Addiction, Emotional Problem or Disease?
Tom Warnick
Colorado Mountain College

Abstract

My topic of research for this paper was the nature of addiction, the controversy of labeling addiction a disease, and the difference between a disease and behavioral problems. I learned about the sociological stigma of the “sick role” that is to be assumed by anyone with a debilitating medical condition or disease, and argued my point that addiction should not be considered a disease, but rather a behavioral problem. Assuming the “sick role” offers rights and social exemptions that I do not feel addicts deserve, as well as demanding obligations that addicts are not interested in adhering to. In the following pages, I explain my position that society enables addict by labeling addiction as a disease, thus exempting them from any responsibility for that which they are entirely responsible for.when, on, the economy could collapse

An addiction forms into a habit only after the choice has been made to consume a addictive substance in the first place; Addiction is a physical or mental habit; you could have an addiction as simple as biting your nails or as pervasive as smoking methamphetamine. However, while addiction is a very complex and serious problem for many people, others are able to use equal proportions of substances and are unaffected by the grasp of addiction. Although certain people may have more self-control/willpower than others, this does not make them immune to the physical and chemical properties of addiction, they are only more resilient to the inevitable cycle of addiction.
Based on the fact that some people are less affected than others, it is my opinion that addiction is not a disease, but an emotional problem stemming from a mental tendency to over-indulge. The term disease is far too respected to describe a condition that can only be acquired by