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

Addiction is...

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    365
^I guess Im so used to not trusting main-stream medicine when it comes to issues that are politically sensitive (illegal drugs, aspertame...manufactured by Monsanto Corp...which owns your soul, SSRI's, etc.), so I assumed those guidelines were understood to be arbitrary, but I understand that some people are good trusting Citizens of the State, and the thought that they might be told less than the truth may have never crossed their minds.

Regardless of my crazy conspiracy theories, I guess I should clarify that I wasn't looking for a textbook answer here; I want to hear from those that have been there, and what they think about addiction from their personal experience.
Im well aware of what the medical community believes, and Im just wondering if that is what everyone believes. I dont necessarily believe or disbelieve them, but wish to learn more to further shape my opinion.

Sorry if this came across offensively to anyone, I just type too descriptively when Im in need of bed, and there are hooligans in my head.8o
 
Has anyone seen the south park episode "Bloody Mary"? It's the last one in season 9 and watchable for free at http://www.southparkstudios.com.

It's a little over the top, but how they portrait addiction comes close to my view. AFAIK, you don't have to drink that beer, it's just a choice you make, over and over again.
 
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I tend to agree with Stanton Peele and Bruce K. Alexander's theories on the subject. Has anyone here read about the rat park study? From Wikipedia:

Alexander's hypothesis was that drugs do not cause addiction, and that the apparent addiction to morphine commonly observed in laboratory rats exposed to it is attributable to their living conditions, and not to any addictive property of the drug itself. [1] He told the Canadian Senate in 2001 that experiments in which laboratory rats are kept isolated in cramped metal cages, tethered to self-injection apparatus, show only that "severely distressed animals, like severely distressed people, will relieve their distress pharmacologically if they can." [2]

To test his hypothesis, Alexander built Rat Park, a 200-square-foot (18.6 m²) housing colony, 200 times the square footage of a standard laboratory cage. There were 16–20 rats of both sexes in residence, an abundance of food, balls and wheels for play, and private places for mating and giving birth. [3] The results of the experiment appeared to support his hypothesis. Rats who had been forced to consume morphine hydrochloride for 57 consecutive days were brought to Rat Park and given a choice between plain tap water and water laced with morphine. For the most part, they chose the plain water. "Nothing that we tried," Alexander wrote, "... produced anything that looked like addiction in rats that were housed in a reasonably normal environment." [1]
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Dr. Alexander also frequently references the Vietnam war where a very large number became addicted to heroin yet only 7% continued their use when they returned home- when they were trapped in a "cage" (Vietnam) they used to "relieve their distress pharmacologically" and when they returned home to their "colony" they didn't need it and conversely got in the way of their normal functioning.

Common threads in addicts include past abuse, broken homes, dealing with poverty and shitty jobs, mental illness and other afflictions that "cage" the individual so they look to chemicals to relieve their distress.
 
PureLife said:
By definintion its a disease. It's considered a disease in the medical community, and widely accepted common knowledge. I don't understand whats so hard to understand about this guys. It might be your personal opinion that it isn't, but your personal opinion doesn't fucking matter in the real world unfortuantly. Try not to shed tears.
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Ummm, ok dude. Calm down.

Just cause it's currently accepted and believed by a bunch of people doesn't make it true. There are plenty of respected people out there who say it is not a disease.


Seems like you might be sticking to the disease model for personal reasons.
 
phrozen said:
Ummm, ok dude. Calm down.

Just cause it's currently accepted and believed by a bunch of people doesn't make it true. There are plenty of respected people out there who say it is not a disease.


Seems like you might be sticking to the disease model for personal reasons.
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Seems like you refuse to accept its a disease for personal reasons. I gave my reasons why I thought it was a disease, what are your reasons.

Because it is a behavoir?

Because one can stop doing it?

Those are pretty soft reasons.
 
^A bear may be classified as an omnivore, but that classification is not the end-all be-all of the bear; it's a fabricated system of classification that we use to organize creatures eating habits.
In the same way many people are not comfortable being labeled as an 'addict' just because some of their behavior meets the criteria of an imposed system of classification.
 
Definitely not. Addiction is voluntary, some what. Addiction can be cured with will power. Why the fuck would you consider it a disease in the first place other than to try to sound like a smart ass.

Whats wrong with saying physical drug dependence is a disease? Sounds much more logical to me.
 
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Cane2theLeft said:
I tend to agree with Stanton Peele and Bruce K. Alexander's theories on the subject. Has anyone here read about the rat park study? From Wikipedia:



Dr. Alexander also frequently references the Vietnam war where a very large number became addicted to heroin yet only 7% continued their use when they returned home- when they were trapped in a "cage" (Vietnam) they used to "relieve their distress pharmacologically" and when they returned home to their "colony" they didn't need it and conversely got in the way of their normal functioning.

Common threads in addicts include past abuse, broken homes, dealing with poverty and shitty jobs, mental illness and other afflictions that "cage" the individual so they look to chemicals to relieve their distress.
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^Thats really interesting, would like to read more on that study...


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man, ive been to many 12 step rehabs. I dont think its a disease, but my opinion doesn't mattter. It's just how it is.
 
Abuse and addiction are separate and distinct from physical dependence and tolerance.

Addicts take narcotics to escape from life, chronic pain patients take narcotics so they can participate in life.
-BB
 
PureLife said:
man, ive been to many 12 step rehabs. I dont think its a disease, but my opinion doesn't mattter. It's just how it is.
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Your opinion matters here, thats why I opened this thread.
Personally, if I based my deepest ethical beliefs and measured my most outlandish personal experiences by the laws and beliefs of the people in charge (AKA the P.I.C. ~ wristcutters anyone?=D )
I would hate myself and consider myself a social pariah.

But for those of us who are minorities or outcasts, to stay sane and healthy we've had to accept that certain large groups of people are going to disagree with our world-view, our lifestyle, or simply our right to share space with them, on the basis of religion or law, and not based on logic or reason.

The fact that I am gay and am planning on getting married in a month may turn many people against me reflexively. Just 30 years ago it was considered a mental illness to have romantic feelings toward someone of the same sex, even though it has been with us, and hundreds of species of animals, as far back as recorded history goes.
I know I didnt make a choice to be gay, I fought it harder than anything for years, and I have to go on with my life in a society that is just starting to contain its discomfort for my very existence.

Segregation was law once, and that was just how it was, until enough people decided their opinion had to matter.
 
I say no. You catch a disease with very rarely a choice involved. You catch an addiction by making bad choices. Big difference in my opinion. One could make the genetics argument but i dont feel like if my father was a oxy fiend that I would be drawn to it like magic, maybe I'd have a higher chance of being an addict but if anything I'd say environment is a bigger factor than a genetic predisposition.
 
smackem said:
I gave my reasons why I thought it was a disease, what are your reasons.
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i would like to direct you to an earlier quote by yours truly.
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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smackem said:
Those are pretty soft reasons.
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why? I would like to know why. in your expert opinion, what EXACTLY makes those soft reasons?
 
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