Do You Think Addiction Is a Disease?
Question by Pride: Do you think addiction is a disease?
Four major national and international government health agencies, the World Health Organization, the American Psychiatric Association (APA), American Medical Association (AMA), and World Health Organization all define addiction as a primary chronic disease. Primary meaning that it is not caused by another disease, and chronic–well I hope everyone reading this knows what chronic means.
Any type of alcohol or drug use can cause permanent changes to the brain, no matter how slight the use. The extent of change in brain chemistry has to do with a person’s genes and the amount and frequency of use. A person can be a problem drinker or a problem drug user without having the disease.
Above are the things I do know. What I don’t know, and I don’t think anyone does, is at what point it becomes a disease. There is no quanifiable number such as with AIDs we say that when the persons T-cell count goes below 200 per microliter of blood. Is addiction
Addiction is not just a behavioral disorder as was once thought, or so the experts say. At first it is a choice to use alcohol or other drugs, but eventually the brain becomes so used to depending on the drug to produce neuro transmitters such as dopamine, serotonin, norepinephram, etc, that when the drug or drink is stopped the brain cannot produce enough of its own and things like withdrawals and depression, & anxiety occur. Even after the physical withdrawals stop, the person’s brain will cause cravings and a desperate feeling to drink or use again. There is no cure for this, but as groups like Alcoholics Anonymous have shown, the disease can be put into remission from active addiction.
I do agree with AA as they describe alcoholism…”cunning, baffleing, and powerful.”
Hopefully, there will be a cure one way, or at least effective medical treatment that can somehow stop the progression of the disease. For a person who is dying of cancer or whose love one is dying of cancer it may seem slightly insulting to call addiction a disease. The same would be true of someone who resents addicts or alcoholics for the inevitable negative impact it has on their lives, work, family, and those they interact with. (impaired driving etc.)
So what’s your position on the issue? Do you regard addiction as a disease or as a choice?
Best answer:
Answer by David
Addiction is a disease….
What do you think? Answer below!
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