# Please remember that addiction is a disease



## Santana

Just to remind people that addiction is a disease, not a choice. Not only can people be addicted to drugs and alcohol, but to food, sex, rituals, even television shows etc.... however, I know that the biggest problem in relationships is addiction to drugs and alcohol and even sex. I am a recovering addict that has been clean for 10 years. I dont even smoke cigarettes...I try not to fall back into my old routine of judging others before I admitted I was hooked on the pills given to me for chronic pain, but now I am watching others judge addicts thinking it is a choice, and trust me, its not. We are dealt a pretty lousy hand in our DNA when addiction is the case. It has been proven to be a disease the same as diabetes and heart disease is a disease and it can be controlled by several drugs, one being methadone, which has saved many lives. It also gets a bad rap because it is so widely abused by addicts to help them overcome being sick. There is no high when using methadone which is why addicts dont like to use it unless its a drug to use when they cant get anything else, and they mix it with other drugs, it is deadly which is why it has a bad rap. Methadone helps shut off the part of the brain that controls cravings for the opiates and it is used to treat addicts like insulin is used to treat diabetes. 
Addiction is also recognized as a disease and not a choice by the American medical association. So please, I know its hard when your loved one is an addict but remember, they are not doing it to hurt you or to be selfish, even though it seems that way. They will put everything last and make the drug first, that is how bad the cravings can be. It takes you over totally and you cannot make clear choices without the proper tools. Getting them to stop by saying you will leave wont work....they will lie and say they will stop but without real help, they will always resort to their drug of choice no matter what they promise you. 
Just my two cents.


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## YinPrincess

This is a great post. I helped my husband kick a nasty, years-long Tramadol addiction earlier this year, and even though he improves each day, there are times when he wants to relapse and go back into his escape.

I am so very proud of him, and I can't explain what incredible pain we both went through while he detoxed, cold turkey. (His choice).

I need to remember that his addiction is on-going even though he hasn't taken a pill in months. Sometimes I get angry or emotional when he mentions it. I just remember how much of a Zombie he was while on that stuff. It's so wonderful to see a person now!!!


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## CLucas976

nice 

My exPIL's used to always say "Hate the disease, love the person"

that will always stick with me, and it has helped me a lot with my situation with stbx. I hate what he does to himself, I hate watching him do it, but I still do and always will love HIM.


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## desert-rose

This is an important distinction. Addicts do not hurt you because they want to hurt you; they just can't help it because they don't see beyond the "drug" or activity of choice. Trying to help the spouse first is a good strategy because somewhere in the throes of that disease is the person you fell in love with and committed yourself to. Beating it is a win-win for both of you, but remembering that it's a disease is helpful in granting patience when the going gets tough.


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## that_girl

I don't believe it's a disease. It's an addiction, yes, but a disease? No.

Cancer is a disease. Cirrhosis of the liver is a disease caused by alcoholism (my step-mom died from this along with Hep C which was a disease caused by heroin needles). Alcoholism is self-imposed. No one wakes up one days and says, "oh crap, I have alcoholism."

I grew up with alcoholics. They chose to drink. They chose to be ridiculous. They chose not to get help.

Sorry, I don't buy it.

I'm addicted to nicotine. It's not a disease. However, it could cause one if I continue.

I'm not saying alcoholism is not horrible. It is. But if people want to change bad enough, they can. No one can wish their cancer away.


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## desert-rose

that_girl said:


> But if people want to change bad enough, they can. No one can wish their cancer away.


Also a very good point. The element of agency and voluntary connection to a destructive behavior is something that must be considered. In seeking treatment, that aspect must be acknowledged.


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## that_girl

I think the medical society calls it a "disease" so they can make money off of it with treatment, insurance, etc.

Don't buy into that jargon. It is a choice people make. Yes. As hard as it is to make people own their decisions in this society, that is the fact.

Sorry to be so blunt and rude, but this is a hot topic for me.


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## CLucas976

The initial try, is a choice, the addiction is not.

I have too many words, to many dealings with, and too much loss because of it to even formulate a real response.

I lost a sister, friends, and my marriage because of drug addiction, I never had a father because of it..but there is no way I could say that they're choosing that life.

