Drug/Alcohol Addiction a Disease or a Choice?

[Angel1989]

I read/hear stories all the time about....my son/daughter was an A+ student, involved in sports, music, theater etc. UNTIL she/he met these "friends" and they turned her bad. Now this teenager has dropped out of school, steals from their parents, drives drunk or high causing all kinds of problems in the family. So if this teenager never met these "friends" would their life be different? In this case it starts with a choice. IMO

 

[Chanse_It]

Well said Horus

 

[Jabberwocky]

An addict voluntarily ingests or uses the drugs and alcohol. It's a behavior choice. It does make a difference as to how it is introduced.

So one cant call lung cancer a disease because the smoker made a choice to smoke?

Its a behavior, people eat processed food knowing it might be a cause of colon cancer. We cant call colon cancer a disease because the person knew the chances of cancer would be there?

Thats what your saying.

 

[shel90]

So one cant call lung cancer a disease because the smoker made a choice to smoke?

Its a behavior, people eat processed food knowing it might be a cause of colon cancer. We cant call colon cancer a disease because the person knew the chances of cancer would be there?

Thats what your saying.

The difference is these people don't steal, have sex for money, commit violence acts, and etc for their diseases.

People who get cancer because of bad choices become their own victims. People who are addicted to drugs and alcohol make innocent people become victims of their disease.

Then when they get caught for stealing or committing acts of violence, they say it is because they have a disease and cant help it. So my question is can they help it or not?

 

[Reba]

So one cant call lung cancer a disease because the smoker made a choice to smoke?

That's not the same analogy.

We're talking about the addiction.

The equivalent would be the addiction to nicotine.

Also, people can get lung cancer from other causes.

The analogy with alcohol would be cirrhosis of the liver.

Behavior: drinking alcohol--possible consequence to health: disease (cirrhosis of the liver).

Behavior: using tobacco--possible consequence to health: disease (lung cancer).

Its a behavior, people eat processed food knowing it might be a cause of colon cancer. We cant call colon cancer a disease because the person knew the chances of cancer would be there?

Thats what your saying.

Nope, not the same.

Behavior: eating unhealthy food--possible consequence to health: disease (colon cancer).


Behavior is the cause, and disease is the consequence.

The diseases (cirrhosis of the liver, lung cancer, and colon cancer) were the consequences of the behavior (drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco, and eating unhealthy food).

 

[Jabberwocky]

The difference is these people don't steal, have sex for money, commit violence acts, and etc for their diseases.

People who get cancer because of bad choices become their own victims. People who are addicted to drugs and alcohol make innocent people become victims of their disease.

Then when they get caught for stealing or committing acts of violence, they say it is because they have a disease and cant help it. So my question is can they help it or not?

Why do people assume all addicts steal have sex for money or is violent? As I said earlier some make bad choices and not others. I work with some addicts and will tell you the money comes from enabling family members or their savings Before hitting rock bottom . Some respond to the same opportunity different than other. Its all about how bad the self control mechanism is in the part of the brain that regulates their behavior. I would say its each individual how bad their brain is destroyed permanently by their addiction. Its the disease of the brain function.

People with cancer do affect other people just like addicts do. People have to pay the price of caring the cancer stricken member who takes care and families pay the emotional toll. People just assume one pain is worse than another. Its still a pain factored in when paying the ultimate price with a loved one with cancer versus a loved one who is an addict. Its not a own victim thing. Families and friends still pay the price. The society pays the price as well.

 

[Jabberwocky]

That's not the same analogy.

We're talking about the addiction.

The equivalent would be the addiction to nicotine.

Also, people can get lung cancer from other causes.

The analogy with alcohol would be cirrhosis of the liver.

Behavior: drinking alcohol--possible consequence to health: disease (cirrhosis of the liver).

Behavior: using tobacco--possible consequence to health: disease (lung cancer).


Nope, not the same.

Behavior: eating unhealthy food--possible consequence to health: disease (colon cancer).


Behavior is the cause, and disease is the consequence.

The diseases (cirrhosis of the liver, lung cancer, and colon cancer) were the consequences of the behavior (drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco, and eating unhealthy food).

Again one forgets the drugs and alcohol eats away the brain and/or destroys the self regulation part of reasoning and logic. Theyre not the same person before its still the same thing as an cancer eating away the lung or the colon. The brain is still the organ being harmed. Its same as cirrhosis of the liver.

Its still a disease. No matter how the person got cancer or got bitten by an infected mosquito causing malaria or west nile its still a risk the person took to get outdoors or be exposed.
Addiction is the same risk. Its part of the brain that gives one gratification. One can be addicted to sugar, another can be addicted to beer one can have weird addictions to different things. We cant stop the behavior of humans living life knowing risk is everywhere we just cant have everyone in a bubble. Some are fat because of food addiction.

For the behavior of the addict to steal and blame it on their disease is a hard one as we dont know the individual and how bad their brain is affected. Just like individuals one will react different to a given opportunity from a different individual. Not all addicts do criminal things or all would be in jail and we wouldnt have this problem Trying to get them help they need.

