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is addiction really a disease?

What if you just like getting fucked up? No history of depression, no one touched you as a kid, you simply like to het high and would rather be stoned than sober because it is fun? An addict does not exist the first time they use a drug. They don't become an addict the second time they take a drug. Every drug user faces a decision one day to get high or go to work for instance. Will power or a sense of moral duty exists for most people where they realise that today is not the time to get high. Others say fuck it, I'm calling in sick and having fun instead. There comes a time when personal choices suddenly pushes a person past recreation and into dependence. It doesn't make their addiction any easier to over come but to say they acquired some sort of disease when it was a personal choice is an easy way to dodge the blame for their personal choices.
 
Can of worms----->open.

I think it's an irrelevant discussion personally and comes down to semantics. I don't think classifying addiction as a disease actually helps people get better though.


My own opinion is that it's a sliding scale like many/most mental disorders and that a person's position on that scale is not constant.
 
i think that the disease model of addiction is outdated, but its used simply because there is no better way to describe it in simple terms. in the eyes of a bystander that has no idea about the world of addiction, the disease model is attractive, because its simple and easy to understand. however a disease has a mechanism of "spreading", which is why i have trouble with it, again, it's simplistic but it works. it can be cured, but in some cases cannot, exactly the same as a disease.

i think that addiction is an incredibly difficult thing to describe. a lot of people are self medicating without the realisation that they're doing it because they lack those certain neurotransmitters that the drug can boost or produce in the brain. however a lot of people just want to escape. each persons addiction is completely different to another persons, hence why i don't think a generalised term should be used for it.
 
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@ OTW


“I have absolutely no pleasure in the stimulants in which I sometimes so madly indulge. It has not been in the pursuit of pleasure that I have periled life and reputation and reason. It has been the desperate attempt to escape from torturing memories, from a sense of insupportable loneliness and a dread of some strange impending doom.”


― Edgar Allan Poe

I dont think brain damage has much if anything to do with it.. I think its we get caught in a strong delusion.. for some reason we keep doing things that suck and believe we are still doing things that are pleasurable.

That and since you are a scientist and an inteligent man I would love to hear your thoughts on this thread The Brain and Addiction (under construction):?
 
^yup thats very true, any pleasurable thing that occurs in your life you'll want to repeat if you have the possibility, regardless of whether its drugs or anything else say an activity. you're hardwired to always take the "easy" way to speak, and you need to find a way to break that.
 
Definitely, the notion that there is some common physiological attribute that is common to people with addiction problems and lacking in everyone else seems unlikely to me now.

It just isn't that simple I don't think. The 12-step method is definitely a really useful outlook that has helped untold people but I too believe it's outdated and that some new hypotheses need to be made. Less arguing over definitions of words, more discussion of how to help people recover, and not assuming that it's the same for every person.
 
I dont think brain damage has much if anything to do with it.. I think its we get caught in a strong delusion.. for some reason we keep doing things that suck and believe we are still doing things that are pleasurable.
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You don't think that reason could possibly be changes in the brain...? I can understand why you don't want to throw around the term "brain damage" as it is quite loaded but addiction has certainly been linked to changes in the brain.

Scientific advances over the past 20 years have shown that drug addiction is a chronic,
relapsing disease that results from the prolonged effects of drugs on the brain. As with
many other brain diseases, addiction has embedded behavioral and social-context
aspects that are important parts of the disorder itself. Therefore, the most effective
treatment approaches will include biological, behavioral, and social-context compo-
nents. Recognizing addiction as a chronic, relapsing brain disorder characterized by
compulsive drug seeking and use can impact society’s overall health and social policy
strategies and help diminish the health and social costs associated with drug abuse and
addiction
 
One Thousand Words said:
What if you just like getting fucked up? No history of depression, no one touched you as a kid, you simply like to het high and would rather be stoned than sober because it is fun?
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A truly happy person would never feel the need to get high all the time. If you're truly happy, you are always high - there's no need to alter your state of mind if you are truly happy. Sure you can get baked every once in a while, but someone who is truly happy would never feel the need to.
 
I agree that there are brain changes as shown in some of this thread esp the links in post 23.. but i do believe that the brain is far more placid than current beliefs give it credit for.

Hey I thought the grey matter of ADD could chew on this....

so i belive that this condition is only chronic as long as the brain remains in the state in which it is addicted.. that being said I think that the use of a substance on which we are addicted to after the brain has been restructured will lead back to a greater state or back to active addiction.
 
I'm not an addict but I have enjoyed getting high for over 20 years. I'm happy sober as many times as I am high. The reason I am not high all the time is because I choose not to be. Today I sat making Lego with my kids and was happy. Tomorrow I'll take ketamine and watch the fireworks with much the same grin upon my face. Each occasion I am truly happy.

The only reason you do not like the phrase brain damaged is because saying you are disease takes control away from the sufferer and is more politically correct, however if you are going to look at the etiology of it then self inflicted injury fits the description better than an acquire condition or disease.
 
One Thousand Words said:
The only reason you do not like the phrase brain damaged is because saying you are disease takes control away from the sufferer and is more politically correct, however if you are going to look at the etiology of it then self inflicted injury fits the description better than an acquire condition or disease.
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This sounds like a great statement promoting the disease model of addiction.. as damage to the heart is a disease.. heart disease. thus it seems you are promoting the disease model.


