[Lefty Seven]

"Neuroscience giveth and now neuroscience taketh away."

The mystery of addiction — what it is, what causes it and how to end it — threads through most of our lives. Experts estimate that one in 10 Americans is dependent on alcohol and other drugs, and if we concede that behaviors like gambling, overeating and playing video games can be addictive in similar ways, it’s likely that everyone has a relative or friend who’s hooked on some form of fun to a destructive degree. But what exactly is wrong with them? For several decades now, it’s been a commonplace to say that addicts have a disease. However, the very same scientists who once seemed to back up that claim have begun tearing it down.

The flourishing of the 12-Step movement is one of the reasons why we now routinely describe addiction as a “disease.” To have a disease — instead of, say, a dangerous habit — is to be powerless to do anything except apply the prescribed cure. A person with a disease is unfortunate, rather than foolish or weak or degenerate. Something innate in your body, particularly in your brain, has made you exceptionally susceptible to getting hooked. You always have and always will contain a bomb, the important question is how to avoid setting a match to it. Another factor promoting the disease model is that it has ushered addiction under the aegis of the healthcare industry, whether in the form of an illness whose treatment can be charged to an insurance company or as the focus of profit-making rehab centers.

This conception of addiction as a biological phenomenon seemed to be endorsed over the past 20 years as new technologies have allowed neuroscientists to measure the human brain and its activities in ever more telling detail. Sure enough, the brains of addicts are physically different — sometimes strikingly so — from the brains of average people. But neuroscience giveth and now neuroscience taketh away. The recovery movement and rehab industry (two separate things, although the latter often employs the techniques of the former) have always had their critics, but lately some of the most vocal have been the neuroscientists whose findings once lent them credibility.

Alternet

[Skeezyks]

Thanks for sharing this. I read the article. I'm not knowledgeable enough about addictions to offer anything in the way of an intelligent comment. But it's interesting. I do think one always has to keep in mind that what we consider to be fact today may well end up (rightly or wrongly) being discredited tomorrow.

[winter loneliness]

[QUOTE=Lefty Seven;6430555]"Neuroscience giveth and now neuroscience taketh away."


I have never understood the disease model. Some people have addiction in their genes. It is the behavior that needs to be controlled. Something must "feel" better than the"drug".

[Lefty Seven]

Correction: The proper biblical translation of "Neuroscience gave and neuroscience took away" is likely "Neuroscience hath giveth and neuroscience hath taketh away." Science correspondents should spend more time reading the bible. Phone culture.

I apologize for this negligence and thank you, once again, for your support.

[sarahsweets]

I will admit I am torn here. I do AA and have been sober for 6 years. I struggle with the disease model- I believe I was biologically susceptible to addiction because of my father along with bipolar. I believe that it was more than nature- my environment and abuse pushed me towards addiction to alcohol for self medicating and escaping reality. I believe healthcare should cover addiction treatment because it is a malady that breaks down families and ruins so many lives. In AA literature there is one section that talks about alcoholics having an allergy to alcohol. That one drink triggers a desire that can leave us powerless over how much we drink, when to stop and what happens. This is where the 12 step principle comes in about a group of people understanding you can help you overcome the addiction. So in one respect I see the idea of it being disease-like but I have never heard of a 12 step program absolving someone of their responsibility because of addiction. It talks about being powerless over the substance but not that you cant be accountable for what you do or did while drinking or doing drugs. In fact if the author of the article wanted to they could read more about the steps and find the part where we make amends. But again, I wonder- video game and sex addiction are diseases too if I say alcoholism is so I dont know.

[winter loneliness]

Originally Posted by Lefty Seven

Correction: The proper biblical translation of "Neuroscience gave and neuroscience took away" is likely "Neuroscience hath giveth and neuroscience hath taketh away." Science correspondents should spend more time reading the bible. Phone culture.

I apologize for this negligence and thank you, once again, for your support.

Thank you for the timely correction.

[bizi]

hi lefty,
interesting article.
I read some of the comments they were interesting as well.
Thank you for posting this.



It is nice to think of my drinking problem as a bad habit.
bizi