Is addiction a real disease?

The simple answer is: No.

The more complex answer is: Yes and no.

Addictive behaviors, whether they include substance abuse, self-mutilation, excessive Internet use or many other obsessive-compulsive activities, are merely unhealthy coping mechanisms that have been learned (usually subconsciously). These unhealthy coping mechanisms are a way to escape and not deal with the fear of facing the real cause. And when the coping mechanism is repeated often enough, it becomes ingrained and habitual - the escape becomes familiar, creating a comfort zone that is anything but comfortable.

The truth is, that while addiction is not catching, it has to be classified as a disease for regulatory and funding reasons.

Here is the basis for the disease concept model regarding alcoholism and addiction, according to Terry Gorski , president of the CENAPS Corporation, a training and consultation firm that specializes in chemical dependency and related behavioral health problems:

• “If alcoholism is defined as a disease, it will be treated as a healthcare problem. As a result, alcoholics will be assured the right to receive appropriate medical treatment for this disease. The treatment of Alcoholism will be covered by health insurance and other health care financing plans in both the public and private sectors. The appropriate health care groups will be mobilized to support its treatment. And, most importantly, ongoing biomedical research which relates alcoholism to other diseases will be funded. 
   
• “If alcoholism is not defined as a disease, we will be making the decision that it does not rightfully belong within healthcare. Alcoholics, then, will be denied access to vital healthcare services. Insurance and other health care financing plans will exclude alcoholism. The way that we conceptualize alcoholism and other drug dependencies is critical to the development of effective policy for its treatment. Effective policy is necessary to secure the adequate resources needed for its treatment.”

The good thing is that classifying addiction as a disease allows the disorder to fall under the auspices of healthcare, thereby making insurance benefits and funding available to help treat the person and also to sustain the bottom lines in the provider industry.

The bad thing is that by saying people have a disease, the label usurps individual power and negates personal responsibility for making unhealthy decisions and it provides an excuse for them not to change. ...my disease made me do it...

Many experts agree that the cause of a dependency is either a chemical imbalance, unresolved life experiences, beliefs that are held that are inconsistent with realty, an inability to manage current conditions or a combination of one or more or all these causes. What if the symptoms are merely the effects that have manifested as a result of physical, psychological and emotional conditions, all of which can be healed?

Thinking of addictive behaviors as something that can be unlearned is based in scientific data, according to Candace Pert, Ph.D., author of Molecules of Emotion and Bruce H. Lipton, Ph.D., author of The Biology of Belief. So, while governmental funding and insurance benefits require that addiction be classified as a disease, more and more professionals are breaking away from that debilitating and often self-defeating label when speaking about it in practical terms.

“The brain of an addict reacts to core beliefs, triggers, and emotional memories that are stored below the conscious awareness,” states Wendi Friesen, founder of The Addition Project. Echoing that same philosophy is Chris Prentiss, chemical dependency counselor and author of The Alcoholism and Addiction Cure. Prentiss is opposed to teaching that addiction is an incurable disease and, along with his son Pax, is leading the charge to change the stigma attached to such unhealthy behaviors.

“Addiction to drugs and alcohol is a symptom, not a cause, and not a disease. Addiction is triggered by either mental or physical pain; the drugs and alcohol are what you do to cope with it. To heal your addiction permanently, you must first go to the underlying cause, and heal it,” claim Pax and Chris Prentiss, co-founders of Passages Addiction Cure Center in Malibu, Calif.

SMART Recovery (Self-Management And Recovery Training) also rejects the disease concept and teaches self-help techniques to train people to recognize and change their behaviors by understanding and applying the following 4 points:
1. Learn to enhance and maintain motivation
2. Learn to cope with urges
3. Learn problem-solving tools
4. Learn how to achieve a healthier lifestyle balance

If you choose to believe the regulatory idea literally - that addiction is a disease and is incurable - then any actions you take in your life based on that belief are likely to reinforce the belief, not dispel it.

If however, you can differentiate between applying the regulatory concept model for healthcare reasons only and you are open to the possibility that addiction is not a real disease, merely a conditioned response you can unlearn, then you are probably ready to begin the unraveling process necessary to overcome it.

If you are willing to change your mind, starting with your beliefs about addiction, you can learn how to begin changing your life.