Re: Addiction is a disease?
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I find it foolish to say 'mental illness' or 'addictions' are diseases.
The labels are a very convenient mechanism for both the 'sufferer' and the labeler.
The person labeled wins because they are exonerated from personal responsibility.
The labeler...benefits because they have created a whole new class of clients needing assessment, treatment and diagnosis for these 'diseases.'
We are now being told that using too much caffeine, smoking, being shy, easily distracted, staying online for long hours, shoplifting, drinking, etc. are diseases.
There are financial incentives ... Insurance companies now are doling out billions to medically treat what was once thought of as merely immoral, sinful, neurotic, foolish behavior.
My personal bias is seeking explanations that maximize free will.
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There has been a trend in the USA in the last 40 years or so to reduce emphasis on the responsibility of an individual. Governments have taken on more responsibility to take care of adult persons who are financially unsucessful on their own. Companies who sell consumer products are bear a greater responsibility for their products with less emphasis on responsibility on an individual who chooses to use, misuse, or take risks with the product.
The downside to the individual is that this tends to reinforce the idea that an individual has less control and power over their lives than they really do. People have the power to make choices in their life. Realizing and excercising that power that tends to liberate, enrich and bring happiness and prosperity into a person's life. Denying or reducing that belief tends to have the opposite effect.
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