• HEALTH & RECOVERY
    Welcome Guest
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules Thread Directory 1 Thread Directory 2
    Mindfulness Links Addiction & Mind
    Sober Living Partner Program (SLiPP)
  • H&R Moderators: VerbalTruist | cdin | Lil'LinaptkSix

is addiction really a disease?

Addiction might not be a disease but it sure acts like one.



edit--- Maybe a better term is "allergy."
I know a guy who cannot drink liquor without breaking out in handcuffs.
 
Last edited:
It Is a condition when somebody was given a chemical that triggered huge dopamine/endorphins/serotonine or other neurotransmitters/hormones release which caused change in functioning of nervous system. This change Is probably responsible for cravings.
When u are actively using, it cause biological changes such a lower hormones production, lower cognitive ability, organ damage and death.
Opioid, stimulant, benzodiazepine, alcohol etc. abuse Is some kind of illnes. But it Is possible to cure it and it Is also possible to heal/reverse biological damage caused by this disease. (My opinion)
 
someguyontheinternet said:
Addiction is a maladaptive learned behavior not a disease
Click to expand...
The view that addiction is a maladaptive learned behavior rather than a disease is a perspective held by some experts and researchers. This viewpoint focuses on the idea that addiction is a set of behaviors learned in response to various internal and external stimuli, such as stress, emotional pain, or social pressures.

Arguments for Addiction as a Maladaptive Learned Behavior​

  1. Choice and Responsibility: This perspective emphasizes that individuals have some level of choice and control over their actions, including the decision to engage in substance use or other addictive behaviors.
  2. Cognitive-Behavioral Roots: Addiction can often be traced back to faulty thought patterns and maladaptive coping mechanisms, which can theoretically be "unlearned" or modified.
  3. Behavioral Interventions: If addiction is a learned behavior, then it stands to reason that behavioral treatments like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) can be particularly effective.
  4. Role of Environment: This viewpoint often highlights the role of environmental factors, such as availability of addictive substances or activities, social pressures, and lack of healthier coping mechanisms, in the development and maintenance of addiction.
  5. Adaptability: If addiction is a learned behavior, then it is also something that can be "unlearned," or at least managed, through new learning and behavior modification.
  6. Varied Etiology: Accepting addiction as a learned behavior allows for a more nuanced understanding that the "cause" and "solution" may vary greatly from person to person, depending on individual learning histories and current circumstances.

Counterpoints​

  1. Neurobiological Changes: Critics of this perspective may point out that addictive substances often cause measurable changes in brain chemistry, which can make it extremely difficult for people to "unlearn" the behavior without medical assistance.
  2. Genetic Predisposition: There is also evidence to suggest that some people are genetically predisposed to addiction, which complicates the notion that it is purely a learned behavior.
  3. Stigma: While the learned behavior model aims to empower individuals, it can sometimes inadvertently add to the stigma by emphasizing personal responsibility, which may discourage some from seeking help.
  4. Complexity of Behavior: Human behavior is the result of a complex interplay of genetics, environment, and individual psychology; reducing addiction to only a learned behavior might oversimplify this complexity.
Whether you view addiction as a disease, a maladaptive learned behavior, or something else entirely, the important thing is that effective treatments are available and that those struggling with addiction get the help they need. Different models may be more or less helpful for different individuals, and it may require a multi-faceted approach to treat addiction effectively.
 
It certainly does feel like a disease when your suffering the ill effects from it.

That said I'm a firm believer we choose when we use and can at any point and time make the choice to stop.
 
elgoucho9 said:
It certainly does feel like a disease when your suffering the ill effects from it.

That said I'm a firm believer we choose when we use and can at any point and time make the choice to stop.
Click to expand...
The notion of addiction being a disease is widely supported by medical professionals and organizations such as the American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association. In this context, addiction is often described as a chronic disease that affects the brain's reward, motivation, and memory systems. The "disease model" of addiction posits that while the initial choice to use substances is voluntary, continued abuse leads to changes in the brain that impair self-control and decision-making abilities.

