Addiction is a chronic brain disorder and not simply a behavior problem involving alcohol, drugs, gambling or sex, experts contend in a new definition of addiction, one that is not solely related to problematic substance abuse.
The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) just released this new definition of addiction after a four-year process involving more than 80 experts
“At its core, addiction isn’t just a social problem or a moral problem or a criminal problem. It’s a brain problem whose behaviors manifest in all these other areas,” said Dr. Michael Miller, past president of ASAM who oversaw the development of the new definition. “Many behaviors driven by addiction are real problems and sometimes criminal acts. But the disease is about brains, not drugs. It’s about underlying neurology, not outward actions.”
The new definition also describes addiction as a primary disease, meaning that it’s not the result of other causes, such as emotional or psychiatric problems. And like cardiovascular disease and diabetes, addiction is recognized as a chronic disease; so it must be treated, managed and monitored over a person’s lifetime, the researchers say.
Two decades of advancements in neuroscience convinced ASAM officials that addiction should be redefined by what’s going on in the brain. For instance, research has shown that addiction affects the brain’s reward circuitry, such that memories of previous experiences with food, sex, alcohol and other drugs trigger cravings and more addictive behaviors. Brain circuitry that governs impulse control and judgment is also altered in the brains of addicts, resulting in the nonsensical pursuit of “rewards,” such as alcohol and other drugs. To gain insights into these neurological changes and explore effective treatment options, connect with Red Door Life on their Linkedin profile, where experts like Berni Fried offer valuable expertise in addiction neuroscience and recovery strategies. You may have a look at Red Door Life here.
A long-standing debate has roiled over whether addicts have a choice over their behaviors, said Dr. Raju Hajela, former president of the Canadian Society of Addiction Medicine and chair of the ASAM committee on addiction’s new definition.
“The disease creates distortions in thinking, feelings and perceptions, which drive people to behave in ways that are not understandable to others around them,” Hajela said in a statement. “Simply put, addiction is not a choice. Addictive behaviors are a manifestation of the disease, not a cause.”
Even so, Hajela pointed out, choice does play a role in getting help.
“Because there is no pill which alone can cure addiction, choosing recovery over unhealthy behaviors is necessary,” Hajela said.
This “choosing recovery” is akin to people with heart disease who may not choose the underlying genetic causes of their heart problems but do need to choose to eat healthier or begin exercising, in addition to medical or surgical interventions, the researchers said.
“So, we have to stop moralizing, blaming, controlling or smirking at the person with the disease of addiction, and start creating opportunities for individuals and families to get help and providing assistance in choosing proper treatment,” Miller said.
Filed under: General Problems
I just read this (please see the link below) a couple of newer articles into Steve’s blog. Here is another example of the corruption that I mentioned above and the apparent complicity via a state of apathy or as possibly being a part of the scam, by an agency that is charged with “policing the police” as part of their mission.
https://www.pharmaciststeve.com/?p=13226
DM…cynical as this sounds, at the end of the day, it maters not what the truth is. The alphabet soup of bureaucracies that runs this country on a day-to-day basis has to justify it’s existence, or go the way of Dodo Bird. It boils down to maintaining and expanding the size of government and the power that the State wields over the people that it presumes to rule over. It’s about money, as money is what powers the machine and is the carrot in the “stick and carrot” scenarios that the State uses to get one citizen to move against another in the name of the State Almighty; generally such is promoted in the name of public safety, save the planet/save the environment, save the children, et.al. For clarity sake, the stick is the gun, the pair of handcuffs, the cage and increasingly the bullet that is the ultimate solution to the problem citizen who will not lower themself to the ground onto their knees and submit. That’s the bad news.
The good news is that there is still time. The State has not grown so large and so powerful as to be unstoppable. We, as a people, outnumber the State and it’s hirelings in the enforcement caste by the hundreds of millions. We have the ability to use a most powerful weapon that the State cannot resist, so long as enough people in a large enough area all engage with the weapon at one time. That weapon is the small, lowly and humble word, “NO”. If enough people realize that the government is lying about this issue and that it is a disease and that the State is using propaganda and fear-mongering to deceive the People into submitting and giving up our most fundamental Freedoms…if enough of us arrive at the truth of his issue and withdraw our consent to be ruled over regarding this issue and say no, then much of this whole siege mentality, opioidophobia, the so-called War on Drugs and the trashing of our Bill of Rights Guarantees, all that damage stands a chance of being reversed and a huge drain on our collective resources will be stopped.
