Some thoughts on Disease
There is generally a lot of discussion about addiction as a disease.
Some critics of this position feel that it allows the person to not have to take responsibility for the problem. I don’t believe that is true at all. We all all responsible for our choices.
What the disease model does do is allow for treatment and it can help to take away stigma.
Drug and alcohol abuse changes the way the brain works, it changes the same way the pancreas changes when you’re obese and you stop producing insulin, that causes diabetes; Drug and alcohol abuset has a very similar impact.
The stigma comes from judgement, people think that the person was at fault, they were weak, or bad, they came from bad families; none of that is true. Anyone can become addicted or start to fall into a substance abuse cycle,
People start out in normal range, or depressed, and they use something and it makes them feel better, we all like to feel better.. They take 10 milligrams of oxycodone or three or four drinks or smoke some marijuana and they get high and then they feel normal again.” It makes them feel good, they have fun, it’s something they do with their friends and it makes them feel happier than they’ve actually felt in a long time. People are looking for joy and their drug makes them feel better or even perhaps makes them feel less pain.
But the chemicals are rewiring their brain circuitry, making it harder and harder to feel normal without the drug and making the descents deeper and darker. Over time they might start to snort or inject the pill, they will use more as they chase the feeling of their first high, which they will never feel again. It doesn’t take long before the brain chemistry changes and the person is locked in a cycle of using something to try to get back to the new “normal.