 

[rockin'robin]

Doctors told my family member that it would take 10 YEARS, maybe more, before her brain would start to function 100%....she was an addict for 20 years....Has to take around 10 different meds daily....She also has to begin Interferon treatments for her Liver due to Alcohol addiction....I personally asked her..."is your addiction a DISEASE"?...She replied..."Yes, it is."

 

[Grummer]

The difference is these people don't steal, have sex for money, commit violence acts, and etc for their diseases.

People who get cancer because of bad choices become their own victims. People who are addicted to drugs and alcohol make innocent people become victims of their disease.

Then when they get caught for stealing or committing acts of violence, they say it is because they have a disease and cant help it. So my question is can they help it or not?

erm, maybe it IS due to bad choices, like food, pollution, or selecting wrong kinds of heaters, building materials, (or lack of building codes to select safe(r) materials for residency, work, etc) , stress, for choosing wrong jobs, stress can weaken body and may induce wrong sorts of hormones which may trigger cancerous cells...all sorts of that....
so I dunno
but kind of tends to disagree there......

if we avoid plasticy, sugary foods, chemically made foods, (plenty out there) and often we'd have ourselves fools just because it's markets as 'food' like even fruits and veges could well be infected with pesticides used to grow crops FAST and passed on to us....hell back in 1923 100% of American farmers were owned by farmers themselves....now in 2014 98% are owned by corporates AND to handpick corns cobs off the cornfields you'd be required to wear a biohazard suits!!! and WE FEKKING EAT IT, and doctors says 'no explanation for cancer ! BULLSHITT !!!

 

[Grummer]

chemical dependancy, im not so sure......disease i doubt it....its a nice cop out to help alcoholics, I'd call it
chemical disruption...that's just meh

 

[Bebonang]

My husband was an alcoholic. He had been drinking alcohol and drugs since he was about 15 years old. That was awfully long time. He thought that every one drink alcohol and thought it was traditional. I kept telling my husband that it is not traditional in our Native tradition. We don't drink hard liquor like that. So he is not smart enough to know better not to drink alcohol or drugs. So alcohol can and does damage to the brain and to the body, too. Alcohol is poison to the person's health. He did not know how bad alcohol was. When he learned from his doctor that his liver is being disease with toxic. He would go into the trance, not knowing that he was seeing something invisible which was not real. The toxic in his liver made him see things not real.

Yeah, that could be a choice if a person is or was not aware of the poison of the alcohol to his body. I was upset and sad about his condition. I still miss him and wish that he would not have die if he stay sober all those years. He hurt himself more than me. I had to watch him destroy himself. That is terrible. You can call alcohol disease or poison, either way.

 

[shel90]

Why do people assume all addicts steal have sex for money or is violent? As I said earlier some make bad choices and not others. I work with some addicts and will tell you the money comes from enabling family members or their savings Before hitting rock bottom . Some respond to the same opportunity different than other. Its all about how bad the self control mechanism is in the part of the brain that regulates their behavior. I would say its each individual how bad their brain is destroyed permanently by their addiction. Its the disease of the brain function.

People with cancer do affect other people just like addicts do. People have to pay the price of caring the cancer stricken member who takes care and families pay the emotional toll. People just assume one pain is worse than another. Its still a pain factored in when paying the ultimate price with a loved one with cancer versus a loved one who is an addict. Its not a own victim thing. Families and friends still pay the price. The society pays the price as well.

Not all but a very high percentage. This thread started because I am tired of being a victim of more than a handful of drug addicts, both family and strangers. It is pissing me off and I am losing the empathy I had for them.

 

[caz12]

Ok, so I think the thing thats being overlooked here is the difference between an alcoholic and a drunk.

A drunk is a person who choses alcohol over everything else.

An alcoholic is a person who, due to chemical inconsistencies in the brain, cannot function or make proper decisions anymore after the first drink has been had.

Ergo, All alcoholics are drunks, but not all drunks are alcoholics.

There are only two drugs known to man in which the withdrawal symptoms can actually kill you. One is alcohol, the other is Barbiturates. When an alcoholic starts needing a drink, the brain starts firing off signals that are actually telling the person that they are going to die if they don't have another drink, and (provided theyve stayed wet long enough) they actually might.

I stopped drinking and using methamphetamine in 2010 after 4 and a half years of heavy daily drinking and roughly an 8-ball a week. When I did I woke up in the hospital and was promptly informed that I had had two seizures and that I was lucky that my friends had gotten me into a hospital.

An addictive brain ( for lack of a better term) causes a person , when confronted with their substance of choice, to no longer be able to make rational decisions. We as a society take this into account, however, a person who has broken the law while under the influence cannot use addiction as an adequate defense. At best they can hope for an addiction support and recovery program to supplement their jail time.

Can addiction be classified as a disease, yes. Are all cases of substance abuse true addiction, no. Do people use any means nessicary to try and get out of claiming responsibility for their own actions, yes. That is the society we have allowed to prosper by giving everyone a trophy and breeding generational welfare families that have no desire and no incentive to take care of themselves.

