Why Liberals Love the Disease Theory of Addiction

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Sunday, October 5. 2014

Why Liberals Love the Disease Theory of Addiction

Why Liberals Love the Disease Theory of Addiction, by a Liberal Who Hates It

My impression was that the "disease" model became popular for three main reasons; 1) it made it more comfortable for the addict, 2) it made it more likely to get insurance coverage for treatment and 3) addictions do have a physiological aspect. It never occurred to me that politics had anything to do with it.

Posted by Dr. Joy Bliss in Our Essays, Psychology, and Dr. Bliss at 14:36 | Comments (19) | Trackbacks (0)

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"Because they can’t draw unfavorable inferences about life in poor ghettos or poor rural communities (to which they have little exposure), liberals are drawn to the belief that [/i]drugs cause addiction[/i]."

They also believe the guns cause violence.

I'm seeing a pattern here.

#1 alanstorm on 2014-10-05 16:26 (Reply)

everything is political to leftists b/c it allows politicians to insinuate themselves into every aspect of individuals' lives & micromanage them

#2 adagioforstrings on 2014-10-05 17:06 (Reply)

You could not possibly be agreeing with the authors premise that drugs do not cause addiction. While it is probably likely that some people are more easily addicted then others there can be little doubt that drugs are addictive. Also there can be little doubt that for most people that drug addiction is to strong for mere human will to combat without help.

#3 GoneWithTheWind on 2014-10-05 17:39 (Reply)

I earn my daily bread in mental health pretty close to these issues.

I have concluded I have little idea why some people get sober and some cannot. I have seen 12-Step work and not work, Antabuse and Naltrexone work and not work, high accountability work and not work. I have seen heritable susceptibility (even when the child does not know the bio parents), and addiction acquired from overprescription/overuse of legitimate pain medication. I have seen addiction begin at age 6 and as late as 71 (a Baptist who had never touched alcohol until age 68).

There is indeed a neurological/physiological aspect. Sometimes I think it's 90% of the game. Sometimes 10%.

If you were once an abuser of mood-altering substances and no longer are, be very, very grateful.

#4 Assistant Village Idiot (Link) on 2014-10-05 19:31 (Reply)

well said. The idea that people choose to get addicted to something is just silly nonsense.

And it's highly dangerous, as it leads people to believe they can safely try heroine or crack cocaine because they don't choose to be addicted to them, with predictable consequences.

Of course many things are now heaped onto the pile of "addictions" that aren't, that are just things somebody doesn't approve of other people doing and thus wants the government to ban.
Things like sex, playing video games, eating sweets, eating meat, etc. etc.

Which muddies the issue even further, as those are non-addictive activities that are now called addictions and people do choose to participate in them.

#4.1 J.T. Wenting on 2014-10-06 00:42 (Reply)

"Disease Theory" or not....yes my body can't handle alcohol and I go into immediate "craving" or alcohol withdrawal on the first drink ...so yeah 'disease' ..but so what ..

"The Steps" however (process of repentance) are to cure the obsession..and they're all about responsibility ..in that they require us to become responsible for our very thoughts ( steps 4 & 10 ) by challenging their validity ..daily ..hourly ..minutely.. always checkin for BS

In that light I could never figure out how anyone in A.A. could be "liberal"..

#5 Kevin Bush on 2014-10-05 23:16 (Reply)

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#6 mccaff on 2014-10-05 23:17 (Reply)

I'm just sayin that the "victimhood"/ God resentment box should always be the first one checked ....

#6.1 Kevin Bush on 2014-10-05 23:25 (Reply)

HOW COULD YOU HAVE MISSED THAT IT WAS POLITICAL. Were you too young to know that the liberals of that generation always used politics, because they did not have the courage to confront the difficult decisions? Anyone who graduated high school before 1964 knew that it was a political excuse. Just like not quarantining the aids patients in the beginning of the HIV epidemic. That would have been a hard choice, but think of how many thousands of lives would have been saved if that generation (graduated after 1964) had had the courage to make the tough decisions? You can see the same crap on tv tonight when once again some messenger from the CDC will try to convince us why they cannot bar flights from leaving west Africa. "it'll be so hard on them, it'll just make it worse for them." Yeah--well what about the rest of us?

#7 faculty wife on 2014-10-06 00:31 (Reply)

Doc,
disease, behavioral condition, call it what you will; At least you gave a nod to the physiological end of it. In any case: over a couple of decades ago I found my way into N.A., thanks to someone very dear to me(who was 13 years sober in A.A. at the time), and I haven't gotten loaded since. In my experience, the Steps are NOT a cure - when someone stops working them, they often get loaded again - nor are they , at least in my case, an act of "repentance". I use them as tools to modify my behavior. They helped me learn to take responsibility for my actions, not my thoughts, and to see the possible consequences of my actions before I act out. I don't know anyone who can control their thoughts, only people who choose to act - or not - upon them. As for an excuse to get on the government teat - I know very few who use that one. Don't insult me or anyone else who has escaped the hell of drug abuse to become a productive member of society, through the Steps, without becoming a welfare case.

