If you would've asked me if I thought addiction was a disease a couple of years ago, I would've said no. My exact words would have been, "It is their choice to pick up the drug/alcohol/whatever". That all has since changed.
Addiction is in-fact, a disease.
Much like any disease or chronic illness, addiction is hereditary. Addiction can run in families, and some may be more prone to it than others. It is a course that is influenced by environmental conditions and behavior, as well as the ability to respond to appropriate treatment, which may include long-term lifestyle modification. Human studies of addictive behaviors have clearly implicated both environmental and genetic influences, as well as connections between the two. There is evidence from adoption and twin studies demonstrating that addiction, like other chronic diseases, is a heritable disorder and, that genes play a role in vulnerability to addiction, aka addictive personalities. As with all complex diseases, environmental risk and protective factors interact with genetics to determine the course and outcome of disease. Just like mental illness, addiction can come out at any point in one's life. Those with a genetic predisposition to addiction will experience a chemical reaction in the brain the first time they use any drug or substance alike, causing brain chemistry changes and an irresistible connection/bond to such. At that moment, addiction sets in and the disease is very real. The use and abuse will inevitably continue and breaking the connection to it becomes seemingly impossible. Yet, those without the predisposition to addiction will have a much easier time in kicking such a habit. Just simply due to the different chemical reactions in the brain. Those with a genetic predisposition to addiction possess a brain that responds differently to certain substances or activities which are essentially objects of addiction. Those who don’t suffer from addiction can logically understand all of that but, won’t be able to relate to the changes in the brain which makes the object of addiction virtually irresistible. Thankfully, recovery is possible and people can overcome obstacles. Just like any disease/mental illness, there is no cure for addiction but it can be treated.
Anorexia, Bulimia, etc. Addiction falls under the same category. If one can really not sympathize with addiction, one simply cannot understand that a person is not their disease. A person is still a person, just with a problem and in need of help. I'm thankful that some may never realize that addiction is 100% a disease. For those people have never felt the pain from losing or even almost losing a loved one to such a thing. Addiction is a scary thing that most cannot comprehend. Yet, I will always be a supporter to those who need it. As well as always sympathizing for those tangled in the messy web that addiction has weaved for them.
Resource: http://killtheheroinepidemicnationwide.org/2016/08...
