Is addiction a disease or choice? Disease model on trial

Abstract

Addiction treatment providers continue to give different and often controversial explanation of aetiology of substance addictions. While majority seem to hold steadfast to the idea that addiction is a disease, the other theorists maintain to the contrary that addiction is merely a choice. The advocates of brain disease model argue that acceptance of their view will reduce the stigmatization. On the contrary, critics of the brain disease model claim that placing responsibility for addiction on the individual's 'brain' neglects the role of other factors, e.g. social environment, religiosity, person's will -as contributors to addiction. In conclusion, the complexity of addiction phenomenon requires also a complex approach in understanding of addictions, integrating the evidence-based and common-sense arguments of several explanatory models.

A gendered difference? Female experience of drug and alcohol treatment in New Zealand

“…The majority of public or state-funded treatment options in the United States are based on abstinence models, with abstinence as a measure of success (Subbaraman & Witbrodt, 2014). A significant proportion of funding for these treatments and research into problematic substance use is from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) which sees abstinence as the only option for problematic substance use, promoting the Disease Model 11 (Hall, Carter, & Forlini, 2015;Valkov, 2015). Courtwright (2010) refers to this as the "NIDA Paradigm" (p. 137).…”

“…Critics of the Disease Model also highlight how it fails to account for the significant number of problematic substance users who 'recover' without treatment (natural recovery; Conde, Lichtenberger, Santáneglo, & Cremonte, 2016;Hall et al, 2015). Personal agency and the impact of social, cultural and economic factors on substance use are also ignored, significantly limiting the provision of crucial aspects of treatment such as vocational and life skills (Ngo, 2008;Valkov, 2015). Some critics also view the Disease Model as positioning substance users as victims, removing all personal responsibility and creating a sense of learned helplessness which will reduce their likelihood of entering treatment 12 (Ngo, 2008;White, 2001;Willbanks, 1989).…”