Is addiction a disease or not Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Is addiction a disease or non - Essay Example1). Saah, on the other hand, provided the meaning of the term as a temperament disorder, (which) may also be seen as a worldwide epidemic with evolutionary genetic, physiological, and environmental influences controlling this behavior (Saah Introduction par. 1). The National Institute of medicate Abuse (NIDA) presented its meaning as a chronic, relapsing brain disease that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences (NIDA par. 1). These definitions have disparities in terms of identifying addiction as a state of dependence, which is a behavioral or personality condition as contrasted to it being identified as a disease of the brain. The aim of the current discourse is to determine whether addiction is a disease or just an innate form of learning. Background and Review of literary works The history of having diagnosed addiction as an abnormal condition was noted to have melodic lineated from the 1 800s where doctors allegedly worked with patients, identified to have been diagnosed with alcoholism and drug addiction, as confined in private sanitariums (Origins Recovery Centers). Only in 1934 was it disclosed that a particular doctor, Dr. William D. Silkworth, had apparently revolutionized finding appropriate and effective treatment for addiction through the plaque and close link of working and being supported by a group of committed individuals. As noted, it was the doctors belief that an addict has twain mental and physical abnormalities (Origins Recovery Centers par. 5). At this stage, addiction has already been identified complex in terms of containing mental, as well as physical abnormalities components which were apiece identified in definitions noted above. From the study written by Sussman and Sussman, the authors explored the various definitions of addiction. Accordingly, the authors intromitd elements of addiction derived from a literature search that uncovered 52 studies include (a) engagement in the behavior to achieve appetitive effects, (b) preoccupation with the behavior, (c) temporary satiation, (d) loss of control, and (e) suffering negative consequences (Sussman and Sussman 4025). The authors have likewise uncovered the date of origin of examining addiction cases to the 1700s from the study written by Meyer entitled The disease called addiction Emerging evidence in a 200-year debate (Sussman and Sussman 4036). On the contrary, addiction was accentuate that it was not at all a disease but instead, an extreme form of learning. Lewis contended that other emotions, such as love, also alter the brain yet, not called a disease. He argued that physical changes in the brain are its only way to learn, to remember, and to develop. But we wouldnt want to call learning a disease (Lewis par. 9). To this, he aptly concluded that addiction (whether to drugs, food, gambling, or whatever) doesnt fit a specific physiological category. Rather, I see a ddiction as an extreme form of normality, if one can say such a thing. Perhaps more precisely an extreme form of learning. No doubt addiction is a frightening, often horrible, state to endure, whether in oneself or in ones loved ones. But that doesnt make it a disease (Lewis par. 11). Analysis of the description of Addiction and Confirmation From the definitions that were provided, one affirmed that these