: 176 Member
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    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.
  • camelgirlmn
    camelgirlmn Posts: 226 Member
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    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.
  • softballsharie
    softballsharie Posts: 176 Member
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    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.
  • dayone987
    dayone987 Posts: 645 Member
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    I think addiction is a disease but believe that as with any disease, when a person is diagnosed or realizes they have a disease it's on that person to seek and follow recommended treatment. If you're a diabetic you need to watch your diet, takes medicatons (for most) and exercise. If you're an addict you need to seek help for that whether it's counselling, twelve step group etc. If you don't follow treatment recommendations the disease and its consequences will only get worse.
    It's a disease, but it doesn't give people a pass as some on here are suggesting.

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