by Maxwell Cynn

Created on: November 02, 2007   Last Updated: September 02, 2008

It has become an accepted, and commonly held, belief that addiction to drugs and alcohol, or any number of other addictions, is a "disease". Addicts, and their families, are convinced that they are suffering from an affliction for which there is no known cure. This idea is perpetuated by pop psychology as well as researchers who present statistical data that addiction is hereditary and therefore genetic. With this view addicts are relieved of responsibility for their addiction and are instead seen as victims of the own genetic code. Their only recourse is to a lifetime struggle of trying to stay clean, fighting the addiction day after day.

I conjecture that this is not only an erroneous diagnosis but also unfair and even harmful to those who suffer addiction, as well as to their families and loved ones. I must give some praise here to the many treatment programs, many based on the "12 steps" idea, that can help many to stay clean. Without these programs many would have no viable treatment at all. Yet I would say that these also perpetuate the idea of addiction as a disease. These programs have become a de facto cult, offering a way manage the 'disease of addiction' as long as the addict remains 'in the program' for life. They offer no hope of cure, not even of self reliance. So addicts are left in a hopeless state of addiction, simple trading their dependence on a substance for dependence on the treatment program. Since the idea of addiction as an incurable disease has taken hold no one offers any real hope.

Addiction is not a disease, it is a symptom. It is inherited from parent to child only in as much as other behaviors, such as child abuse or domestic violence, are passed down from generation to generation. It is a learned behavior based on environment not genetics. But again, it is a symptom not the disease itself. It is a coping, or defense, mechanism used to compensate for a myriad of underlying psychological disorders. We must ask why the addict is addicted not assume the condition is simply a fact of life. We can not merely replace destructive behavior patterns with constructive ones without treating the underlying problem. We must seek the source.

As with any learned behavior the cycle can be broken. Yet to break the addiction we need to find the cause, the true ailment behind the symptom. I would hazard to say, though every addict has their own unique circumstances, that the most common cause of addictive behavior is a deep psychological pain that the addict is trying to suppress. This could come from any number of real or perceived causes in the persons life. In many cases drugs or alcohol abuse can be seen as a defense mechanism for dealing with different forms of post traumatic stress. Whether that be from a childhood filled with abuse or a single tragic event. Yet in every case it is important to find the source of the inner pain and treat the psychological disorder underlying the patients perceived need to self medicate. Unfortunately we have stopped looking for the causes of individual addiction and only try and manage the symptoms.

Modern views on addiction have had the positive effect of destigmatizing the addict, changing common notions of the addict as a worthless wretch to being a fellow human being in need of help. It is time we change the notion of the addict as a poor incurable wretch and begin to try and help heal them of the inner demons that drive their addictive and self destructive behavior.

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