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Do You Believe Addiction is a Disease, Or... [POLL!]

Addiction is...

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    365
Based on the definition of the word "disease" I don't think addiction to anything, be it food, drugs, alcohol, gambling, etc. should be categorized as a disease. It's an insult to people with actual diseases that they did nothing to contract, like cystic fibrosis or cancer or Lou Gehrig's disease...

I think it'd be far more accurate and politically correct to classify addiction of any sort as a syndrome or disorder, or simply to call it what it is: addiction.

When I hear people like Dr. Drew on TV saying things like, "That means the disease is winning" or "That's just the disease talking", I want to puke. An addictive personality is just that: a personality trait. It's no different than your sense of humor or whether you're an optimist or pessimist. Granted, it can lead to trouble with addiction, but that's only if you decide to try a substance/activity in the first place and choose to remain uneducated about what you're doing. It's an oversimplification of the whole process of addiction and in my opinion is just another way to demonize drugs and make the people who use them seem helpless and weak, as well as a way to drive herds of the "hopeless masses" into treatment programs that are, not unlike all other evils in this world, seeking a profit or some kind of glory and fame. (That's not to say they don't work or are inherently evil, but some of their methods are questionable, such as AA's "belief in a higher power" step that has given many atheists pause even in their desperation to get well.)

So, to summarize: calling addiction a disease is like calling sensation-seeking with a tendency to skydive a disease. It's unfortunate genetics set into motion by a DECISION to try a substance/activity followed by an often uneducated decision to try it again/in larger doses/with increased frequency without regard to physical and mental health. The only similarities between addiction and disease are that both can lead to deteriorated health, misery, and ultimately, death, but that can be said for a number of things that are neither addictions nor diseases.
 
root said:
the fact is: you can wake up one morning and say "i dont want these W/Ds anymore!" and you're perfectly able to get rid of them for good. you cannot, however, wake up and say "i dont want pneumonia anymore!"and be able to get rid of it by sheer willpower.

that is my only argument for this.
you give me a legit disease that you can completely cure by yourself, without any medicines, practices (ex. dieting), etc... and i will change my mind.
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You can say "I don't want these WDs anymore", but you still have them. You still go through with them, You still gets PAWS. You are still afflicted.

How did you get your pneumonia? Go out with your hair wet? Play in the rain?. All you have to do is stop doing that and you get well (hopefully). Is a pneumonia not a disease?

Just because we know EXACTLY how to stop addiction, exactly how to never let it start, and exactly who gets it and why and how to 'fix it', does not make it any less of a disease.

If we had a choice whether or not to get cancer, and some people still chose cancer, would cancer no longer be a disease?
 
^Ah! That was the logic I was looking for~ thats where my brain went with the whole pneumonia thing.
 
smackem said:
You can say "I don't want these WDs anymore", but you still have them. You still go through with them,[ but they go away within days] You still gets PAWS. You are still afflicted.

How did you get your pneumonia? Go out with your hair wet? Play in the rain?. All you have to do is stop doing that and you get well (hopefully). Is a pneumonia not a disease?

Just because we know EXACTLY how to stop addiction, exactly how to never let it start, and exactly who gets it and why and how to 'fix it', does not make it any less of a disease. [I never said that]

If we had a choice whether or not to get cancer, and some people still chose cancer, would cancer no longer be a disease?
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1st off, I have no idea what PAWS is.

2nd you seem to have totally missed my point. I used pneumonia over cancer, specifically because you basically get to choose if you get it, unlike cancer and most other diseases. And I did that to show that I know there are some similarities between addiction and diseases, and that i can see where you're coming from.

You think I meant that if you can avoid it, it's not a disease? I did not mean that at all.

My point was that with both of those you need treatment; hospitalization, medicine, chemotherapy, whatever. I'm saying that you, as an individual, are powerless over those diseases, and I believe that's what makes them diseases. You are not powerless over addiction. That's all I've been saying.
All I'm asking for is one disease that you are in control over.
 
I don't want to attack anyone, but I think the whole "disease" concept is bullshit. All that's doing is giving someone an excuse to fail. "I have a disease, I can't help it." Fuck you. Grow some balls and stand up for yourself. You spit in the face of all the people with REAL diseases (cancer, HIV,etc,etc) when you say that shit. That shit is a cop out and you fucking know it.
 
root said:
All I'm asking for is one disease that you are in control over.
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Since addicts are 'in control' over their disease, do you believe they want to live life dependent on chemicals to feel functional? That addicts just have to *choose* to stop and thats it?

Life is a disease we have control over! Leave it alone and you will die, mess with it and you will die sooner.
Do you think addicts deserve any less help with their affliction since it is was their choice at one point?

I think plenty of diseases are contracted due to ignorance: Lung Cancer, Diabetes, COPD, Arteriosclerosis, and other various 'lifestyle diseases'.

If you worked for a company when you were 20 that exposed you to something hazardous, and you knew that was a risk, and you developed a form of cancer from it, ...maybe not the same because it wasn't due to getting high, which is socially shameful, like sex (and STDs!) are outside of appropriate social constructs.

