Models Of Disease

4 Pages 959 Words

Is drinking too much a behavior -- something that a problem drinker does? Or is it a disease -- something that he or she has? While a theory of addiction as a disease has prevailed among some professionals for over thirty years, other professionals believe addiction to be a learned behavior and a harmful habit that can lead to physical diseases. One metaphor used to describe this difference concerns the smoking of cigarettes. Smoking cigarettes can lead to lung cancer, which is a disease, but the activity of smoking is, in itself, a behavior. Cancer is the disease. Smoking is not cancer.
(The Diseasing of Addiction in America by Patricia Hirsch)

The disease model of addiction has its basis in physiology. Initially it was conceived as an allergic reaction and later as a genetic predisposition. The model views addiction as a progressive disease with the elemental symptoms of craving, loss of control, progressive deterioration. Newer definitions have added psychosocial factors along with a preoccupation with the drug, use despite negative consequences, and distortions in thinking, most notably denial. It has also been described as an illness that is physical, mental, and spiritual in nature. Applying this model, the addict or alcoholic is no longer blamed or held responsible for their addiction, though they must be accountable for their behavior (cited by Walters, 1999). From a medical point of view, some evidence suggests that genetic background and metabolic makeup or both can make an individual more susceptible to addiction.

Disease model theory believes that drug abuse is not ‘normal; it is the product of a disease process. They believe that this is why some people become addicted whilst others do not become dependant when exposed to a drug. The disease model believes that addicts should be treated rather than punished. The weakness with this theory is that if addiction is a disease then how can people be addicted to i.e. (to...