We all know how commonly drugs are passed around parties and the mass amount of partakers in them. Not every single one of those people becomes an addict. It may not be a physical disease, but more of a mental disorder or a side effect of a mental issue/disorder. There is way more to drug abuse than the abuse itself.


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## Parrothead

that_girl said:


> I don't believe it's a disease. It's an addiction, yes, but a disease? No.
> 
> Cancer is a disease. Cirrhosis of the liver is a disease caused by alcoholism (my step-mom died from this along with Hep C which was a disease caused by heroin needles). Alcoholism is self-imposed. No one wakes up one days and says, "oh crap, I have alcoholism."
> 
> I grew up with alcoholics. They chose to drink. They chose to be ridiculous. They chose not to get help.
> 
> Sorry, I don't buy it.
> 
> I'm addicted to nicotine. It's not a disease. However, it could cause one if I continue.
> 
> I'm not saying alcoholism is not horrible. It is. But if people want to change bad enough, they can. No one can wish their cancer away.


Good post. A long time ago I read this guy's book. He doesn't buy into the "disease model" of alcoholism, either.


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## Runs like Dog

I come from a long line of drug addicts, alcoholics and cheating, philandering gay/bisexual suicidal mental cases. Addiction is 'sort of' a disease. In the same way that craving all sorts of horrid self destructive things is a 'disease'.


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## stupad

I think, there is something to be said that if thinking about alcoholism is a disease helps those that need help get it - then why not call it such.

The flip side of this is that calling it a disease can also relieve the inflicted with a sense of self-responsibility - "oh well, it's a disease and they ain't made no anti-drinkning pills yet.' 

And then the other flip side is that others (the non-afflicted) can continually point their fingers at the 'diseased one' even if the addiction has been in remission.

I'm sure there's another flip side. . .


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## unbelievable

There are folks who are inclined to addiction just as there are folks inclined toward adultary or spousal abuse. Doesn't mean any of these should be tolerated. Anyone who enters into a marriage is stipulating that they can actually fulfill their end of the agreement.


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## PFTGuy

Just speaking theoretically, if an addiction can be treated with a medication, then it's a disease, as I understand it. Some addictions (alchololism, heroin) are treated medically, some are not, but a lot are secondary to psychological problems (anxiety, depression). Viewing addiction either as a choice, or as an addiction, could be more helpful, depending on the circumstances. Does that make sense?


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## Sameold

Addiction may not being a choice, but getting help for it, or not, certainly is. Making the choice to put the addiction over the family, to not seek help, to blame the family for the addiction, that's selfish, that's deliberately hurting the family.
It may be genetically caused, it may not be the fault of the person with the addiction that they can get addicted, but not seeking out help is a choice, and if they knew they were part of a population that could not tolerate that substance, than taking the first drink/whatever was certainly a deliberate choice to get addicted. (I grew up near such a population--no ability to metabolize alcohol. Yet some of the group chose never to pick up a drink and, of course, never got addicted.)


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## julia71

My father is a recovering alcoholic. Now. He drank until I was 15.
My husband is an alcoholic - he quit drinking about 9 months ago. He verbally and emotionally abused me for 5 years - physically abused me in the end. I'm trying to decide if I can continue the marriage because I finished emotionally divorcing him about a year ago - even before he hit me. 

Alcoholism a disease? Yes? No? Who cares? Alcholism destroys - it destroyed my childhood. It destroyed who I am as a woman. It has destroyed every adult relationship I've ever had because I don't know what a healthy one looks like. It has very likely destroyed my only marriage and therefore destroyed my kids world. 

I don't hate him. I'm glad he's sober. But I DO NOT TRUST alcoholism - disease or not. Because my entire life it has destroyed EVERYTHING for me. I cannot trust that the bottle won't pull him back one day. He may either choose to drink again, or the disease will take ahold again. So see? It doesn't matter what it is.


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## LexusNexus

I am sorry it sounds harsh, but I dont believe Addiction is desease. Addicition needs help, support, and treatment. I been smoking since I was 10 years old, when we my son was born I quit without thinking twice. I got addicted to Adderall when my marriage almost failed I dump all the pills in the trash. With addiction we have choice, with desease we dont.


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