What's the difference between addiction and disease?!


Question:

What's the difference between addiction and disease?

Specifically, I’m talking about alcohol and drugs. An alcoholic is said to have a disease. People who have problems with illicit drugs like cocaine, marijuana, heroin, etc, and even legal drugs like pain killers are said to be addicts. What’s the difference? Isn’t alcoholism a form of chemical dependency (addiction). Why is illicit drug dependency not seen as a disease? Is the difference because alcohol is socially acceptable? I submit that an alcoholic is an addict and not necessarily diseased, though liver disease may be present or coming.

Additional Details

2 weeks ago
Ok! I know that with a disease you have no choice. Since to drink alcohol or not is a choice WHY IS ALCOHOLISM A DISEASE? and drug abuse is not?

2 weeks ago
I know the reasons for substance abuse, no matter the substance. But WHY IS ALCHOLISM A DISEASE? while drug addiction is not?

2 weeks ago
Ok, a disease can be treated with medications or surgery. There are medications to help stop smoking and to help stop drinking and to help stop drug abuse. But you don't answer the question WHY IS ALCOHOL ABUSE A DISEASE WHILE DRUG ABUSE IS NOT? or WHY IS DRUB ABUSE AN ADDICTION AND ALCOHOL ABUSE IS A DISEASE?


Answers:

Terry, be patient with me, I am getting to my point in all caps below but I wanted to put some of this other info in also that I researched.

If alcoholism is a disease (and it classified as a disease as you know), it must be a mental illness. The mentally ill often deny they are ill and the first identification of a mental illness is often when others notice that the afflicted person is behaving in unconventional, bizarre or self-destructive ways.

Like other mental illnesses, there is no blood or urine test for alcoholism. There is no physical marker the healer can look for to identify the disease. All the signs are behavioral.

There are blood and urine tests for other drugs. I can't find anything where there is something in alcohol that causes you to become addicted like say cocaine or nicotine, etc. Wow, the more I search the more unanswered questions!

MAYBE IT IS BECAUSE THEY CANNOT PIN POINT WHAT THE ADDICITON FACTOR ITSELF IS (OR WHAT CHEMICAL CAUSES THE ADDICTION) WITHIN THE ALCOHOL SO THEY CALL IT A DISEASE??? AND THEY CAN PIN POINT WHAT THE ADDICTION FACTORS (OR WHAT CHEMICAL THAT CAUSES THE ADDICTION) WITH OTHER DRUGS LIKE COCAINE, HEROIN, NICOTINE ETC, SO THEY CALL THAT AN ADDICITON AND NOT A DISEASE???? This is my personal opinion, I cannot find any information to back this up, but to me it makes some sense.

It is a disease because it has been declared to be so by the very ones who profess to have the cure for the disease. Actually, they don’t have a “cure.” They have a remedy.

Again, not a black and white answer, I wish I knew definitely for sure also. Oh well, I/we tried.

http://skepdic.com/sat.html
http://www.aafp.org/afp/20030401/1529.ht...




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