Is addiction a disease or choice?

[Dionysus]

Special on ABC tomorrow
http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp...9&nav=0RdaFH73



Your views?

[swissmiss04]

Tough call! I think the actual addiction itself is a disease BUT to start the behavior (drinking, drugs, sex) is completely the person's fault. You have a choice to do or not do drugs. I think in general today's society has no sense of self control (hence the millions of fat people wandering around). In previous times it was a shame and a disgrace to be wasteful or indulgent, mostly for altruistic reasons, but also religious reasons. Now people can't do w/ just what they need and a little of what they want. They have to have all their needs and all their wants. And there's a lot to want these days. But this bullisht about being addicted to fast food is, well, bullisht.

[smiley21]

i definitely agree with swissmiss. but addicts shouldnt use the disease excuse to justify inability to quit. what we are talking about here is all mental. we as humans have the power to overcome ANY difficulty. i dont care what it is. the problem is our weakness. of course getting over addiction is hard but it is not impossible.

[Shine]

Addiction is a mental disease.

People can be addicted to food, drugs, alcohol, shopping or any other thing.

However, even addicts can make the mental CHOICE to stop their addiction and better their lives.

It's a bit of both.

[swissmiss04]

Addiction is a disease, like any other. For our purposes, let's say, asthma. I was born w/ a genetic predisposition to asthma. Certain factors prompted it to flare. Now, if I make a bad decision (i.e. hang around smokers, dust w/o a mask, forget my meds) I will suffer the consequences w/potentially fatal results. People are born w/ genetic propensity towards "an addiction". In most cases, a specific addiction isn't encoded. ("Addictive personality") But once things happen to encourage it (stress, poverty, exposure to addictive thing) the addiction flares up. When the person makes a bad decision (smoke crack, sleep around, overeat) they reap what they sow. If people who know they have addictive personalities would stay away from potentially addictive things, they wouldn't get addicted. But yeah, easier said than done.

[James]

Choice mostly.

[Dionysus]

I watched the special last night and I thought some of the stuff they said was hokey.

As a lot of people say, I think it's both. I think some people are predisposed to addiction, however it is a person's choice rather they avoid things they can get addicted to or not. Example, if gambling addiction runs in your family and you yourself know that you have an addictive personality, you have the choice to avoid or engage yourself in gambling. Once you start it is much harder to stop. So why start?

[ladybug1116]

I did my internship in a substance abuse treatment facility so I heard a lot about this topic....

In the mental health world, addiction is often referred to as "a disease of feelings" The addiction is an outward manifestation of many underlying problems...including outrageous social situations, mental illness, etc.

There are also some who argue that addiction is connected to brain chemistry. They say that the process of addiction occurs in the limbic system (brain stem area). The limbic system stimulates sense of smell, motivation, sex drive, as well as various emotional responses. The limbic system also plays a role in regulating basic and automatic bodily functions. The automatic nature of the limbic system is what sets up the addiction process.

I could get more complex but I don't have the time at the moment. Just another thought on the topic Also I have no idea what the show said or whatever but now I wish I'd seen it. Especially since someone mentioned that some of the info was "hokey"