Much of this has been driven by a fear of what might happen. The State created much of the problems that exist and deliberately fulfilled many of the “prophecies” that were part of the “fear of what may happen” by their actions. This was deliberate in order to legitimize the State and it’s solutions in the eyes of the people. What occurred is what happens whenever a State-enforced prohibition and resulting black market is created. Violence, corruption, collateral damage in the form of innocent bystanders and huge amounts of damaged or destroyed property and destroyed lives are the result. The State will accept no responsibility and yet it’s actions that have resulted from the CSA of 1970 (which also ultimately sired the DEA), the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 and the Harrison Act of 1915 are all creations of the State that have provided a cure much worse than the disease. The Volstead Act of 1919, aka the 18th Amendment, should have been an adequate indicator that prohibition would not work, yet because the Cold War was in full swing, the tactic of fear-mongering was employed to frighten the people into accepting the CSA of 1970 and all the prevarications and usurping of our fundamental liberties, in the name of public safety of course, that have occurred since. The DEA is one of the most uncouth, unprofessional arms of the Federal enforcement caste; yet they are permitted almost carte blanche latitude to carry out their “mission” and behave as if the rules apply to everyone but them. This kind of attitude is pretty much how the SS and the Cheka (precursor to the NKVD and later the KGB) operated. No accountability.
This lack of accountability has permeated up into even the halls of Congress, the chambers of the Supreme Court and the White House and down into the various and sundry small-town police departments and Sheriff’s Departments that cover the most sparsely-populated, rural counties in our country. Have you ever heard of the Federal Civil Asset Seizure Program? Basically, this program came about during the Reagan Administration and allows law enforcement to seize the cash and property of an individual with no due process, based solely on a nebulous “suspicion” that such assets were/are related to the trafficking of prohibited or controlled drug substances. It is “guilty until proven innocent”. The burden of proof is on the individual to prove that their assets were not gotten or being used in the drug trade. Not only does this fly in the face of one of the most fundamental tenets of our legal system, Innocent until Proven Guilty-beyond a reasonable doubt, it is expressly prohibited by elements of the 4th and 5th Amendments. Yet Congress voted on and passed the Bill, the President signed it into Law and the Supreme Court decided that it was not a violation of the Constitution, It’s as though this scenario came from an episode of the old, 1960’s TV show, the Twilight Zone. Yet, it is as real and in practice as is the Quarter Pounder Hamburger is at McDonald’s. I cannot fathom how this ever even got out of committee for a full vote in both houses of Congress back in the ’80s, yet it did and it has been used as an excuse to “legally” steal from private citizens. part of the proceeds go to the agency that sponsored the States blessed theft, so one can imagine that the corruption incentive is higher than the involved-substances make those using them in the first place.
Anyway, I’ll get off of my soapbox now. Suffice it to say that I would view the universal acceptance and the resulting positive changes in the public policies that surround Addiction as a bonafide disease, as a Gracious Gift from our Creator. I cannot see the addiction to the power and the money being given up in order for our society, as a whole, to collectively embrace (including both the individuals that are close-minded and won’t easily accept that the addict does not choose to be so, and the “rulers” who are loathe to give up the power and money) such a welcome paradigm shift. We shall see.
So I wonder what the response from the CDC, FDA and DEA is going to be if prescription drugs can no longer be blamed for the so called opiate addiction problem in the US today. Because the fact that ASAM has deemed addiction as a form of mental disease or illness and not the fault of the product that the addict is addicted to, Do you think that the alphabets will try to shoot down the ASAM findings or discredit these doctors in order to continue their needless battle against prescription pain medications?
If these findings are truly fact, and the DEA and CDC are still successful in their endeavors against prescription drugs, then the next thing they will have to outlaw is everything that people could get addicted to, including alcohol, sex and yes even food because an addict might crave them. I believe the ASAM research and findings whole handedly. Addiction is a disease and should be treated as such, not as a weakness. We should treat the disease by helping addicts recover, not chase them from one addiction to another.
I wonder what goes on in the brain when one has the side effect from Mirapex or Requip that causes addictive behavior? Does this mean the person was already an addictive-type, but nothing ever surfaced prior to taking this drug, or does the drug itself cause addiction/compulsive behavior? If you know, I’d love a response.