However, the disease model doesn't negate the importance of personal choice or agency. In fact, treatment often includes behavioral therapies aimed at improving decision-making skills and building healthier coping mechanisms. The disease concept doesn't excuse the behavior or absolve someone from responsibility; rather, it provides a framework for understanding why quitting is so difficult and why medical and psychological intervention is often necessary for recovery.

The idea that individuals can "choose to stop at any time" is a somewhat contentious point. While it's true that personal agency plays a role, the neurochemical changes in the brain due to substance abuse can make the act of choosing significantly more challenging. The altered brain chemistry can affect the reward system, making the "choice" to use feel compelling or even necessary for the individual, despite known negative consequences.

It's a complex interplay of biology, environment, and personal choices. Understanding addiction as a disease can help in developing more effective treatments, reducing the stigma associated with addiction, and providing a more compassionate framework for supporting those who are struggling with substance abuse.
 
Serhat said:
The notion of addiction being a disease is widely supported by medical professionals and organizations such as the American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association. In this context, addiction is often described as a chronic disease that affects the brain's reward, motivation, and memory systems. The "disease model" of addiction posits that while the initial choice to use substances is voluntary, continued abuse leads to changes in the brain that impair self-control and decision-making abilities.

However, the disease model doesn't negate the importance of personal choice or agency. In fact, treatment often includes behavioral therapies aimed at improving decision-making skills and building healthier coping mechanisms. The disease concept doesn't excuse the behavior or absolve someone from responsibility; rather, it provides a framework for understanding why quitting is so difficult and why medical and psychological intervention is often necessary for recovery.

The idea that individuals can "choose to stop at any time" is a somewhat contentious point. While it's true that personal agency plays a role, the neurochemical changes in the brain due to substance abuse can make the act of choosing significantly more challenging. The altered brain chemistry can affect the reward system, making the "choice" to use feel compelling or even necessary for the individual, despite known negative consequences.

It's a complex interplay of biology, environment, and personal choices. Understanding addiction as a disease can help in developing more effective treatments, reducing the stigma associated with addiction, and providing a more compassionate framework for supporting those who are struggling with substance abuse.
Click to expand...
This ! Exactly
 
By the time I figure that out it will probably have killed me. all the books I’ve tried to read. I wanted to believe it is not but at this point I don’t think it matters.

It is certainly dis-ease and disorder.

My life loses all sense of order under its spell.

I could also look for door number three thinking a spiritual solution isn’t what I need to save my life but again I don’t know what is going to work and what won’t.

Anyhow maybe I’m not that suicidal after all as I keep doing what the spiritually minded people have told and are telling me to do

Of course humans are full of pride, prejudice, and thinking riddled with self interested biases

Don’t get me wrong I dream about quitting AA and just doing SMART and SOS once a week. I also discovered another secular one called LifeRing.

The thing is, I want with the people I talk to in AA seem to have going on inside them and their lives more than the other programs not to judge but hey maybe it’s just how popular that compared to how tiny SMART and SOS are here locally?

That being said something inside me I still believes I can’t do this without higher than human power aiding and healing me

Lol makes me think of this guy saying “humans are but carp (fish) in the waters of the spiritual realm”

Feel free to call me a kook, quack or weakling born without a will

Maybe all some people need is a supportive community and positive human connection I have no idea what is right for anyone else

They laugh at the disease concept of alcoholism at least in the SOS here yet I look at them and am like guys you aren’t selling me by your personal example on recovery

Feeling like you have a disease can hurt more than help many I think I don’t think it’s a physical disease by any means physical dependence is a disorder not the psychological addiction like Lance Dodes, MD proclaims

Not everyone with addictive use patterns has the deadly addiction problem like I have been told I do more than once

(My brain is a wreck my mind is seemingly FUBAR at present thoughts jumbled, messy, incomplete. I am no scholar I failed out of university appreciate the space to let it out though I am done ranting)
 
Last edited:
NOT. A. DISEASE.

... and blindly buying into that concept has cost far too many struggling individuals their lives that I could stay impartial about it.
 