I also made legos with my kid today and was really happy.. I am playing infinity with my son right now and am happy.. I could take ketimine tomorrow and watch the fireworks and be happy with out having a crushing drive or any drive to take a substance that im am addicted to.. so I dont see how this is relevant at least to me.

I think the self inflicted injury fits are at the root to this and are the result of the "brain damage" or delusion we are exploring.. but why do addicts feel driven to do things that are no longer pleasurable upon somw false belife they are..

I think, as you have never been an addict, that you have not grasped how much of a persons drive is not the carrot and more this stick... as when the carrot disappeared there is still the stick to drive ones actions.. we are manipulated far more than anybody realizes.

carrot.jpg
 
Is it a disease? I don't know. It's CERTAINLY a state of "Dis-ease" though. ;)


Also, the OP's own example as to why it's not could go both ways. (whether it's the OP's or the magazine or whatever)

It gives examples of diseases that are nothing like addiction for many reasons, but it's ironic because it points out that the 3 diseases used in the example are nothing like each other either for many reasons.

Not to mention the American Medical Association lists it as a disease and it's listed in the Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM) as a disease, the diagnostic manual used by physicians.


Personally i don't give a fuck. It's a dis-ease and it's ruined my life,(up to now, and will continue to if i don't continue to treat it) and whatever you can't to call it, for me it's a chronic illness that needs to be treated for the rest of my life.
 


5:20-7:45

I agree with this... Not just for alcohol but any drug. Of course, physical dependence is another thing. According to AA alcoholism is a disease that you're never cured of. That's gotta be real helpful for someone to get better. lol
 
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I've personally never been to AA/NA or a 12 step group, rational recovery, or faith based sobriety group for Christians, Jews, Muslims, etc. I know people who have done both or just one and it works for them at keeping them sober.

I'm reading a book about meth by Frank Owen and in the book he writes that 80% of people who have drug or alcohol addiction quit on their own and don't go to AA/NA or to a faith based sobriety group. I'm not sure if this is true?

I know that in AA they say how if you can stop drinking on your own for 10-12 months then according to them you don't have the disease of alcoholism, and I've read that most alcoholics are the high functioning type who don't necessarily get physically addicted to alcohol which makes it even more confusing.

Have a safe and happy new year's eve and 2014 everyone.
 
not a disease; but yet we treat addiction w/ medication, so is it a disease? a dope fiend like myself now on 3 diff types of med (the usual subox and SSRI low dosage to go w/ bupe - standard. also Hyrooxzine for sleeping/anxiety). why am I prescribed that medication? for a disease, right? or because I made bad decisions and kept w/ those decisions for years and now I turn to new "decisions" because it's how we are allowed to treat the problem.

I do have a brain tumor/cancer, tho. that is a disease. those meds I also take w/ the rest just mentioned. thats still monthly meds, Temazolomide 5 days a months; it's somewhat of a chemo for low level tumor/cancer. another med I take is Leveitriacam (SP?). It's an anti seizure pill.

a seizure is what led me to find out about my brain cancer. honestly, I am SURE my seizure happened due to withdrawal from benzop/opiate but it led to me finding out MORE PROBLEMS and led to MORE MEDICATION and MORE ADDICTION!

even now after kicking dope I just read off all I am prescribed; I wake up and have to take 5-7 pills a day. it's miserable.

and this is NOT ADDICTION ANYMORE, right? because I dont take the drug to get high? I take it because I need it?

ha. addiction is a disease all right. a disease that makes people a lot of money both on the street, hospital/clinics and pharmas.
 
I tend to categorise it as a mental illness / disorder rather than a disease, although I don't particularly mind that definition either (maybe they are the same thing to some people?). As others have already pointed out, the description of disease does fit with some people's experience of addiction.

The way I see it is that addiction comes more from the brains inability to function properly rather than from the substance itself. If you're someone who cannot produce enough dopamine for example and you take a substance that helps you do that, then the chances are you are going to become locked into taking that substance as it is helping your brain function correctly. If it was the other way round and addiction was just part and parcel of the substance, then wouldn't everyone become addicted when they took a drug?

I don't think our society promotes a healthy upbringing for the majority of the population. We grow up in stressful / isolated environments and this has an impact on how we develop. I also believe that potentially there are far more addicted people then we or they realise. How many people can function on a day to day basis without having caffeine or sugar for example? Let alone nicotine, alcohol and other such things.

I should say that most of my opinions on this subject come from Gabor Maté, a Canadian physician who is an expect on addiction and the treatment of it. If you're not aware of him I recommend you check out some of his videos / talks as I personally found them to be incredibly insightful.

>> Dr. Gabor Mate: Addiction
 
BostonBrownTown said:
ha. addiction is a disease all right. a disease that makes people a lot of money both on the street, hospital/clinics and pharmas.
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I disagree... There's definitely chemical dependency of course, but I sort of view it as any sort of health problems you develop from the addiction itself is self harm. If I go huff gasoline and get brain damage because of it it's not a disease. Polio is a disease.
 
I disagree... There's definitely chemical dependency of course, but I sort of view it as any sort of health problems you develop from the addiction itself is self harm. If I go huff gasoline and get brain damage because of it it's not a disease. Polio is a disease.
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If someone uses needles or has unprotected sex with a stranger and gets Hep C or HIV do are they no longer diseases and simply self harm?
 
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