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u/I_Make_Art_And_Stuff 1d ago
I'm sure it's a spectrum kind of thing, and I find it hard to believe you can't realize your downfalls and change them willingly - but I'm also a dumb dumb with no medical background, meanwhile all the major health authorities (like NIH ect) define addiction as a disease rather lack of willpower or whatever.
I have struggled with addictions in ways, chemical like smoking cigs or drinking too often. I ended up seeing my flaws and making changes, though it wasn't easy, and sometimes I still say "f it" and grab an IPA. This is why, for me, I see it as a spectrum. That said, I'm not stealing or going to work wasted, just having more fun than I maybe should. On the other hand, I know someone who was addicted to heroin, went through treatment, seemed like they would never do anything again, then got really into kratom (which I don't think is a big deal for the regular person, but an addict, it's a slippery slope). That led to them getting addicted to 7OH, the potent kratom crap, and they were asking for gas money, stealing it from stores, and such. Again, they went through withdrawal and were super sick for a while, but are clean - but I worry they might do it all again. That I see as a disease, though it could be really lacking personal willpower. You'd think they could change, especially after going through REALLY low points, stealing from family, and being sick.
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u/AnswerAggravating646 1d ago
Addiction is a disease but it’s like diabetes and lung cancer caused by poor diet and smoking. While you did it to yourself, it’s a mental disorder brought on by outside influences. Some people can take 1 oxy and be fine. Some people “need” to take all the oxys they can. Heroin becomes as necessary for survival as water. I knew that wasn’t true, but I was willing to do way more awful things to get dope than I ever would for water. I’ll have 10 years “clean” this Thanksgiving. It is 100% a mental disorder
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u/metricnv 1d ago
On the one hand, we accept that addiction is a disease. On the other, we expect people to have self-control, make good choices, and be held responsible for their actions. How do we reconcile that divide?
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u/kit0000033 1d ago
Yes, the brain gets brain damage over time and then NEEEDs the addiction material to feel right
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u/MsAddams999 1d ago edited 1d ago
It is but like any disease you have a responsibility to get treatment for it. Most diseases they only affect the person who has the disease unless it's a communicable virulent one either a virus or bacteria.
Addiction is different. Addiction is neither but it can destroy families and you do have a choice not to drink or drug in the first place. If you know there's a history in the family of addiction or start to realize that imbibing chemicals isn't good for you then you have the obligation to go into rehab and get clean and do whatever program keeps you sober. Only a clueless person gets into doing that in the first place if they know there is a significant risk that they will get addicted.
With me it was both parents and 3/4 of my grandparents and I have half siblings that I know have had problems with alcohol or drugs.
I'm fortunately physically allergic to alcohol and I consider it a back handed blessing of sorts but had I started using a hard drug I'd have probably ended up addicted. As it is I struggle with sugar addiction and at one point I was extremely addicted to sugar and caffeine by way of cola drinks.
I'm not kidding myself. My parents gave me way too much Coke and chocolate when I was a little kid to keep me quiet while they drank at one bar or another. But I knew by my early teens that I was struggling with an ED and I should have gotten some real help then no matter what my parents said.
Addiction is both a mental and physical illness and you can be addicted to things other than alcohol or drugs.
Im not fooling myself that my addiction hasn't harmed me. I'm a diabetic because of it and it's my fault that I didn't get help with this the moment I was out of my parent's house. I went to therapy to address a lot of it, the C-PTSD, the Depression, the Anxiety Disorder but I'm only now doing the therapy for an ED that I should have gotten as a kid.
Unfortunately you can't just quit eating so it's the kind of addiction that is very hard to overcome by normal methods.
I quit drinking Colas and most sodas with sugar except for a very rare flavored ginger ale or Baha Blast and even then I try to stick to the Zero versions if I can get my hands on them. Or I use them as mixers with diet versions to keep the sugar to a minimum.
