To think that addiction is a disease?

[feryon98]

Was having a discussion with a few coworkers about this and it seems to offend them when people claimed addiction is a disease and they said people with actual diseases don't have a choice.

Yes, addiction it's self inflicted but there are many diseases which are caused by an initial choice (e.g Eating unhealthy can cause Type II diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure,).

It is a choice if it was a disease there would be no cure or medical intervention could stop it

Sure it could be called a mental health illness or whatever label people want to put on it but it is still a choice

People choose to gamble, drink, have sex, take drugs, eat to excess these are all choices

Choice, every time.

'Apparently all the people on here who hate addicts would find it easy to just choose to stop..'

I haven't seen anyone suggest anything is easy? What has been said is the victim narrative has got to stop, stop patting addicts on the head and telling them it's not their fault. Tell them it is their fault and they are selfish arseholes, won't make any difference either but at least it would be the truth.

Very true @Firefly1987 Its a one- way valve also (though condition CAN for many be ‘managed’ afterwards with a hell if a lot of effort and support..) Not something I would ever encourage anywone to do. Hellish.

Just awful isn't it. To suggest you must alter your behaviour when you sound one of the most aware and informed people on here .

understanding and accepting the basis of the illness helps many accept the fact there IS hope where it seems there is none. NONE. So they can find a way to change and accept help..

'Whoever brought up Matthew Perry-well he had a jetski accident and got given a pill of oxycodone which set off his drug addiction.'

I brought him up. An example of someone always saying he was now clean.

His jetski accident and being prescribed meds did not 'set off' his drug addiction. Taking medication which made him feel great so he sought it out in massive quantities 'set off' his drug addiction,

Addiction is like a very sticky glue that is walked into and one that some are strong enough or lucky enough to escape from and others never can despite help. Is it a disease or a mental illness or something else... I don't know or care how you'd class it, just that it is deadly and damaging not just to the addicted but those whose lives the addicted touches too! I personally don't like terming it as a disease, as it implies with enough treatment there is a fix and I can tell you that for some there is never a fix!

There are, sadly, many incurable illnesses or diseases, or conditions, from which not everyone will survive, whatever level of medical and other care provided…😪

'Addiction is like a very sticky glue that is walked into and one that some are strong enough or lucky enough to escape from'

No one is lucky not to be an addict. We could all sit on the sofa pissed or high avoiding participating in normal life. We don't though because most know being pissed or high every day is not a correct or healthy way to live.

I've yet to meet an addict I felt sorry for, they are all manipulative liars who blame everyone else for their predicament. Why is that, why can't they just admit it yes they liked it too much got hooked and now can't/won't change.

I would absolutely hate to sit on my couch all day pissed or strung out. Could think of nothing worse. So I am lucky as I have never felt tempted to keep drinking myself into a stupor after a few and quite happily avoid drinking and the hangovers that go with it. I can't believe anyone would wish to live their life as a non-life where eventually their body will be ravaged after their family and friend relationships have gone the same way. Doesn't sound like a preferred choice for most.
The scientific explanation of a hi jacked brain that lies and leads the addict in a constance vicious cycle of addiction and withdrawal sounds hellish. Yes thankfully there is hope and people have managed with support to climb out of that hell but it's not easy and the addiction is doing all it can to pull the person back in.
Those saying oh I just wouldn't- you're not an addict!!
My Dad's uncle was and my Dad's tales of it terrified him, he was a lifetime tee totaller and worked with (so often) the wives and children that were the direct victims of the situation. He always felt empathy tho and fear for the addict and the addiction and as a result so do I and would always have been mindful and wary of it.
Understandably, those close to it who have been devastated by it don't have an objective view.

Ive met many many good people who were once addicts. Nobody is saying that in their addiction they aren’t selfish arseholes… they’ll admit that themselves… but many go through hell to recover and do a lot more for their communities after recovery than your average person. They DO choose to stop but it’s a major fight to do so and stay recovered.

I saw this phrase once on a plaque or something,
'Addiction is giving up EVERYTHING for ONE thing.
Recovery is giving up ONE thing for EVERYTHING'

No it doesn’t doesn’t always escalate!! That’s where YOU’RE wrong!! If that were the case, I may as well hold a grenade and threaten to throw it. I completely agree why you’re wondering why I’m not a full blown alcoholic- because on paper I bludy aught to be….

Things do escalate if you're an addict because that's how it works. I'm not saying you're one, I have no idea but more and more is eventually needed to get that first "buzz" and every single addict has probably thought they were in control at first. That they're not like those addicts with no self control. It's just really naive to think it won't happen to you. Why not quit drinking completely? Should be super easy right, just stop.

Yet here we are debating why I’m not…. What’s the most closely linked genes? Yep Mothers… have I suffered Trauma? Absolutely yes! (My mother didn’t, it’s so ironic ehh??)

Well you said your dad was abusive and she drank to deal with the stress of that so whilst not self-medicating because of childhood trauma, she had lots of stress she was using alcohol to manage. You also admit to using alcohol to destress. So maybe you are fine now, but what happens if you have a very stressful life event, will you still be so in control?

