Is Drug Addiction A Disease Or A Choice?

Is drug addiction a disease or simply a choice? Twenty-three million Americans are addicted to alcohol or drugs (Join Together Staff). Drug addiction is a disease and not a choice because drugs change the brain, affect both physical and mental health, and treatment is needed to recover.
Drugs are chemicals that affect the brain by entering in its communication system and hamper with the way neurons deliver, obtain, and process data. Changes in the brain contribute to the transition from casual drug use to addiction and according to this theory, repeated exposure to drugs of abuse promotes the progressive sensitization of neuronal activation within specific brain reward circuitry (Singer, Bryan F., and Terry E. Robinson.). When someone abuses

Addiction is a treatable disease. Even though addiction is treatable it cannot always be cured. Drug treatment is intended to help addicted individuals stop compulsive drug seeking and use (What Is Drug Addiction Treatment). Treatment enables people to counteract addiction’s powerful disruptive effects on the brain and behavior (Treatment and Recovery). Treatment approaches must be tailored to address each patient’s drug use patterns and drug-related medical, psychiatric, and social problems (Treatment and Recovery). Drug addiction is typically a chronic disorder characterized by occasional relapses, a short-term, one-time treatment is usually not sufficient (What Is Drug Addiction Treatment). Behavioral therapies can help motivate people to participate in drug treatment, offer strategies for coping with drug cravings, teach ways to avoid drugs and prevent relapse, and help individuals deal with relapse if it occurs and can also help people improve communication, relationship, and parenting skills, as well as family dynamics (What Is Drug Addiction Treatment). Diverse types of medications may be useful at various stages of treatment to help a patient stop abusing drugs, stay in treatment, and avoid relapse (Treatment and Recovery). Treatment for drug abuse and addiction is delivered in many different settings using a variety of behavioral and pharmacological approaches (What Is Drug Addiction Treatment). The chronic nature of the disease means that relapsing to drug abuse at some point is not only possible, but likely (Treatment and Recovery). Relapse rates for people with addiction and other substance use disorders are similar to the relapse rates for other well-understood chronic medical illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension, and asthma, which also have both physiological and behavioral components (Treatment and Recovery). Drug addiction can be treated but not always