IS ADDICTION A DISEASE OR CHOICE? (Hint: It's neither)

Is addiction a disease, a choice, a sin, a moral failure? What the heck is it? Well, for the past whole bunch of years, I've been teaching and telling people that it's a disease. And unfortunately, I'm gonna have to backpedal on that just a little bit. So stay tuned and find out exactly why I'm having to recant some of the things that I've said previously. For those of you who don't know me, welco Amber Hollingsworth. And you are watching Put the Shovel down, the YouTube channel dedicated to teaching you the psychology of addiction so you can recover yourself or your loved one and get back to living the life that you want to live. If that's something that you're trying to do, make sure you subscribe to this channel, and I'll make sure you have all the tools, resources, and supports to make that happen. Okay, on to the big confession. So I've been teaching that addiction is a disease pretty much since been a counselor. And part of that reason is because that's what they taught us in school. And it makes perfect sense in a lot of ways. One of the big things that sticks out in my mind is that it must be a disease, because you can pretty much predict and count on exactly what's going to happen to all different kinds of people. What I mean by that is you can take a teenager or an adult or a person with a lot of money or a person with no money, and you can almost predict what they're going to do. So there's got to be something to this whole thing. It can't just be a choice or a coincidence or some other random thing that keeps happening to people. There's something there. And if you want to, you can look back on this YouTube channel and find lots of videos where I call it a disease, where I talk to you about the brain part of the disease. But it's just a little bit more complicated than that. You see, the theory that addiction is a disease comes from this guy named Jelinek who talked about addiction being a disease. And there's a lot of good reasons to call it a disease, and there's a lot really good reasons why I've continued to use that language. The biggest of all is that understanding that it's not a choice. Addiction is definitely not a choice. And so when we label it as a disease, it helps us to make better decisions on how to deal with someone, on how to treat it and all of that kind of stuff. And it helps reduce the stigma, which means a lot more People get help, which means a lot more families are more compassionate and willing to help someone. And that is a much needed thing when dealing with addiction. But the truth of it is, it's just a little bit more complicated than that. And, you know, I've put a lot of thought into doing this video. I've been really hesitant about it. Not sure if I want to come out and just confuse the whole situation all up or not. But I've decided in the end that I really want to get my opinion out there. Because understanding the differences in all these things is going to help you make better, more strategic decisions about how to fight addiction. And, you know, our mission here is to keep you five steps ahead of addiction at all times. And to do that, I want you to understand it inside and out. So here's my theory on the whole thing. I do think addiction usually starts with the choice to ingest a substance, engage in a behavior, do something. But the way the brain responds to that choice is different in some people than it is in others. And it's not a person's choice how their brain responds to a behavior or a chemical or substance. Or so addiction is definitely not a choice, Although sometimes a choice can be the beginning point for where it turns into a disorder. So I think addiction is a Starts with a little choice in the way the brain starts responding to that choice, and that becomes a disorder. Because addiction really is about obsession. You hear it said all the time in recovery meetings and from therapists. And we say addiction is a thought disorder. It's about the way that someone's thinking being very different or abnormal or sort of off spectrum. Because people with addiction don't respond to the consequences of their choice. And under normal conditions, when the consequences get big enough, we stop doing whatever it is that we're doing. But when you're dealing with an addiction, it just doesn't work that way. Now, if your addictive disorder involves using substances like drugs and alcohol, that can then lead to the disease of chemical dependency. Because when you use those drugs long enough, it begins to change the way that your brain operates. And I do have a lot of videos on that if you would like to hear all that nerdy science for yourself. And so, so far, you can see we're going from choice to disorder, which can lead to the disease of chemical dependency. But I think it's really important here to pull apart the pieces between addiction, the disorder, and chemical dependency, the disease. Even up until just recently in the diagnostic statistical manual, which is like the big book that we use to diagnose all kinds of mental health illnesses and disorders. It labels addiction doesn't cause addiction, doesn't use that word. Chemical dependency was the term. Now I think chemical dependency is actually. It can be the result or a symptom of or a disease process of a larger problem. Because if you're obsessively using this substance for long enough, your brain changes and then you begin to need that substance for your brain to function, right? And then now you have the disease of chemical dependency. But here's why I say chemical dependency is not addiction. Because we can treat chemical dependency fairly easily. When you go in and you detox someone off of a substance and you get them down, you keep them off, their brain goes back to normal so you can treat and heal that disease. But guess what? That obsession, that craving, that desire can stay there even after you fixed the chemical dependency portion. And once you. And if that stays there, even. We all know people that have been clean and sober for long periods of time and they go back out there and use, number one, the question is, why in the world did you go back out there and use. It's because you have addiction to drugs, alcohol, sex, gambling, shopping, whatever that is. And once you do that, you can reactivate the chemical dependency in your brain. And so I guess it's all complicated. Why is it important to pull apart these pieces? It's important that you understand that just treating chemical dependency does not cure addiction. That's the main reason that I decided to come out with this video. Because so many people and families feel like if they can get detoxed, if they can get the drug out of their system and their brain back to functioning normal, that they've got this thing nailed. And here's what we know that is absolutely not true. Think about it. Why is it that we treat a disease after the detox part? Why is it that we would treat a disease with therapy? Is it possible to talk someone out of a disease? No, it's really not. Is it possible to talk to someone and help them through and help them learn to think differently and make choices differently? Yes, it is. Why is it that if it is just a disease of chemical dependency, would we send people to 12 step meetings? Would people get better through going to church? You see, that doesn't make sense. Those things, therapy, 12 step meetings, religion, church, all of those other things can help the person realign that thought disorder, which is essentially the addiction. So the biggest point here from this video that you really, really need to take home is to separate chemical dependency, which is sort of like a symptom of addictive disorder. And if you're still not convinced, think of it this way. There are lots of things other than drugs and alcohol that people get addicted to, right? Sex, shopping, gambling, you know, all of that other stuff. Exercise even. And so even without that chemical introduction, you can see that there's some predictable disorder going on here. Now, what about the issue of is it a moral failure or sin? Well, no, addiction is definitely not a moral failure or sin. I mean, come on. Lots of great people from lots of great families develop addictions. But here's a little truth for you. This might be one of those hard truths to swallow, and that is that addiction leads to a symptom which is a moral failure. People that are addicted to drugs and alcohol often make decisions that aren't very moral, like how they treat the people around them, like stealing and lying and manipulating, that without this disorder, this person that has it would never make. So I'm not saying that this person is morally bad or sinful. I'm saying that this disorder leads you to make. Leads you to make morally bad decisions. I mean, think of it. A lot of what happens in therapy and in 12 step is the healing of those relationships. It's teaching people how to get back their integrity, how to make right decisions, how to know when they're being dishonest with themselves and the people around them. So essentially, one of the symptoms that working on is the ability to make moral, good, social decisions. It's the ability to heal your relationships and maintain and carry on good relationships. So that is what addiction is, and that is how you treat addiction. Now, remember, that's separate than chemical dependency. Now, I know this may be complicated and a little frustrating for you to hear, and I probably wouldn't have got in there and muddied up all the waters had I not thought it's really important for you primarily so that you understand what the treatment for addiction really is. Now, just in case I've left you thoroughly confused or you just want to understand a little more about what I'm telling you, I'm going to link up here to a playlist which includes some videos from some of the top scientists out there working on this issue to help explain it to you even better than I can.