IS Addiction a Disease?

with whatever "P" value is assigned to this

like a xerox machine Evie! Where is your vaunted cry for the need to take responsibility for one's own actions? You don't think some people can't resist the gamble?

I give you more credit than this comment deserves and write it off to a wry sense of unrestrained humor... trying to be the class clown if you will.

My grandfather was an alcoholic. I have all the risk factors (along with a number of those genetic markers apparently for lesbianism) and being married to a man of Ukrainian descent could certainly have put me in the throes of alcoholism by now if there was anything to the genetic component. I've partied pretty hard at times, I've also gone months without a drink. If there is a tiny predisposition, it is morphed several times over by environmental factors and how one CHOOSES to use alcohol (or other mind altering substances) when faced with difficulties in life. If I got drunk and endangered people, I don't think addiction is an appropriate excuse.

As such, Patrick Kennedy at a minimum does not possess the control of his life required to be a member of Congress. I don't expect them to be saints, I don't expect them to have ultra pure clean pasts, I do expect them to be in control of themselves when serving. Rush Limbaugh only pontificates on a radio show -- a job, BTW, he wouldn't have if listeners didn't tune in. Kennedy, OTOH, is lobbying for more taxpayer money to subsidize the rehab industry under the guise of mental illness. I also have close personal connections to bipolar disorder and take exception to those that confuse the issues of mental health and addiction.

... the "experts" have a vested interest in their view. There needs to be more attention paid to ACTUAL evidence.

but I have to ask what you are referring to when you say " There needs to be more attention paid to ACTUAL evidence."

The disease approach is used to model treatment planning which has been fairly effective (or as effective - long term - as anything out there). After all... AA approaches alcohol (and Allanon... drugs) based on the disease hypothesis... and advocates giving yourself up to a higher authority to prepare yourself to stop substance abuse. The approach works for many (although I'm not a fan I must admit it produces results).

What actual evidence are you referring to and what treatment approach is based on it?

It's behavior modification therapy.

Read some of the links before responding please. I'm particularly interested in the surprising result of the study that showed those that didn't get "medical treatment" for their "disease" actually fared better!

I've had friends that were heavily into coke, one in particular that gave it up "cold turkey" when she had a bad reaction once. Most of the most hearty partyers from my college days no longer drink like that ... they "grew out" of it without professional intervention.

The thing that seems to work the best is letting someone actually hit their personal "rockbottom". That is very difficult to do with a loved one -- our nature is to try to help and intervene. But it hasn't necessarily been proven very effective. If most of these addiction centers really had to compete for patients on the open market -- rather than being fed a steady stream of revenue producing patients through referrals and the criminal justice system -- we would have a lot less of them. Would you sign up for a program that boasted a less than 10% success rate?

are you referring to the original articles by Ilana Mercer? Those I read... and then I saw the adverts between the paragraphs for treatment centers such as this one... not the best argument that it was an objective article when it's talking about treatment methods and advertising them at the same time..

Otherwise I probably did miss the link your referring to.

... similar to CNet's "customized ads" we get at the bottom of posts these days (if you don't adblock them out). Probably a few about addiction lately. You're looking for excuses to ignore the inconvenient.

Just because that one "boob" had a degree, does not qualify him as an expert on addiction.

We had patients who had self medicated with ETOH.

The fact that you can imbibe on a social level bears that out. You were not addicted.

You deserve many kudos! Not just for your military service, but also because you got yourself checked out. You also have the wisom to know what you need to avoid.

We had a patient in the mid-80's who was a victim of a horrendous train explosion/fir here in TN. He was also a 'Nam vet. He had been troubled before the explosion. He was diagnosed and treated for PTSD. I recall that he said the exposion was somewhat of a blessing in disguise. His PTSD was from 'Nam, and the explosion exacerbated it. He said he might never have sought help not for the explosion.

You sure sound like a very sensible person, and one who is very highly unlikely to imbibne enough to give the ETOH a chance to make your body crave it.

Congratulatioins!!!

I know I'm one of those who considers addiction a disease because it is a medical problem, so hope you takle my words in the spirit they are offered.

Angeline
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I wonder, how many treatments for other medical problems would be covered by insurance that have the same poor success rate that most rehab does. There's a lot of money to be made in the rehab industry. I've known a few that have gone to rehab both for alcohol and pain killers. The two I'm most familiar with are still relapsing. I also have known a few that have quit addictions cold turkey to never relapse. The key seems to be eliminating underlying causes and or hitting a personal rock bottom. My FIL gave up a 20+ year long 1-2 pack/day smoking habit (some say one of the most addictive) cold turkey. My MIL smoked until her death (:() and he never had an inkling of an urge to take it back up. He does not describe himself as in recovery for a chronic illness. This is what bothers me the most about the ''you're never cured / always in recovery'' mentality of the mainstream addiction disease culture. It sets people up to fail when they may well be capable of being social users.

I would prefer my insurance not cover addiction. Why? Because I'm not worried about ''coming down with'' an addiction, and see no reason why I should pay premiums to subsidize someone else's problem. Nobody ''contracts'' an addiction!! It is NOT a mental illness, it is the inevitable consequence of poor choices. OTOH, I strongly favor coverage for true mental illness. Two different things which is not to say that mental illness does not sometimes lead to self medicating substance abuse. But if one is receiving proper care for ones true mental illness, treating the addiction will be part of that (as seems to be Tom's case).

Does that mean addicts shouldn't be helped? No. But such help should be largely privately funded or in the form of direct assistance at a public clinic. NOT forcing insurers to add ever more coverage for diseases that the vast majority will not get.

Evie

... who had his stints in rehab for alcoholism. I say had, because last we had contact he was in jail after yet another DUI and we lost contact. Rumor has it he is in another state starting over. I hope he's OK and hasn't hurt anyone! But I also recall a time when he was ''in recovery'' -- I think the second time. Seeing a very nice woman, had a decent job, etc. As part of his duty with teh legal system, however, he was not allowed to drink at all. For him this just didn't work. I have been around him many times when he had a few drinks, nothing to excess. He was living with this woman and she was a good influence on him. He didn't drink before work, she drove him or he took a bus, he only drank occasionally after work. He failed a random pee test and was ordered back to rehab. Lost his job, lost his license (although he had not driven under the invluence), eventually lost pretty much everything. When he got out all ''cured'' the last time, he went into a tailspin mostly as a reaction to the idea that he was essentially hopeless. I don't think that the ''always in recovery, never cured'' diagnosis works for a lot of people. It makes them feel unnecessarily hopeless and to actually abuse when they are capable of just using, but for someone (usually an "expert") accusing them of just being in denial about that. I don't know that rehab aggravated his alcoholism, but I don't know that it ever helped. I don't condone drinking and driving and feel that his jail time was deserved since he couldn't keep himself off the roads when not sober. But there are moderation programs that are beginning to gain acceptance in dealing with substance abuse and that don't equate high use with addiction. They focus on moderate, responsible use. I hope he comes across one as I believe it would work for him.

To pick a less charged analogy, total abstinence from an enjoyable thing doesn't work for dieting. If you tell someone they can never eat chocolate again, they tend to FIND themselves craving it when they never did before, overindulging once they've already ''cheated'' and resigning themselves to be powerless over their ''addiction'' to chocolate.

Thanks for your input. I'm glad to hear you were able to get the PTSD treated and can enjoy your life!

Evie