I believe it starts out as a "choice" but turns into a "disease".

I think it's just like that too.

It's the addicts 'choice' as to wether they take that first hit, shot, drink etc. But after that, it evolves into a monster.

It is thier choice wether they get treatment or not, but something, not someone, needs to motivate them to break the chains of addiction that is holding them down and embrace the chance at sobriety. Often, it's when they look down and all they see is death, sometimes, it's never. Sometime's it's something as simple as waking up and realizing this is not the life you want.

Denail is a symptom of the addiction, and all addicts suffer from it.

I am going to repeat what was told to me at a family meeting in the rehab center as accurately as possible, if I screw it up and somebody can correct it please do. Your brain creates chemicals that help with pain, physical and mental pain, and these chemicals also can make you have a happy rush, like how you may have felt as a child when you go to the Christmas tree and Santa got you what you asked for. Somewhere down the line an addict took something that recreated that feeling with an outside source chemical, and they refer to what they experienced as an "allergic reaction". They explain it as a disease that way, if I take a bottle of pain pills as prescribed it makes me feel lousy, but dulls the pain, the addict takes them and has a different reaction to the affects. So as the begin use they are getting the chemical brain reaction with the substance, and the body stops producing the natural chemical to try to balance itself. So the feel good when they use, and when they don't the pain they deal with starts to overwhelm them due to the lack of natural chemica, so they use more, snowball effect.

Another thing that happens is the substance targets the frontal cortex portion of the brain. This is the little voice in your head, thoughts of consequences are generated in the frontal cortex, "I want to eat that candy bar but I am already over weight so I won't" or "I want to buy that neckless but I have just enough money to pay rent this month". The substance takes away that little voice, and what the addict thinks they want while impaired is what they do, they have numbed away the stop sign in their head, all they see is go. If you have ever drank too much at anytime you may have done something you later regretted, what seemed like a good idea was not in hindsight, imagine being like that all the time, that is why they appear selfish.

Once the chemical addiction has started it takes over, nothing matters more than supporting that habit, it is not actually a choice to put it above family or children because the addict sees no wrong in what they are doing to start with.

There is a difference between an addict and a heavy user, but only slightly, but if someone is in full addiction they can not stop supporting the addiction on their own, and will support it at all costs until they choose to stop with help.

Sorry for all the typos in that post, iPhone keyboard is not the most user friendly. :)

AA started the disease the theory it was thought if someone felt they had a disease they would not feel so guilty about being a addict.
According to some psychologist it is a learned behavior. Like Mossyhorn said, at first it is recreational but then it becomes a problem. Then the brain is no longer functioning as it should. Serotonin levels change and the drug makes for these chemicals to either stop certain actions or make other actions explode so the person get a euphoric feeling. This is why it can take up to 5 years for the brain to recover.
This site shows how the brain reacts to different drugs. http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/addiction/drugs/mouse.html

"By the 1950s both the American Psychiatric Association (ASA) and the American Medical Association (AMA) began to refer to alcoholism as a disease. This spurred E. M. Jellinek's research on the subject. In 1961, Jellinek presented his "Disease of Alcohol Concept" and gained worldwide support. He used statistics from surveys to come up with his theory. The 1980s brought the start of genetic research into the causes of alcoholism which continue to the present day. "

That being said, a person has the choice whether or not to treat their disease. I have heart problems. If I don't take my medicine and eat a lot of fast food and I get worse, it's my choice. Nor do I use medical conditions as an "excuse" to behave the way I do.

I believe in the disease concept, however, a lot of addicts use that as an excuse not to get help.

it is both disease and a choice dear.
i mean from the time you first start taking any of these stuffs...till the last breath...no matter how much evolved the addiction may be..he/ she always knows when he is using it
or else he would not go so far to procure that stuff ...and at what costs...
but yes..it is as much a disease..because...the then addict will have already lost his heart, feelings, emotions, consciousness..and everything he might hold dear...in trying to get hold of his drug.
this is a worst curse ever.
and addict will always try to prove that he also really cares for his/ her parents, loved ones, children etc etc...
but then at the same time...he is always drawn slashingly downwards by his craving and misuse..which in its own turn..creates a viscous cycle..more depression,more rejection,,more accidents...it is a never ending downwards spiral...and rarely..very few people ever really get out of it...if they had known the consequences to be as such..when they started their hideous journey...then i bet..no one would ever .dream of taking those stuffs... frankly speaking..i myself do not know the absolute solution to this problem...i a also suffering from acute alcoholic binges..and after i read your story..i just thought i have some one to communicate with..i also have a wife and a beautiful daughter..i might imagine of harming myself but i can not imagine of ever hurting or harming them...but then too some things still have not been managed yet..i hope with the grace of god and mutual prayer and understanding of each others problems like this...we will move a step closer to find a solution
love and prayers

I read this article along with several others and agree with it.
http://amyalkon.mensnewsdaily.com/2010/03/17/addiction-is-not-a-disease-but-a-choice/
We need to get addiction rehab into the 21 century instead of using methods from 40 or more years ago. If we still used these methods for other medical problems we would have alot more people dieing from cancer, heart disease and other medical problems that people died from many years ago.

thanks for the replys...especially that last article, Katrinka.