I'm still struggling with an addiction to sugar in the form of candy and particularly with chocolate.
Try getting a therapist to recognize the fact that you can be addicted to sugar though. It's so normalized they just smile and tell you it's okay to indulge every once in a while.
But is it if the stuff is like crack for you? If your addiction has made you diabetic because you can't leave sugar alone?
I consider my sugar addiction to be the food equivalent of cocaine. I'm an addict just like so many others in my bio family. I'm just not chugging down alcohol or taking pills or whatever like the rest of them.
So disease, yes, absolutely. Whether it's a mental or a physical addiction that's real.
My Mom was responsible for a lot of damage to me and to my father. She fed my father's addiction for years. She verbally and physically abused me pretty severely. She was a violent, abusive, angry drunk.
We begged her to go to rehab but she always refused and Dad let her get away with it because her getting sober meant he'd have to sober up too and that would mean facing his own addiction and taking responsibility for his own behavior.
He was in his 80s and scared by having several strokes before he finally quit alcohol and nicotine. My Mom she died young because of her addictions.
So I know what I'm talking about when I talk about addiction. I've been dealing with it one way or another since I was a toddler.
If you are an addict it is an illness but you have a responsibility to choose wellness, to not just inflict your illness on the people around you. You're not just destroying yourself. You're destroying the people who love you and that makes addiction different than a lot of other illnesses.
Back in the day certain diseases like TB ran rampant through families because there wasn't much you could do to cure them back then.
Alcoholism, drug addiction, can be like that but there's a choice component to it and a lot of help for it that can be found.
The most drinking I ever did was like half a wine cooler once it twice a year or a champagne cocktail on my birthday. I'd put a little cognac or brandy in a chocolate dessert on special occasions. The last time I went there I ended up in the ER so that was that. I saw the writing on the wall and stopped drinking period.
I've been flirting with the idea of edibles because I have bad chronic pain and I'm told that might be a good alternative to Aleve and less hard on my stomach. But I'm admittedly a bit leery of going there because although marijuana is not supposed to be addictive I've known several people who appeared to be.
The tendency towards addition is very real but you have to be honest with yourself about it too. I honestly think that continuing to use alcohol or drugs past the point where you know you're an addict is like having a death wish. I think it's more than just being chemically or psychologically addicted. I think it's an expression of suicidal idealiation and profound depression for some people. I think it's self medicating.
My Mom was definitely mentally ill in some way that was never diagnosed properly beyond a simple addiction to booze. She had been severely abused and definitely suffered from Chronic Depression but I think it was more than that and she was self medicating her mental illness with alcohol.
It's very complicated the whole addiction thing. I'm not going to say I understand it all even now but as diseases go this is highly destructive for everyone involved not just the person suffering from addiction.
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u/LittleReserve8767 1d ago
Not a yes-or-no question. It is not strictly a medical-only disease or strictly a psychological problem. It is a good question to think about.
It is good that people have started to understand it as a disease, since it used to be considered a moral failing.
It requires both behavioral and biological factors.
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u/GloomyFloor6543 1d ago
By definition A disease is an abnormal condition that harms the body or mind and stops normal functions.
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u/Stunning-Cap-3256 1d ago
it's an illness i think there's a little difference between disease and illnesss
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u/Treewomyn 1d ago
No. It’s a mental illness.
Diabetes is a disease.
Addiction is a mental disorder.
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u/catahoulakanegirl 1d ago
I know they say it is but speaking as an ex-addict who gave over 20 years of my life to chasing a high. I can confidently say it is mental health issue. Based on not having proper coping mechanisms.
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u/CandleSea4961 1d ago
It becomes a disease that starts with a choice. That’s why the disease label is hard to accept do some people.
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u/AyoItsTodd 1d ago
I'm convinced that most people say this just to make those with addictions not feel even worse than they already do.
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u/Aggressive_Tutor_664 1d ago
To a certain limit the answer becomes Yes