#8 Kv on 2014-10-06 01:12 (Reply)

Sobriety is an Inside Job. (This is twenty-eight years clean & sober talking)

Serenity Prayer attributed to Dr. Reinhold Niebuhr

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.

The most popular version, whose authorship is unknown, reads:

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can change,
And wisdom to know the difference.

#9 chasmatic (Link) on 2014-10-06 01:57 (Reply)

Found another one:

Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

There are two days in every week about which we should not worry,
Two days which should be kept free of fear and apprehension.

One of these days is YESTERDAY, With its mistakes and cares,
Its faults and blunders, Its aches and pains.
YESTERDAY has passed forever beyond our control.
All the money in the world cannot bring back YESTERDAY.
We cannot undo a single act we performed; We cannot erase a single word we said.
YESTERDAY is gone.

The other day we should not worry about is TOMORROW
With its possible adversities, its burdens, its larger promise.
TOMORROW is also beyond our immediate control.
TOMORROW, the sun will rise, Either in splendor or behind a mask of clouds,
But it will rise.
Until it does, we have no stake in TOMORROW For it is as yet unborn.

This leaves only one day - TODAY.
Any man can fight the battles of just one day.
It is only when you and I add the burdens of those two awful eternities
- YESTERDAY and TOMORROW - That we break down.
It is not the experience of TODAY that drives men mad.
It is remorse or bitterness for something which happened YESTERDAY
And the dread of what TOMORROW may bring.
Let us, therefore, live but ONE day at a time.

Author Unknown

#10 chasmatic (Link) on 2014-10-06 02:41 (Reply)

"Responsible for our thoughts'' ..meaning that I must "challenge" them as self pity.. resentment.. fear etc often go unnoticed... "character defects" ( "sins") ..are all about attitude and belief ..the 7 deadlys( lust greed gluttony sloth wrath envy pride) are deadly cause they're prone to obsession
If it's all about "think feel act" .. we must repent in our thinking..no?...

#11 Kevin Bush on 2014-10-06 07:24 (Reply)

I meant to say .. ."the 7 deadlys (lust greed gluttony sloth wrath envy pride) are deadly cause they're prone to obsession" ....and like all other "character defects" what they have in common is they are all "UNCOMFORTABLE"... so uncomfortable that life becomes unbearable..

The only reason I mention this stuff is because "recovery"/ 12 step programs are all "anti victim" in that they ask folks to be not only responsible for their actions ..but responsible for their thoughts & attitudes..

#12 Kevin Bush on 2014-10-06 08:26 (Reply)

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#13 mccaff on 2014-10-06 10:12 (Reply)

That would be very much appreciated.

#13.1 Gringo on 2014-10-06 12:40 (Reply)

An Orthodox Christian novice (beginner monk) went to his Abbot (head of the monastery) one day, very concerned.

He asked, "Abba, I keep having these thoughts about [fill in the blank]. I have them during work, during prayers, during Divine Liturgy, during sleep in my dreams. Help me, Abba, what do I do?"

The wise Abbot replied this way: "Thoughts are like little birds, flying about our heads. We cannot control them, they come and go as they please, flitting here and there. What we can do, however, is not allow them to build a nest on our head."

#14 Flyover Pilgrim (Link) on 2014-10-06 13:33 (Reply)

Interesting article, but I can't help noting how our "daring" author speaks in unexamined liberal cliches, like "inequality" and how "conservatives" naturally oppose legalization. He needs to get out more.

That said, in my practice I see folks who can't stop until they die, even with favorable socioeconomic background, and those who are poor but one day just stopped cold turkey and never looked back. And vice versa.

Me, I could never understand having a delicious ale or fine scotch and not wanting another, and another. So I have none.

#15 Khornet on 2014-10-06 21:07 (Reply)

Hey ..drugs & alcohol are what we call .."an equal opportunity destroyer"..

To Flyover Pilgrim .."What we can do, however, is not allow them to build a nest on our head."...yes that's it.

I will say after reading the article again the author states..
“So, a quarter century after kicking an unspecified addiction, does Botticelli believe that a glass of wine would immediately put him back on the path to addiction? I don’t.”

Well guess what sports fans ..there is a physical component to alcoholism..what A.A. calls the phenomenon of “craving”..Truth is we don’t process alcohol like normal folks ..so yeah one glass of wine can and will put us back on the path. I say this as the last 20 times I picked up “a drink” after a period of sobriety…I wound up in the hospital or jail ..and the fact that this reoccurred 20 times? .. just points to the power of the obsession and denial..

#16 Kevin Bush on 2014-10-06 21:14 (Reply)

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Sunday, October 5. 2014

Why Liberals Love the Disease Theory of Addiction