Destigmatizing Addiction
Substance abuse disorder is a disease that impacts the brain and changes the behavior of a person. Despite being classified as a disease, drug addicts do not face the same treatment as other people suffering from diseases in our society. People stigmatize addicts which makes it difficult for them to seek the help that they need as well as fit into society. The feeling of being excluded can make their problems worse as addicts rely more heavily on drugs in order to cope with their negative feelings. Love and support from others is a crucial component to recovery. Addicts should be viewed as individuals who are suffering from a disease and not treated as criminals.
Addiction, like other diseases, changes the chemistry of the body. Drugs interfere with the neurons and change the way neurotransmitters send and receive signals. Eventually the brain adapts to the presence of the drug and the feeling of the drug gets less and less strong because there is less dopamine being transmitted. Unfortunately, this also means that the body releases less dopamine for everything else. “The feeling of pleasure is how a healthy brain identifies and reinforces beneficial behaviors, such as eating, socializing, and sex.” This changes the chemistry of the brain and leads to a reliance on drugs.
Another reason that addiction should be treated as a disease is because addiction has predispositions like other diseases. Half of the risk of becoming addicted depends on people’s genetic makeup. Just like some people are more likely to get cancer then others, some people are more likely to become addicted then others. “Addictions are moderately to highly heritable. Family, adoption, and twin studies reveal that an individual’s risk tends to be proportional to the degree of genetic relationship to an addicted relative.”
Some people believe that addiction is a choice. They believe this because at some point in an addict’s life they made the decision to take some type of drug. While it may be true that at first it was their decision, the change in their brain takes choice away from the individual. It becomes a need. People view addicts as people who have made hundreds of bad choices over and over again. In reality, they only made three, four, five or maybe even one bad choice. That first choice is also heavily influenced by their genetic bias and environment. Furthermore, choice is not what classifies something as a disease. For example “heart disease, diabetes and some forms of cancer involve personal choices like diet, exercise, sun exposure, etc. A disease is what happens in the body as a result of those choices”. Despite their choices, people who suffer from these diseases are treated far differently from those suffering from addiction.
If you are suffering from addiction please reach out for help. You can always find help at SAMHSA’s National Helpline — 1–800–662-HELP (4357). In conclusion, drug addiction should be treated like any other progressive disease. Addicts should not be treated differently from anyone else suffering from a disease and more should be done to destigmatize and mainstream the treatment of addiction.
Works Cited
https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugs-brains-behavior-science-addiction/drugs brain
