If you’re addicted to drugs, alcohol, gambling, sex, gaming or binge eating, are you suffering from a disease? Or is addiction better understood as a set of coping mechanisms, which arise from a distorted perception of reality? There are merits for both interpretations – but what matters most are the outcomes for people with addiction.
The Concept of Addiction as a Disease
Emerging in 20th Century America, the disease model of addiction gained credibility with backing from healthcare bodies such as the World Health Organisation, the American Society of Addiction Medicine and the National Institute for Mental Health. By focusing on the healthcare needs of addicts, rather than their perceivedmorality or criminality, addiction treatment proliferatedacross the globe. Today, there are residential and outpatient options including detox and rehab centres, daycare programmes, sober living communities, addiction therapists and online support groups. There are also face-to-face, telephone and online peer support groups, such as Narcotics Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous – they work with the concept of addiction as a disease or illness, from which you can recover by working a 12 stepprogramme.
From the patient perspective, the disease model of addiction can provide a helpful framework for awarenessand change. In abstinence-based recovery programmes, for example, addicts are supported to stop drinking, taking drugs or engaging in addictive processes like gambling or disordered eating. The basis for complete cessation is that the addiction is a manifestation or symptom of physical and/or mental disease – the harmful habit must be ceased, therefore, so that clinicalinterventions can treat the underlying stressors, including unresolved trauma, physical pain or mental illness.
Jason Shiers, Psychotherapist at UK Addiction Treatment, says: ‘Unequivocally, the disease concept of addiction has increased access to treatment and broadened the support available to addicts worldwide. Ithas underpinned very positive transformation in people’s lives, often leading to lifelong improvements in health, wellbeing and quality of life. But there is also great potential for growth, if people are supported to see theiraddiction in a wholly different light – one that recognises their inherent health, ability, choice and personal power. It’s all about what’s right for the individual at each stageof change.’
https://www.ukat.co.uk/is-addiction-a-disease/
Reimagining the Solution to Addiction
What is the main goal of addiction recovery? Is it abstinence from substance misuse and addictive behaviours? Or is it peace of mind?
According to Jason Shiers, if you’re addicted and you want to achieve lasting recovery or change, then it’s vital to address your prevailing mental states. ‘If you say to an alcoholic, just quit drinking and your life will be fine, it’s unlikely they’ll have long term success. Why? Becausebehavioural change is very hard to sustain, particularly if you still have the same mind-set as in active alcoholism. For example, if you stop drinking but alcohol is still your perceived remedy for chronic stress, pain or social anxiety, then not drinking is likely to feel worse initially.
‘To break the hold of addiction, you need to get help toimprove the mental states that cause you to pick up alcohol. As you feel better, you’ll make more rational choices, including much healthier decisions around alcohol.’
Read an in-depth article on the UK Addiction Treatment website about whether addiction is a disease – with insights from UKAT psychotherapist Jason Shiers and psychiatrist Dr William Pettit Jr MD.
https://www.ukat.co.uk/is-addiction-a-disease/
