Is Addiction a Disease? Medical Definition, Risks, Help

There is division on this issue, despite convincing scientific studies that sway the argument towards addiction being an illness. Some people argue that poor choices mainly cause addiction and that willpower is the only cure to overcome misuse of a substance. Others have looked into how addiction and substance misuse affects the brain, making it very difficult to stop without professional medical assistance. It’s important to look at both sides of this argument to understand the different attitudes towards addiction that people hold in society today. A disease by definition is any type of medical condition that inhibits the human body from working as it should.

It seems that the last bottleneck for disease-opponents is not so much the term disease as such, but rather the brain disease account [61]. Many scholars are classifying addiction as a disease and then automatically equating this with it being a brain disease. As discussed earlier, this conclusion is a statement disputed by many who feel that this neglects too many other important aspects of addiction. Therefore, referring to addiction as a disease, without specifying when or why a condition is called a disease, results in the automatic association with the BDM.

Disease, Disorder or Impaired Capacities?

They have concluded that the person’s ability to develop addiction links to their genetic makeup. Addiction is a severe, lifelong condition characterized by a person continually seeking and compulsively using a drug. These consequences can include organ diseases, cancer, mental illness, and even death.

The journey toward addiction recovery takes worthwhile dedication and hard work, and juggling physical and mental well-being can become challenging…. Even after years of being sober, a person with an addiction may become triggered by something that reminds them of taking the substance. Triggers include driving by an old building where they used to purchase the substance, hearing a song on the radio they would listen to while taking the substance or even meeting an old acquaintance with whom they took the substance. It also inhibits the brain’s ability to make good judgment, literally rewiring the command center in charge of decision making.

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Although our principal focus is on the brain disease model of addiction, the definition of addiction itself is a source of ambiguity. Here, we provide a perspective on the major forms of terminology in the field. Substance abuse has a number of risk factors that can increase the potential of a patient becoming addicted, as well as bring a number of hurdles to patients who are trying to conquer addiction. These include psychological factors, behavioral factors, environmental factors, and genetic factors as well.

So while we can pinpoint lifestyle choices as an initiation to addiction, remember that these choices are not made independently of the person’s culture, environment, or opportunities. A person doesn’t choose how their brain and body respond to substances. People with a substance use disorder https://stylevanity.com/2023/07/top-5-questions-to-ask-yourself-when-choosing-sober-house.html can still reduce their use or abstain — it’s just much harder than it is for others. Just like any other disease people need to be able to get quality, evidence-based treatment and care. Like diabetes, cancer and heart disease, addiction is caused by a combination of factors.

Accepting Treatment

Addiction has diverse medical, behavioral and social consequences that affect one’s ability to function in virtually every life domain. Thus, the target outcome for treatment cannot be just reducing drug use; it must be restoring the individual to full functioning in the family, at work and in society. For these reasons, the best treatments combine–as appropriate to the individual–medications, behavioral therapies and necessary psychosocial services. Much of the critique targeted at the conceptualization of addiction as a brain disease focuses on its original assertion that addiction is a chronic and relapsing condition. Epidemiological data are cited in support of the notion that large proportions of individuals achieve remission [27], frequently without any formal treatment [28, 29] and in some cases resuming low risk substance use [30].

• If we can acknowledge that addiction is like a disease in some ways and very much unlike a disease in other ways, maybe we can stop trying to label it and pay more attention to the best means for overcoming it.
• In order for someone to find freedom from the bondage of a substance use disorder, they will need to get treatment.
• Rather, in supportive environments, where the agent is buffered from many demands by social support, this impairment is fully compatible with pursuing a good life.
• These environmental factors critically include availability of drugs, but also of healthy alternative rewards and opportunities.
• Activities that stimulate the reward center include eating and spending time with the people they love.

But when the habit grows and strengthens, does the element of choice remain, or does the use stem from a disease? It’s understandable how someone may ask if addiction is really a disease or a choice. A recent study of heroin addicts found that at the end of one year, approximately 50 percent remained in treatment and more than 80 percent had used heroin regardless of the type of treatment they received.

We believe this is enough to prove to you that addiction is an illness. Let’s go a little deeper into how addiction experts arrived at the conclusion that addiction is an illness and not a choice. It should be noted that there are rivals to the reward prediction interpretation of mesolimbic dopaminergic activity.

When we approach trauma, we have learned to shift from “What’s wrong with you? Doing anything less will continue the cycle of blame, shame and punishment that contributes both to isolation and people feeling bad about themselves. Addiction is a disease that not only affects the physical body, but also crushes the soul. “Feeding the disease” requires a preoccupation with obtaining and consuming substances. This is often accompanied by deceitful and irresponsible behavior, taking a toll on relationships, family commitments and work duties. It is easy to blame the individual for bad behavior – lying, cheating and stealing, as well as angry outbursts – rather than putting the focus on the disease that creates those behaviors.