I had an epiphany yesterday in the shower...my addict husband made a comment that pissed me off as i was rushing in to the shower and it was running through my mind in a never ending circle...choice, disease, behavior...and i realized that its a choice...its not a disease...it's a learned behavior...its not a disease...it can result in multiple confirmed diseases...but addiction itself is not a disease....it's a coping mechanism...

my thought process is a lot faster than i can type,...but as i sit here typing this...i keep coming up with more and more reasons that it is not a disease...even the 12 steps themselves indicate that its not a disease...and the human genome project itself doesn't support addiction as a disease (i'm not 100% sure about that, but from what i've studied about it, it doesn't) ...anyway...i just wanted to share my epiphany...PLEASE Please feel free to comment and let me know what you think.

Depressed I agree whole heartedly! I noticed when ex ad was trying to make a excuse for a relapse he would say I have a disease. He was giving himself a excuse and setting himself up to ease his conscious knowing he was going to go use.

Disease:
1. A pathological condition of a part, organ, or system of an organism resulting from various causes, such as infection, genetic defect, or environmental stress, and characterized by an identifiable group of signs or symptoms.
2. A condition or tendency, as of society, regarded as abnormal and harmful.


You can deny the disease part, hell, you can even dance around it and absolve your troubles. But regardless of what you call it, it's a disease to the addict. And even if he never called it a disease, even if he called it a coping mechanism, when you fought he would still rely on the coping mechanism part as an excuse.

You can't think like an addict unless you have been that particular addict, and that's not gonna happen. If he sees it as a disease, then to him it is. It took me awhile to see what my sister had was a disease, but I, in the end, agreed it was.

That was me, either way, I stopped dwelling on what was wrong with her and fixing what was wrong with me....disease or choice...it's her life, and as family and friends of addicts, we need to think about ours.

Addiction is a disease that also involves choices. I'm going to build on what Mossyhorn said.

When an addict is actively using, the disease is in control. The brain chemistry is changed. The addict needs the drug to produce endorphins, to avoid physical pain, and to feel "normal". The part of the brain that can make rational decisions and that can understand consequences and feel remorse is mostly shut down and the part that is "animal instinct" is in control. Physical symptoms can cause intense pain and sickness, even death in some cases, without the drug. It's very difficult to make a choice to quit. That's why some need to be hospitalized or imprisoned to force that choice. People can voluntarily choose to go to treatment and that will generally happen when the pain caused by the addiction itself (loss of family, jobs, money, etc.) creates the desire. They are most successful if they can then go to a place (detox, inpatient rehab) where they have medical supervision to take care of the withdrawal symptoms and they don't have access to drugs or alcohol.

After treatment when the addict is clean, then choice becomes the dominant factor. There is still an underlying disease that causes triggers and cravings. Until the brain is healed (if it can be) there may still be less of an ability to reason and understand consequences and it might not be possible to feel "normal" without the drug. The physical and mental symptoms can, at times, make it very difficult to make the choice to stay clean. Some addicts need methadone, Suboxone, or other medication to fight these physical symptoms because they are too difficult to overcome.

Treatment will teach the addict how to manage cravings and how to get support when they are thinking of using. That will help them continue to make the choice to stay clean. The disease, though, will always be there and it can be a constant battle.

If a person makes the choice to "white knuckle it" and try to quit on their own, they are going to find it very difficult to do. A person who tries to do it on their own and then claims it's a disease is not really equipped to make good choices and beat the disease. A person who gets treatment and makes a sincere effort to beat the disease is correct in pointing out that it's a disease he is trying to beat and it's not simply a matter of choice.

This subject comes up every so often on this board. People are passionate about believing its a disease or not a disease. Personnally I like to take the word of professionals who most believe it is a learned behavoir.
This is the difinition for the medical term disease no where is addiction listed. http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/disease
So is it or isn't it a disease does it really matter? The facts are a person starts out making the choices to drink or use drugs its fun and they have little or no problems with the drinking or drugging. Eventually some out grow drinking and drugging they want more in life like a house a family and realize that drinking/drugging is messing that up. Others don't quit they decide they would rather drink or use drugs and also try and have a house, family etc. Only eventually the wanting to drink or use drugs becomes first in their life and then the problem of addiction gets worst. Its no different then the over weight person or the person who smokes do they have a disease? No they get some satisfaction from eating or smoking so they continue. The person who drinks or uses drugs does the same thing. It has been proven to quit smoking is as hard if not harder then to quit nicotine from cigarettes. So does the smoker have a disease?
So if you smoke, are over weight, drink, use drugs anything in excess you are considered to have a addiction problem. If you think you do not think like a addict try being addicted to caffeine or sugar, there are many who will eat a whole package of cookies in a day or can't walked past the cookie or cake isle without getting something. Or those who have to have coffee, tea, cola first thing in the morning. These are also mind altering substances.
Sure drugs take you down faster the alcohol and if you drink coffee or have a sugar addiction the problems that come with that aren't the same. I do know for myself I used to not be able to walk down the cookie isle without picking something up on the premise the kids would want some cookies. The truth was I was craving the sugar. I also know that for me sugar is addictive and it is best if I not eat anything sweet or the cravings are right back again.
So could anyone make me not eat cookies? No its my choice I can choose to eat the cookies and gain weight or not. Since I have lost 30 pounds I choose not to eat the cookies, I like the way I feel, I like that I am two sizes smaller just like any addict I feel better and want to continue down this path, but I could easily fall back and go back to eating sweets again.
Sometimes people look down on the addicts but they don't see their own faults and their own addictions. Are you a Internet addict there is a term for that now.

