Chapter 14

Any expression of indignation toward people with misunderstandings of the disease concept of addiction has pitfalls; whether one is trying to understand addiction from inside or out. It is obviously true and not a concept entirely without merit or application; but rather is frequently misused as a convenient excuse not to change. The driving impetus in viewing addiction as a disease is to remind the addict (and others around him) that anytime he picks up a drink or drug, something happens in both mind and body that causes him to be virtually powerless to stop at will. At advanced stages of addiction, the ability to control many types of other compulsions also seems to evaporate. There is overwhelming empirical evidence that points to this absolute truth. As the saying goes, “one is too many and a thousand is never enough.”

Anytime the language of invective insult is used against those who wish to understand the addiction problem from outside the restrictive boundaries of addiction itself, a great deal of bewilderment settles in. Someone trying to understand an addict may assert, “If this ‘disease’ concept is known as some sort of spectacular extrapolation of understanding why you can’t change; then let’s have additional reasons for believing it.” Many uninformed people view addiction, not as a disease, but simply an unwillingness to control impulses; but it is so much more complicated than that. Addicts do not like being told their problem is within their control, because they personally know from dreadful experience that unaided willpower alone is typically insufficient to stop.

The disease of addiction is not to be confused with, say, catching a cold (by accident). It is an intentional, acquired, unremitting, and deadly (if untreated) behavioral and mental disease that rivals in comparison to other deadly sicknesses. Research has discovered that long-term drug abuse results in significant alterations of brain chemistry with damaging effects that persist even long after a person stops using drugs (known as PAW – or, post acute withdrawals). These drug-induced changes in brain function can cause many serious behavioral hazards, including a lack of ability to exert control over the impulse to use drugs yet again despite adverse risk or repercussion— which is the hallmark distinguishing characteristic of all addiction.

There are actually many paths to freedom from addiction. There is, however, one pathway established far beyond doubt or uncertainty as the most excellent way. God, our Creator, is accessible by sincere prayer. The power and influence of earnest faith can move mountains, and so much more. All we must do is ask, seek, and find. In order to ask, one must believe. In order to seek, one must do. In order to find, one must have faith.