In this podcast, we answer the question... Is addiction a disease or is it a weakness?
Even today, when we as a society are supposed to be enlightened, many fine citizens will insist that it is just a matter of willpower by an individual to just quit drinking alcohol or using drugs.
You might recall back in the day Nancy Reagan's campaign which she proudly called "Just Say No". That suggested that it was simply a matter of personal choice to not drink or use. That might actually have been true before the addiction took over.
Here is what has happened to shape our thinking about addiction:
- The "just say no" thinking reinforced the view that addicts should be punished for saying yes. That they should be jailed, not helped. This view held sway all through the War on Drugs in the US. Our tax money was used to destroy and disrupt the supply without doing much about reducing demand here in the US, Europe and elsewhere.
- "Just Say No" did nothing. It overlooked the true source of prevention - we needed as a society to embrace the idea that addiction is a disease, now recognized as such by science which has mountains of evidence to support the disease concept.
- No less an authority than NIDA, the National Institute of Drug Abuse, calls drug addiction a "brain disease" that causes an irresistible compulsion to use and destroys the ability to think rationally. The brain has become physiologically changed from "normal" to diseased.
- Thankfully, public attitudes and those of our public servants are changing for the better. Not-for-profits such as Shatterproof are aggressively pushing for and succeeding at instigating changes in local and federal legislation to make treatment more accessible and affordable.
Being struck by this disease should no longer be a matter of such shame. We are all better off if we do not see a bad person, rather we see a sick person who deserves our love and our help.