Last edited:
Addiction is a learned behaviour like riding a bike. Or better imagined like those people that "fly" in the suits or people that are climbing tall buildings with no security ropes or net to rescue them if they fall. It is a habit that is learned cause it did something good for the person in the beginning. Not a good habit but still a habit.
 
PS please conduct the following thought experiment.


You have an epileptic (GENUINE organic brain dysfunction), a schizophrenic (GENUINE mental pathology) , and an alcoholic / addict (obsessive fixed behaviour pattern).

Now try telling the epileptic with a seizure coming on, that he's not allowed to suffer the seizure on pain of death. And try telling the schizophrenic he has to stop experiencing his currently occurring hallucination, on pain of death.

... Would these two people be able to abate their symptoms by sheer volition in order to avert their deaths, despite survival being the maximum incentive any living conscious creature could have? NO.

And THAT'S what suffering the symptoms of a real 'brain disease' or 'mental illness' looks like.
It just HAPPENS to you. Your desires and volition have precisely zero impact.

By contrast, instead of trying to tell an epileptic to NOT have that seizure or a schizophrenic to STOP hallucinating, tell an alcoholic to PUT DOWN that drink. Tell a heroin junkie to LAY ASIDE that needle.

... Or else they will die on the instant.


DO YOU HONESTLY THINK that person would be somehow PHYSICALLY incapable of following that command in order to save their lives -?
If you do then you're deluded.

No matter how compelled, driven, obsessed and fixated an addict may FEEL at any given time, he is not LITERALLY unable to stop ingesting the drug. And it doesn't fucking matter if in this thought-up scenario the addict immediately reaches for the bottle or the needle again the second that the hypothetical threat of death is withdrawn. If you can hold off even for a second that means that CHOICE is involved, VOLITION is involved. And that does simply not figure in any physical disease process.

PS mental illness can both (very commonly) PRECEDE drug addiction. It can also be caused by drug addiction. IT IS NOT an equivalent.
 
Last edited:
laCster said:
i refuse to believe that addiction is a disease, it makes no logical sense to me and psychologytoday agrees with me...

"Widespread enthusiasm for the disease model, however, has led to willingness to overlook the facts. Addiction has very little in common with diseases. It is a group of behaviors, not an illness on its own. It cannot be explained by any disease process. Perhaps worst of all, calling addiction a "disease" interferes with exploring or accepting new understandings of the nature of addiction.

This becomes clear if you compare addiction with true diseases. In addiction there is no infectious agent (as in tuberculosis), no pathological biological process (as in diabetes), and no biologically degenerative condition (as in Alzheimer's disease). The only "disease-like" aspect of addiction is that if people do not deal with it, their lives tend to get worse. That's true of lots of things in life that are not diseases; it doesn't tell us anything about the nature of the problem. (It's worthwhile to remember here that the current version of the disease concept, the "chronic brain disease" neurobiological idea, applies to rats but has been repeatedly shown to be inapplicable to humans. Please see earlier posts in this blog or my book, Breaking Addiction, for a full discussion of the fallacy of this neurobiological disease model for addiction.)"

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-heart-addiction/201112/is-addiction-really-disease


so what do you guys think? please list reasons as to why you do believe, or why you dont believe it is a disease. in treatment centers, i always get into huge arguments with people and the therapists/technicians about this subject. i just think that believing that addiction is a disease is a weak excuse to shift the blame on to other reasons than to take a deep look at the actions that individual took. i think that most treatment centers push the disease model because that gives them a reason to stay in business, if people have a disease then that means they need a hospital and professional help. AA likes the disease concept because it gives people a reason to keep coming back (pun intended) and without that people wouldnt need a primitive 12step program.

also, if it isnt a disease, then what is it?
Click to expand...
it's a mental/spiritual disease
you cannot live without something that you actually don't need for living, so it's some sort of OCD
 