again, katrinka...thanks for that link...and that was a long list of confirmed diseases...and again I agree with your post...

when i was in high school, i smoked...i smoked for about three years...i chose too smoke even though i was warned by family members not to do it...why...because as an adolescent, i wanted to see what the heck all the fuss was about...and i did enjoy it...until the price of a pack of cigarettes hit a whole dollar! and then i made the choice once again to stop smoking...sure there have been times as an adult when I have gone back to smoking for whatever reason but again its a choice...and when I get tired of it I just stop...same thing with drinking...when i was in the military...i could and would drink with the best of them...heck i actually drove a 4-star general around with a jack and coke hangover and about 45 mins of sleep...was it a smart decision? hell no! but I chose to do it...and I could control and stop it at anytime...i actually enjoy casual drinking but haven't drank in 5 years, because of my husbands addiction...i realized i couldn't keep alcohol in the house...so i chose to stop drinking...why is it that I could choose to start and stop smoking/drinking and not be diagnosed with a disease yet alcoholics and addicts are afflicted with a disease?...because I didn't smoke/drink when i had a problem...or when i was hurting to numb the pain...or to avoid something I didn't want to face...now with CocaCola...thats a different story...i can honestly say that I am addicted to Coke...I have drank coke since i was in High School...and it wasn't until this year, when I actually paid $2 for a CAN of coke and drank it that I realized I had a problem...not a disease, but a problem...because I chose against all intellectual reasoning to pay $2 for a can of coke...I saved that empty can of coke and it sits on my mantle...as a constant reminder of the problem that I have with Coke...but it is still a choice that I make every day, sometimes several times a day to drink coke...not as much as before as I have chosen to cut down considerably, but it's still a choice...so you see, I like so many others am addicted to a substance for whatever reason...but in the end...it is a choice, or a learned behavior, but it is not a disease...a virus? hmmm...maybe....but still, not a disease...because a virus isn't a disease either....

now is an addict going to admit that its not a disease? hell no...of course not...when I confronted my husband with my epiphany...he was pissed!!!...if looks could kill, I would have been dead...because he was throwing samurai swords at me with his eyes...as I used every explanation that he has ever given to me for his disease to tell him why its not a disease but a choice...but at the same time that those swords were flying out of his eyes...I could see way back deep in his eyes that i was telling him the truth that he already knew but doesn't want to face...

and as far as using methadone, suboxone, or any other drug or toxin to treat addiction? NOPE. Thats just giving the addict an excuse to continue using drugs to treat a non-existing disease.

to close i just want to say this...about my situation as i see it:

when the going gets tough, the tough (me) gets going, but the addict (my husband) gets to using.

good night.

DepressedRecluse.

P.S. In signing off, I just wanted to say that I don't consider depression (at least not in my case) a disease either.

Abuse of drugs or alcohol is not the same as overeating or drinking too much Coke. Withdrawing from alcohol without medical assistance can be fatal. Withdrawing from drugs can cause severe physical symptoms. On his way in to detox, my son was shaking and breaking out in a sweat. A short time later the diarrhea started as well as lots of vomiting and severe muscle pains and a monster headache.

As much as I love donuts and have a hard time saying no to them when I'm on a diet, there is absolutely no comparison to the discomfort of saying no to sweets and withdrawing from drugs. Even with the major headache you can get with caffeine withdrawal, it simply does not compare. If you minimize what an addict needs to go through to get clean, you will under-estimate your enemy (the drugs).

Another big difference between over-eating and similar "addictions" is that drugs and alcohol impact the brain itself and severely impact the ability to make a choice. A person who is over-weight still has the ability to think clearly and logically. Addiction to drugs and alcohol is particularly nasty because it makes it difficult for the addict to see the problem and to understand what it takes to overcome it. Do a brain scan on an over-weight person and an addict and you'll see the difference.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse classifies drug addiction as a chronic disease similar to cardiovascular disease. The link below compares the two. It also has pictures of the brain scans of a cocaine addict compared to a non-addict.

But, in the end, Jolene is right. It's not about labels. It is what it is. The problem that I see is in not understanding how difficult it is to quit and what it is that the addict is up against. That will lead to expecting them to simply use will power to quit when professional help is needed.