Is Addiction a Disease?
I agree with the author that it is misleading to consider addiction only as a disease. Addiction has many contributing factors including access to treatment, socio-econmomic status, genetic make up, etc. In other words, addiction must be understood from the social work concept of person in his/her environment. Furthermore, as the author poinnts out, if addiction is considered only from a disease (medical) model it diminishes the role of personal agency such as determination and will power. Many of my clients with drug addiction tell me that overcoming addiciton requires constant vigilance. It would be easy to adopt the mindset that they are victims of disease with little to no control over their disease. That is not the case. Treatment for addiction requires a multi-disciplinary approach.
