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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

AIBU To not agree...

39 replies

peakygal · 02/09/2019 20:10

With people referring to drug and alcohol addiction as a disease and not a choice? I know a lot of people will be annoyed at that opinion as I have had many discussions on it but Im looking for your honest opinions on this topic

OP posts:

yourestandingonmyneck · 02/09/2019 20:11

I agree.

yourestandingonmyneck · 02/09/2019 20:11

Sorry, ambiguous. I agree with you. They are not diseases.

Dogsarebetterthancatsok · 02/09/2019 20:12

I agree. It’s not a disease at all

iklboo · 02/09/2019 20:19

They're usually related to mental health issues though - or at least more prevalent in people with MH problems.

negomi90 · 02/09/2019 20:22

It is often a complicated choice to take the first drug. Its not always a choice, a lot of people are coorced or forced. Even with those who choose it, it often does become a disease- addiction is a disease. The body because habituated to the drug, not having it can cause physical symptoms which are horrific.
So horrific that babies get treated with morphine for morphine withdrawal because the symptoms are severe. (Not just babies born to drug addicted mothers, also babies born to mothers with pain conditions who genuinely need opiates for their own illnesses, and premature babies who've been very sick and have been on a lot of morphine for a long time for their own medical problems and need to stop it very slowly once they're getting better).
Withdrawing from alcohol too quickly can kill.
Its a disease, just like heart attacks and type 2 diabetes in obese people are diseases. Just because there often (not always) choices in starting there, it still becomes a disease.

Tippety · 02/09/2019 20:27

I think dabbling is a choice, but when addiction takes hold it is very much a disease; their body physically needs it. If you could show people what drugs, for example, heroin would do to them a year down the line before they used for the first time, I would be very surprised if anyone would do it.

EAIOU · 02/09/2019 20:32

When you become mentally or physically dependant on substances, it is no longer a choice.

When your organs and mental state have become affected, it is no longer a choice.

When you cant cope with the withdrawals and revert back to the safety of your substance, it is no longer a choice.

Disease is defined as something which adversely affects a person so I'd said its classed as that.

YABU.

Sparklesocks · 02/09/2019 20:33

Have you ever had a close friend or family member affected?

KUGA · 02/09/2019 20:40

It is an addiction not a decease.
Pretty much like obese people.an addiction to food not a decease.

WhatsMyPassword · 02/09/2019 20:43

It isn't a choice is it? no one wakes up and thinks "Ah! Today, I think I'll become an alcoholic"

Tippety · 02/09/2019 20:46

Kuga- guessing you are joking. Or hoping you are anyway.

RefuseTheLies · 02/09/2019 20:50

Torn. My brother died before his 30th birthday from alcohol poisoning. He was an alcoholic. I always thought he was making a choice to carry on drinking. But, in the days after he passed away, I helped my mum clear his room. It was sheer filth. Just awful. And that was when I realised that no one in their right mind would choose a life like that.

helpmeiamatoad · 02/09/2019 20:52

Some people are just idiots and get into drugs or drinking too much out of idiocy, for them I have little sympathy.

However a lot of addicts turn to drugs or alcohol due to mental health issues, or they are coerced. There are other reasons too why people may end up addicts rather than just because they’re made stupid decisions. I would never want to blame or judge anyone in a situation like this and have the utmost sympathy for them.

You never know what someone is going through unless you are very close to them. And even then you may not know everything.

LeithWalk · 02/09/2019 20:53

Really torn too. In my experience there is some sort of genetic link, a predisposition to be an addict.
No 'stop' button which means they continue to drink beyond anything reasonable.

mama1980 · 02/09/2019 21:00

My youngest dd was born addicted watching her go through withdrawal was the single most hideous thing I've ever seen. They treated it there very much as a disease, a physical fact, her body needed help to overcome...and obviously she had no choice in the matter.
I've watched her mother destroyed by addiction, no longer capable of rational thought, or any thought at all. If you could say it was ever a choice for her then it only was over 20 years ago now. So I'm sorry but YABU.

Sparklesocks · 02/09/2019 21:01

Like most difficult things in life, it’s not as clear cut as one or the other. Is it a choice to pick up drugs/drink for the first time? Yes. But people have all matter of reasons for why they do it, often it’s too escape or numb from pain. They might choose that first time when they aren’t thinking about long term or potential addiction, people don’t really choose to become homeless, give up work and education, to alienate their loved ones, to live their lives solely for substances they’re addicted to.

Similarly it’s not a disease in the same way as say cancer is, but like a disease in that destroys your body, mind and health - and takes over your life. You need treatment and support to overcome it, and even then it’s a battle for the rest of your life.

It’s a complicated, nuanced issue and really not as a clear cut as a disease or a choice. Addicts do terrible things, and addiction doesn’t justify pain they inflict, but it’s not as simple as one or the other.

couchparsnip · 02/09/2019 21:09

Its a difficult one. If you class addiction as a disease then the law will have to take that into account and people could cry discrimination over questionable things
For example, I heard of a school bus driver being sacked in the US for driving the school bus drunk. Then they claimed unfair dismissal on the grounds of discrimination against their disease. They were actually reinstated but unable to drive due to their DUI conviction!

HaileySherman · 02/09/2019 21:10

It's a disease..no one chooses to be an addict. Would you consider lung cancer caused by smoking a disease or a choice? Gonorrhea contracted thru sexual activities a disease or a choice? Anorexia a disease or a choice? Many diseases are caused by things people have chosen to do. It doesn't make it less of a disease. Nor does having a disease relieve anyone of personal responsibility.

Tippety · 02/09/2019 21:13

@RefuseTheLies sorry to hear about your brother

GreytExpectations · 02/09/2019 21:13

YABU and very insensitive to just say addiction is a choice. Nobody decides they want to be addicted to drugs or alcohol. Often it is linked to mental illness which means its not a black and white as you are suggesting. Do a little research OP before making ignorant posts like this

Also, shame on the poster who suggested overweight people have a food addiction.

User344772734481882445 · 02/09/2019 21:14

YABU

Who on Earth chooses to be an alcoholic or addicted to coke or heroin or whatever else?

Who on Earth chooses that lifestyle - prostitution, homelessness, loosing family and friends and children, facing death, getting physically ill ...

Ohyesiam · 02/09/2019 21:30

I worked with addicts for many years.
Trust me , it’s not a choice.

UserThenLotsOfNumbers · 02/09/2019 21:31

The phrase "false dichotomy" springs to mind here.
Addiction is complex and the "whys" depends on the individual's circumstances.
People often do things that harm them because for them, they are serving a purpose, be it a coping mechanism or comfort.

Mirrormirror999 · 02/09/2019 21:37

Alcohol, drugs, food etc can be symptoms of ‘self medicating’ when dealing with MH issues. It’s unfair to generalise and see this as simply as a choice. It’s a coping mechanism. Not the best choice, but nevertheless, a conscious choice.

Lobsterquadrille2 · 02/09/2019 21:38

I'm a recovering alcoholic. I genuinely believe that I was born with the addictive gene; in my case, it took many years to take effect. I went through university and working in the City with no understanding of why anyone would want to drink. So yes, I believe that it's an illness but that I have control over the first drink, after which the physical craving for more sets in. Because I do have that control, I appreciate that to compare it to other illnesses can seem extremely insensitive.

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