I think that is key here, to the stigma against addicts, and to the lack of attention brought to the condition. If there was a socially appropriate setting for people to get high (shamans tent, pub, etc.) then the negative effects would be a serious subject for the medical community to tackle, like Cirrhosis, Colon Cancer, Diabetes, etc.

Oh and regarding the use of disease as a 'cop out' for addiction; there are people who will use the disease theory as a way to further the justification to use, but that is what the AMA and all the medical experts believe, so supposing it is a real mental disease, wouldn't it be logical to explain to the disgusted bystander : "I have a disease." ?
 
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ATF said:
Since addicts are 'in control' over their disease, do you believe they want to live life dependent on chemicals to feel functional? That addicts just have to *choose* to stop and thats it?
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Whether we want to or not, we will always have the choice. I myself am an addict. Do I have the uncontrollable disease of addiction? No. I'm just an addict. I REALLY like things that I like. I have the choice to stop doing them whenever I choose. The choice is always there. The human mind can convince itself of anything. If you want to believe you are diseased and powerless, go right ahead. But why don't you stop by the hospital and check out some people who are really dying, from real diseases, not theories. Better yet, try and convince yourself you are powerful and nothing can take control of your life but you.
 
ATF said:
Since addicts are 'in control' over their disease, do you believe they want to live life dependent on chemicals to feel functional? That addicts just have to *choose* to stop and thats it? [Yes. It's that simple. Just quit. I'm in the beginning stages of an opiate addiction, and i have to admit it's VERY hard to fight it. But, that doesn't mean it's not 100% possible.]

Life is a disease we have control over! Leave it alone and you will die, mess with it and you will die sooner.
Do you think addicts deserve any less help with their affliction since it is was their choice at one point?[Not at all. I'm just saying addiction isn't a disease. Why do people keep putting words in my mouth?]

I think plenty of diseases are contracted due to ignorance: Lung Cancer, Diabetes, COPD, Arteriosclerosis, and other various 'lifestyle diseases'. [Yes, but you once you have those, you have those, you know?]

If you worked for a company when you were 20 that exposed you to something hazardous, and you knew that was a risk, and you developed a form of cancer from it, ...maybe not the same because it wasn't due to getting high, which is socially shameful, like sex (and STDs!) are outside of appropriate social constructs. [Again, I totally agree with you on that, but that's not my reasoning for this.]

I think that is key here, to the stigma against addicts, and to the lack of attention brought to the condition. If there was a socially appropriate setting for people to get high (shamans tent, pub, etc.) then the negative effects would be a serious subject for the medical community to tackle, like Cirrhosis, Colon Cancer, Diabetes, etc. [I agree completely.]

Oh and regarding the use of disease as a 'cop out' for addiction; there are people who will use the disease theory as a way to further the justification to use, but that is what the AMA and all the medical experts believe, so supposing it is a real mental disease, wouldn't it be logical to explain to the disgusted bystander : "I have a disease." ?
[YOU quoted me saying 'i just want 1 disease you have total control over', and you didn't give me an example.]
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I'm just going to reply to this particular post like that, so i don't have to quote each individual part I'm responding to, and take up all that space. :\ I hope that's okay. I wont do it often.
 
"Better yet, try and convince yourself you are powerful and nothing can take control of your life but you."

^Good advice.
That begs the question whether all mental disease is self-manufactured consent.
I myself wonder about some of them, like ADD, and depression. I notice that regardless of how 'clean' physically and mentally im living, I still go through cycles of depression. Habit? Maybe.

Is, disease, perhaps, an addiction?
 
root: "YOU quoted me saying 'i just want 1 disease you have total control over', and you didn't give me an example."

Im sorry, all the diseases I listed, and more, I believe are reverseable at certain stages by making choices in diet, activity, environment, and lifestyle.

And im not arguing with you as someone who has decided on this issue, as I said earlier in an earlier post, I am still forming my opinion on this. My purpose was to further understand your position and generate discussion.
 
^that was my fault. I over simplified that statement because I had assumed you had already read this past quote.
that is my only argument for this.
you give me a legit disease that you can completely cure by yourself, without any medicines, practices (ex. dieting), etc... and i will change my mind.
Click to expand...
 
Well, everyone has to eat! And how you eat can have major effects on your health. So its not exactly a 'practice'.
 
ATF said:
Well, everyone has to eat!
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lol i know, but intentionally eating less than your stomach is requesting, is a practice. Also, eating itself is a practice. It's a practice everyone has to do to live, but a practice nonetheless. You have to eat to live, but you don't have to eat to get rid of W/Ds. Still, when I say "cure without any practices", I'm not including essential life functions as those practices.

Other diseases require you to get help from something like medicine, or hospitals, or practices like rest and eating less. But with addiction, the healing process is all you, baby. All you.
 
Yes i think addiction is a disease.When i get going i have no control over my actions.
 
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