Neuroborean said:
it's a mental/spiritual disease
you cannot live without something that you actually don't need for living, so it's some sort of OCD
Click to expand...
The spirit has no basis in reality and cannot be used for medical diagnosis. I think these sort of claims have no place in this discussion
 
someguyontheinternet said:
The spirit has no basis in reality and cannot be used for medical diagnosis. I think these sort of claims have no place in this discussion
Click to expand...
I used 2 words that are 2 ways of understanding the same thing you can read mind instead of spirit, that's why I wrote "/"
there's not only 1 type of person in the world, in fact plain materialists are a small percentage of human population in the world, if you don't think spirit/soul exists, it's your thing, I experimented a lot of things in my life so I'm no longer a materialist.
In anycase if we are talking about "medical diagnosis", I've already explained what's going on in my opinion: some sort of OCD based in a false belief/feeling: "I need this or that to live a satisfying life"
 
It doesn't matter if people believe in a flying spaghetti monster or not because there is no evidence that it has any impact on the real world

The mind is something which relies on neuronal mechanisms and we have clear definitions of diseases that impact the brain, drug addiction simply does not fit that definition
 
there is no need to imply it is some sort of OCD in my opinion, one can state it is obsessive-compulsive behaviour or OC-behaviour. Or at least I hope we could establish this kind of terminology, because OCD has that remarkably ego-dystonic component that sets it apart from all other OC-behaviour.

As Neuroborean explained 6:13, I think addiction then has moreso ego-syntonic component, but I don't know, maybe that is just me.

The reason I am suggesting this is because I have clearly observed there is significant demand for this kind of terminology, so everyone could stop calling things that are not OCD, OCD. But I appreciate that you came up with this comparison anyway, you didn't break anything.
 
Last edited:
neversickanymore said:
dis·ease noun \di-ˈzēz\
: an illness that affects a person, animal, or plant : a condition that prevents the body or mind from working normally

I think that addiction fits the definition of a disease. Addiction is a "condition that prevents" the motivation and drive areas of the "mind from working normally."
Click to expand...
And in some cases, the drug helps the plant/animal/person function better.

I was a lot more physically & socially active when I was on opioids. I could perform laborious tasks easier & better than without them.
It also cured my perpetual insomnia & horrid depression.




I think what's difficult about this subject is a lot of people confuse addiction & dependency. And the fact that the word "disease" is often a word used for a variety of illnesses. But usually when I think of a "disease", I think more of things like autoimmune problems, an illness, cancer, etc..

I think addiction could be a mental illness, but addiction is also incredibly complex.
If some one takes heroin 3 times a day & rarely escalates or abuses it, but wants to use it, does this make them an addict?
Compared to say.. some one who's throwing their entire life & resources away just to get a hit?

I'd say mental illness is the real cause & addiction is just a symptom or side effect of that.

But even mentally well people can end up with "addictions".


I think it's mostly just so big pharma can capitalize on it with new drugs too. But in a way it's good to at least recognize addiction/dependence as a health issue instead of just a criminal or moral failing.
 
Lightning-Nl said:
All of you fail to realize that every addiction is caused by the need to self-medicate in some way. By using drugs you are TREATING something that needs to be treated.

For instance, people with Parkinson's Disease are at an 80% increased chance of havig drug abuse issues. Same goes for people with ADHD. What's common in both of these diseases? A lack of Dopamine present in the brain. These people are more likely to use drugs (Cocaine especially) because they were born with a total lack of Dopamine in the Basal Ganglia, Locus Corelus, Amygdala and Prefrontal Cortex (people with Parkinson's actually lose the ability to synthesize Dopamine in the stratum over time, but at the same concept). These people use drugs, and be come addicted to them because all reinforcing drugs raise Dopamine levels through some mechanism. They become addicts because they're not being treated for their illness.

You see what I'm getting at here? The need to self-medicate is the illness. Whether it's depression, anxiety, Parkinson's or cancer! You are using drugs to treat something you cannot change. You're not using drugs because you the addiction is the disease - the need for you to treat yourself is the real disease.
Click to expand...
You articulated this very well!

It also shows that not all drug use/addictions/etc.. are inherently negative or bad for a person either.
Some times people are better off or function better on their drug of choice.

I know I functioned better on heroin, but I'm sure I could find 20 people out there who would tell me it's impossible to function on heroin.

Addiction is extremely nuanced & complicated.



Oh fuck, I just noticed how old this thread is.
Wtf. Who resurrected this ancient thiing?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top