Why can't people accept that drug addiction is a disease?

Question

I know it is the fact that humans have to blame someone. It is easy to accept that a person can't work because they are in too much pain from a physical ailment. However, people refuse to accept a person with an addiction as having a disease. They have found that drug addiction can be genetic.

The brain is just as physical as the body, therefore it too is subject to imperfections and problems. But being that the brain is so complex, the effects are too. Brain = behavior therefore if your brain is lacking in some chemical that controls impulse, then you will become impulsive. The brain craves stimulation and if it isn't getting it, you will feel compelled to get some. Then you can't stop no matter how muchyou want to because your impulse takes over. It's like you are on autopilot and are just looking at yourself threw a mirror.

Before we make ignorant claims and statements one should be educated with the facts. Do you agree?

Because I knew people would answer it because their is always so much traffic in here.

Also, I'd like to see how the religious crowd thinks on this...

Printnin, you make a good point, however, either you're an addict or you aren't. Obviously you aren't one.

Answer 1

Addiction is a bio-psycho-social phenomenon. All three elements must be present to maintain addiction. You can physically addict someone to heroin, but unless that person has a physiological predisposition to heroin, a psychological makeup that makes them susceptible to the effects of narcotics, and a social reinforcement (access to drugs, money to acquire them, other addicts to get high with) they will usually go through withdrawal and return to being functioning members of society.

In other words, addicts have to WANT to be addicts.

Therefore, to call it a disease is a stretch, because the addicted person plays an active role in MAINTAINING their disease. A person who gets Chicken Pox or Diabetes not only doesn't want the disease, they want to recover from it.

Take away an alcoholics access to booze, a smokers access to cigarettes and a junkies access to smack and magically their addiction goes away. They still may have all the cravings, stress, etc, but now they have to cope with them like normal people do. Is it hard for them? Of course, but that's how addicts recover from addiction, and the proof is that people recover every day, and stay clean the rest of their lives.

Are there studies that show some people have a genetic predisposition for addiction? Yes, but they are hardly applicable to entire societies. Calling addiction a genetic hardship that people can't overcome is just another excuse for addicts not looking in the mirror and saying their troubles are their own fault.

Answer 2

We might not totally agree. But alcohol and drug addiction is considered a disease. It's a mental disease with psychological manifestations. It's very hard to view them as such as there's some will power and choices involved. Addiction begins with the voluntary behavior of using drugs, and addicts must participate in and take some significant responsibility for their recovery. Thus, having this brain disease does not absolve the addict of responsibility for his or her behavior. But it does explain why an addict cannot simply stop using drugs by sheer force of will alone. The entire concept of addiction has suffered greatly from imprecision and misconception. In fact, if it were possible, it would be best to start all over with some new, more neutral term. The confusion comes about in part because of a now archaic distinction between whether specific drugs are “physically” or “psychologically”addicting. The distinction historically revolved around whether or not dramatic physical withdrawal symptoms occur when an individual stops taking a drug; what we in the field now call “physical dependence.” However, 20 years of scientific research has taught that focusing on this physical versus psychological distinction is off the mark and a distraction from the real issues. Thus, the majority of the biomedical community now considers addiction, in its essence, to be a brain disease: A condition caused by persistent changes in brain structure and function expressed in compulsive behavior.

Answer 3

Everyone needs to start taking responsibility for their actions. There is enough information about drugs and how bad they are and what they do. I understand people wanting to escape reality. There are other ways to do this. I can't pick up a crack pipe and start smoking because I'm bored and want to see what it's like. I know what crack does. Pretty much everyone does. I don't know why so many people are addicted to these horrible drugs. Abortions are another thing. Birth controls are 99.9% effective. If people would take the responsibility to get on and use birth control, we would have hardly any abortions. People don't want to take responsibility anymore. We need to start thinking instead of going through life like zombies.

Answer 4

well, it has been shown that alot of animals, not just humans, do drugs (mind altering). There are some animals that eat certian bugs and plants to get high. I think that people do what feels good. I must wonder though, if it is a sin for someone to do drugs, then what about the animals that do it? Does that mean animals have free will to do as they please? I think that religion is what has made any type of drug use "evil".

Answer 5

It is not a disease, it is an addiction, just like being an alcoholic. You have the choice to take the medication, and you also have the free will not to take it and not to drink. You become addicted to something when you don't follow your doctor's orders, or when you're so weak you can't tell your body that you aren't going to take it.

Answer 6

Cancer is a disease. Drug addiction is the result of a bad choice and ignorance.

Answer 7

Change the spirit, then the desires change. I know, God delivered me from alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, all in one night, as if I never did them. I had no desire or urge. It was as if I never did them.

Answer 8

It is a rather over-simplified discussion of the neuro-chemistry involved but I agree. Why is this here?

Answer 9

Addiction is a dis-ease.

Answer 10

If i shot myself in the foot on purpose would you feel sorry for me?