Is Addiction Really a Disease? Who cares?

Is addiction really a disease? Is it a lack of moral fortitude? Whatever the heck it is, it’s probably one of the most confounding issues that humanity may ever face. So many of us want to define addiction. We want to know. We want an explanation.

By definition, the term disease is extremely vague. You could technically define Donald Trump as a disease according to the definition given at dictionary.com. So, instead of looking at this from the narrow perspective of trying to define it, let’s get real. If addiction is a disease, does that affect the treatment of patients in a treatment center? Does that affect my current recovery? No! Not in the slightest.

Alcoholic Anonymous’ (AA) basic liturgy is, at best, a wonderful metaphor for a sad predicament that many people around the world have found themselves in. Some of us, just cannot stop getting high! I would like to propose an idea. Instead of focusing on why we are the way we are. Let us focus on what we can do about our problem! (My intention is not to detract from AA’s importance, it is one of the only reasons that I remain sober today.)

There are many explanations for alcoholism and addiction in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. Not all of them are entirely logical. In fact, when I began my journey into recovery, one of the things that baffled me the most was the entire idea of the allergy: An idea that we alcoholics are not bad people, but that we are simply allergic to alcohol.

“Wow, what a convenient explanation for my raging heroin addiction!” I thought.

“Sorry for selling your jewelry, Mom, I’m just allergic to heroin!”

My better judgement told me that getting arrested, or punching a hole in the wall, was not a typical allergic reaction. However, there was something about this definition that explained the reason I could not stop using drugs. Once I had started, I simply could not stop. Whether I’m really allergic to drugs, or not is completely trivial. Understanding my “disorder” this way, has helped me to overcome my substance abuse. It explained to me, why I could not drink or use drugs like other people. It did not make sense intellectually. It did make sense, however, in practice. It explained why I was relatively normal in some respects, (when abstinent from narcotics) but once I took a drug, I found myself completely incapable of stopping.

My point is exactly this. Who in the hell cares how you define this terrible thing? Whether it’s a disease or not does not explain anything about how to treat it. It does not affect how a heroin user may recover in a treatment center. We need to focus on how to get people sober, not how to define this thing.

The reason AA is so successful is not because it’s right. Though, in many ways, it is. It’s successful because it offers a suggested course of action for recovery that changes the patterns of thought in an alcoholic mind. Many people complain that AA doesn’t work. The fact of the matter is that it does work. But, not for all. In my eyes, it’s the tip of the iceberg that is the cure for this condition. The portion beneath the surface is what still remains unseen. So, before you cast your vote on the disease theory, how about considering what you may do to actually be useful to the substance abuse industry?