Think about whether any of these apply to you-

Yes, using alcohol to cope with stress is a significant red flag, signaling an unhealthy reliance that often worsens stress, anxiety, and can lead to dependency, as it provides temporary relief but creates a vicious cycle of worse mental and physical health problems long-term. Relying on alcohol to unwind masks deeper issues, increases dependency, disrupts sleep, and can make anxiety and depression worse, necessitating healthier coping strategies like exercise, meditation, or hobbies.
Why it's a red flag

• Temporary Fix, Long-Term Harm: Alcohol offers fleeting relaxation by slowing the central nervous system, but it ultimately disrupts sleep, increases anxiety (especially the next day – "hangxiety"), and worsens mood.
• Escalation: The more you drink to relax, the more you need to achieve the same effect, quickly leading to dependency and heavier drinking.
• Masks Root Causes: Drinking prevents you from addressing the actual sources of stress, allowing them to fester and grow.
• Worsens Mental Health: It can intensify existing anxiety, depression, and even increase risks of self-harm or impulsive actions.

Signs you might be a stress drinker

• Needing a drink to get through the "witching hour" after work.
• Drinking more after a bad day or feeling anxious.
• Feeling irritable or anxious the next day.
• Using alcohol to forget problems or numb emotions.

OK well I'm sure you know best! I'm not sure how you get addicted to oxycodone if you don't get given some by doctors in the first place...I'm not addicted to it because I've been lucky enough to avoid needing any strong painkillers so far in life.

He probably felt he was clean in the sense he wasn't taking harder drugs. He was being treated with ketamine therapy by doctors. Maybe that shouldn't have happened but that's another conversation. He then had crooked doctors selling him it at 10x the price and probably trusted them. That's why they're facing jail sentences.

I could quit completely but I enjoy it as part of a social setting or relaxing once a week with a nice meal and glass of wine. I have self control so it’s not all or nothing, there is a happy medium that most people adhere to.

Yes she would have been unhappy so she should have left him and taken us with her and done right by all of us, but she was too selfish. She done what she needed to and left us to fend for ourselves. Your mother is supposed to protect and love you more than anyone else yet that’s not my experience. I couldn’t walk away as I was a child so it’s a worse situation than say someone who has a partner who is an alcoholic. They can ca walk away if they so wish, a young child can’t.

Apparently people can also be addicted to sex. If that’s the case then do you think that all those people who have affairs should be forgiven, because it’s not their fault they need to look elsewhere where due to their addiction? If you found out your partner had slept with 60 women behind your back I assume you’d wouldn’t be understanding? But by your logic being addicted to buzz of having sex with different women wouldn’t be a conscious choice, so you couldn’t blame him so surely you’d feel sorry for him and support him through his addiction? After all, it’s not a choice as people on here keep saying…..

I don't think alcoholism is a disease. Some people may be more predisposed to it, but there is still a heavy element of choice. Genetics loads the gun, but lifestyle pulls the trigger. Alcholism is a series of cumulative small, but bad, choices and can only be managed with the 100% commitment of the alcholic. Alcholics in my life do like to bleat on about it being a disease, but this is just whining and excuses.

You don’t have the disease of alcoholism. The disease would take away your choice. That’s the crux of it. Yes it seems selfish and destructive. It is. But it’s an illness not a choice. I would never have chosen to end up in the gutter.

And OCD which I have. All my life has been overindulging in things. If I like a new band I listen to them non-stop until I get over the obsession. Same with a series, and I'll binge box sets and watch them over and over. I mean not everyone who is an addict has OCD obviously but I'm sure now they know I do they'd tell me to control my obsessions it's super easy 🙄 But the clue is in the name "Obsessive compulsive"! I mean hell I even spend obsessive amounts of time on mumsnet some days. It's just what I've always been like. And yes I hate being this way and yes it is a "choice" but a much harder one than for a regular person because they don't have these compulsions.

I'm not so familiar with ADHD but if you have similar struggles to me my heart goes out to you!

Edit-I might've mixed you up with another poster so apologies if you are not the poster with ADHD.

They're always addicts, even those in recovery or who claim to have once been addicts. Just one simple trigger away from getting shitfaced again.
I hate the way they always have to announce how many days normal they've been and folk usually congratulate them and start clapping as if they've won a medal.

It's a choice they make and until they admit that and work out ways to make better choices they'll never move forward.

It is a choice to drink

'You don’t have the disease of alcoholism. The disease would take away your choice'

Addiction is a mental health issue at best, it doesn't take away choices. To believe that is why so many think they are powerless so carry on.

Having been raised by two binge drinkers / alcoholics, I beg to differ.

Addiction isn’t a passive disease. It doesn’t just happen to you. A selfish choice is made and labelling it as simply a disease one suffers gives alcoholic and drug addicts an out - it’s not their fault etc etc

Addicts who do the work to overcome their addiction get this

I'm late to this resurrected thread, but you're not wide of the mark at all.

One of the primary requirements for sustainable recovery is admitting 'I drank/did drugs because I liked the feeling it gave me and I didn't care whose life I destroyed'.

That you've never met anyone who's said this is no doubt true, but I promise you that in recovery rooms you hear it all the time.

By the time an addict gets to the point of being able to accept that, they are mostly not enjoying the effects of the substance itself. They've become a slave to it.

As an alcoholic who has not had alcohol for years, I accept that I made a series of bad decisions throughout my adult life and nobody else is to blame - again, a key to enjoying life free from the compulsion to drink.

So - you've heard it now.

I have no explanation as to why I became addicted to alcohol when others didn't, or why I managed to get sober when most don't, and nor do I particularly need to know.

With regards to getting sober, it probably helped that my extended family are loving and aspirational, so I knew a better way existed. I particularly admire anyone in recovery who was brought up in an environment where such role models were the exception rather than the rule.

Interesting and honest account, thankyou for sharing that