Is addiction an illness?

Addiction is most certainly an illness. Consider how it affects a person both mentally and physically and can lead to death or serious health issues for the person if left untreated.

"hes at it again, hes at it agggaaain...

Oh Mr fegelian , hes at it again ........"

Why would your level of sympathy have any influence over whether it's an illness or not?

Yeah fair enough. That's the distinction I was hoping you'd make.

Deciding whether it's an addiction based on your level of sympathy would be the tail wagging the dog.

Is it possible that some people are more predisposed to addiction?

And has admitted stealing prescription pads, tried to buy medication online etc. Looks like it runs in the family.

What about addictions that aren't substance abuse though? Like porn or gambling?

But loads of activities release dopamine/endorphins etc. So it's a natural occurrence, surely you can't lump a gambling addiction into the same category as an opiate addiction?

I don't say they're both an opiate addiction. But they're both addictions.

We talk about loads of things as addictions. Are you looking at the kind of harm they do an classifying them based on that? In the brain they're the same. The action releases the happy hormones in the brain. Whether that's gambling or opiates.

How do you think addiction works in the brain?

No I'm saying your brain naturally releasing happy hormones in reaction to activities such as running/sky diving/gambling can not be classified in the same bracket as somebody with an opiate addiction. A foreign substance that is literally altering your brain chemistry.

It is an illness, not a disease.

A disease is a failure of some structure or form in any flora or fauna, as a result of a pathogen or a spontaneous physical failure in the subject, not resulting from external physical trauma.

An illness can be a disease, but a disease cannot be an illness.

Addiction, like other mental illnesses (note the absence of any reference ever to disease), is discernable by chemical and electrical anomalies in the central nervous system, not a failure of the physical form of that system. In other words, its bad fuel or oil, not a broken engine.

So, its an illness.

yes its an illness, but primarily a psychological one, theres underlying psychological/mental health issues at play, which needs the appropriate professional attention, since such services are virtually none existing here in ireland, i wish you luck with finding them in the us!

we call those kind of folks, fcuking arseholes!

Alcoholism was classed as a "disease" first in America in the 50's, correct. It took longer for that to travel elsewhere. But there has been much dispute about calling alcoholism and other addictions "diseases" for as long as it's been classed as one.

Some physicians, scientists and others have rejected the disease theory of alcoholism on logical, empirical and other grounds. Indeed, some addiction experts such as Stanton Peele are outspoken in their rejection of the disease model, and other prominent alcohol researchers such as Nick Heather have authored books intending to disprove the disease model.

These critics hold that by removing some of the stigma and personal responsibility the disease concept actually increases alcoholism and drug abuse and thus the need for treatment. This is somewhat supported by a study which found that a greater belief in the disease theory of alcoholism and higher commitment to total abstinence to be factors correlated with increased likelihood that an alcoholic would have a full-blown relapse (substantial continued use) following an initial lapse (single use). However, the authors noted that "the direction of causality cannot be determined from these data. It is possible that belief in alcoholism as a loss-of-control disease predisposes clients to relapse, or that repeated relapses reinforce clients' beliefs in the disease model."

One study found that only 25 percent of physicians believed that alcoholism is a disease. The majority believed alcoholism to be a social or psychological problem instead of a disease. A survey of physicians at an annual conference of the International Doctors in Alcoholics Anonymous reported that 80 percent believe that alcoholism is merely bad behavior instead of a disease.

Thomas R. Hobbs says that "Based on my experiences working in the addiction field for the past 10 years, I believe many, if not most, health care professionals still view alcohol addiction as a willpower or conduct problem and are resistant to look at it as a disease."

Lynn Appleton says that "Despite all public pronouncements about alcoholism as a disease, medical practice rejects treating it as such. Not only does alcoholism not follow the model of a 'disease,' it is not amenable to standard medical treatment." She says that "Medical doctors' rejection of the disease theory of alcoholism has a strong basis in the biomedical model underpinning most of their training" and that "medical research on alcoholism does not support the disease model."

"Many doctors have been loath to prescribe drugs to treat alcoholism, sometimes because of the belief that alcoholism is a moral disorder rather than a disease," according to Dr. Bankole Johnson, Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Virginia. Dr Johnson's own pioneering work has made important contributions to the understanding of alcoholism as a disease.

Frequency and quantity of alcohol use are not related to the presence of the condition; that is, people can drink a great deal without necessarily being alcoholic, and alcoholics may drink minimally or infrequently.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disease_theory_of_alcoholism