Society as a whole needs to get back to the days when personal accountability was foremost in everything we did. We were expected to be good people, good stewards, and financially intellegent. You were expected to treat other people with respect and dignity, as well as yourself. Just because someone says "i have a reason for what I did, i have a disease" , it doesnt matter, you still ****ed up. Now live with your choices.

I am very lucky in that I am not dead, nor has my family abandoned me.

Do I feel sympathy for those who made poor decisions based upon a predeliction towards unheathy choices? Yes.

Is their disease an excuse to get out of accountability for their actions? For gods sake NO.

you someone who understands and talks very good sense and from the heart i agree all you say,apart from the God bit it was you not God that got you through them 8houts all powerto your strenth you make great proffessional in this field

 

[horus11B]

You have every right to feel violated and pissed off because someone stole from you. You also have every right to take steps to secure your own property and your own home. Honestly, a combination of empathy and tough love is what fixed me. I was told my family was walking if I didn't clean up. Tell these people if they come near your house again you will shoot to kill, however let them know you'll help them get the help they need if they so choose. Not much more you can do. I don't know how close this family is, but you are not required to tolerate anyone's shitty behavior due to any reason. You are also not their caregiver and are not responsible for the outcome of their poor choices.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using AllDeaf App mobile app

 

[Jabberwocky]

Not all but a very high percentage. This thread started because I am tired of being a victim of more than a handful of drug addicts, both family and strangers. It is pissing me off and I am losing the empathy I had for them.

Totally understandable. I would be royally pissed myself.

I have no sympathy for my family members who are alocholics. If they robbed or stole something from me I wouldnt let them get away with it personally.

 

[VacationGuy234]

I wouldn't classify it as a disease, that is more of a legal remedy than a medical one. The objective is to get addicts into rehabilitation programs instead of prisons.

 

[Frisky Feline]

I did end the friendship with her who I care for so long and stopped talking to her for more than a year. One day she was coming to me and was serious for cleaning up herself. She was addicted to the specific drug. She admitted to me that she blew her 60k in two months that she took out of her stock. Of course I Asked her if she wanted to be friend with me again hen she needed to stay away from a guy who used her. at last she got rid of him and she got rid of her weakness Drug. She's still struggling with it. Her health started to fall apart as I supported her all the way such as emotional and mental . She is doing okay now . She decided to retire couple of years ago. She Sind that it is her choice of taking the drug. Not a disease . She had done like this for many years because it was her choice. I'm very happy for her but sad to witness her struggling to stay sober because she feels ashamed for what she have done it in the past . Being drunk makes her forget what she had done but she did not want that since it was her choice. Disease nope

 

[shel90]

The drugs will win if one continue to take them.

 

[Angel1989]

A little off topic but this has me thinking.....My best friend in high school was hit by a drunk driver. She was seriously injured and required months of rehab to get walking again. The following year was our senior prom. She felt good and looked so beautiful. On their way home she was hit and killed by a drunk driver. It was his third DUI. From a very early age I had no sympathy for people who drink and drive. They cause way too much pain. I chose to never drink alcohol and I have stuck by my choice.

 

[Reba]

Again one forgets the drugs and alcohol eats away the brain and/or destroys the self regulation part of reasoning and logic.

I didn't forget that. That is the consequence of using drugs and alcohol. That is not a disease that causes people to start using drugs and alcohol.

Theyre not the same person before its still the same thing as an cancer eating away the lung or the colon. The brain is still the organ being harmed. Its same as cirrhosis of the liver.

The destruction of lungs and colon is the result of cancer, not the cause of cancer. Cirrhosis of the liver is the result of drinking alcohol, not the cause of drinking alcohol. Cirrhosis of the liver is a disease; drinking alcohol is not a disease. Alcohol destroys brain cells.

If the person never put the bottle of booze to his or her lips, would they get cirrhosis of the liver from alcohol? Nope.

Its still a disease. No matter how the person got cancer or got bitten by an infected mosquito causing malaria or west nile its still a risk the person took to get outdoors or be exposed.

Unless someone forced alcohol or drugs into the person's body against their will, that is not equivalent.

Addiction is the same risk. Its part of the brain that gives one gratification. One can be addicted to sugar, another can be addicted to beer one can have weird addictions to different things. We cant stop the behavior of humans living life knowing risk is everywhere we just cant have everyone in a bubble. Some are fat because of food addiction.

There--you said it. It's a behavior. It's not an unavoidable, inescapable disease.

For the behavior of the addict to steal and blame it on their disease is a hard one as we dont know the individual and how bad their brain is affected. Just like individuals one will react different to a given opportunity from a different individual. Not all addicts do criminal things or all would be in jail and we wouldnt have this problem Trying to get them help they need.

I don't believe all addicts commit crimes, and I do believe in helping them find freedom from the slavery of their addictions. The only time they should go to jail is when they do commit crimes or endanger other people (which is usually a crime, too).