Seeing Is Believing – Addiction Is a Disease

It seems like some people can’t get their heads around the fact that addiction is a chronic disease, not a choice. When we say, “Addiction is a disease,” what are we really saying about addiction? The Encarta World English Dictionary defines “disease” as, “[A] condition that results in medically significant symptoms in a human.” What are the medically significant symptoms caused by alcohol and drug addiction?

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, addiction is considered a brain disease because drugs change the brain - in structure and in function. Even though the initial decision to drink alcohol or take drugs may be voluntary, drug abuse causes structural changes to the brain that erode a person's self control and ability to make sound decisions, while prompting intense urges to take drugs. Some people are genetically predisposed to addictive disorders. Check out the discussion of addiction on the brain at: http://teens.drugabuse.gov/facts/facts_brain1.php.  This article is directed at teens, but it does an excellent job of describing the progression of drug use to abuse to addiction and it also talks about the parts of the brain that are affected by drugs (the brain stem, the limbic system and the cerebral cortex).

Think about cardiovascular heart disease.   This type of heart disease is caused by unhealthy diet, lack of exercise, being overweight and smoking – all of which are voluntary actions or inactions taken by an individual. Some people are genetically predisposed to cardiovascular disease. Even though the initial decisions to smoke, eat unhealthy foods, or forego exercise are voluntary, the result of those choices can be physical changes to the heart muscle resulting in disease. Sound similar to addiction?

Another similarity is that the changes to both the heart and the brain caused by consumed substances can be seen through the miracles of medical technology!  Echocardiogram images reveal changes to the heart that are indicative of heart disease; PET scan images reveal compelling proof of dramatic long-term and short-term changes to the brain from drug usage.

So, thanks to technology, seeing is believing.  Drug usage causes dramatic changes to the brain.  I would call those changes “medically significant symptoms.”