The Disease of Drug Addiction
The Disease of Drug Addiction
Joanne Frye
HSER 340
Abstract
Addiction is a chronic, often relapsing brain disease that causes compulsive seeking and use of addictive substances despite harmful consequences to the addicted individual and to those around him or her.
Introduction
Dramatic advances in science over the past 20 years have shown that drug addiction is a chronic relapsing disease that results from the prolonged effects of drugs on the brain. (Leshner, 1997) It is considered a brain disease because drugs change the brain structure and how the brain works. (Volkow and Schelbert, 2007) As with many other brain diseases, addiction has embedded behavioral and social-context aspects that are important parts of the disorder itself. Therefore, the most effective treatment approaches will include biological, behavioral, and social-context components. Recognizing addiction as a chronic, relapsing brain disorder characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use can impact society’s overall health and social policy strategies and help diminish the health and social costs associated with drug abuse and addiction (Leshner, 1997).
Addiction as a Disease
For decades, the orthodox view in neuroscience and psychiatry has been that addiction is a psychiatric disease (Jellinek, 1960). In 1968 it was included in the second revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, positioning it explicitly as a mental illness for the purpose diagnosis and treatment (APA, 1968).
In the 1990’s, however following the new advances in neuroimaging, some of the biological mechanisms of addiction became apparent and some scientists conceptualized addiction as a disease of biological, rather than purely mental origins. For example, in his capacity as the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Alan Leshner wrote that the reason we ought to think of addiction as a disease is that it ‘is tied to changes in brain structure and
Joanne Frye
HSER 340
Abstract
Addiction is a chronic, often relapsing brain disease that causes compulsive seeking and use of addictive substances despite harmful consequences to the addicted individual and to those around him or her.
Introduction
Dramatic advances in science over the past 20 years have shown that drug addiction is a chronic relapsing disease that results from the prolonged effects of drugs on the brain. (Leshner, 1997) It is considered a brain disease because drugs change the brain structure and how the brain works. (Volkow and Schelbert, 2007) As with many other brain diseases, addiction has embedded behavioral and social-context aspects that are important parts of the disorder itself. Therefore, the most effective treatment approaches will include biological, behavioral, and social-context components. Recognizing addiction as a chronic, relapsing brain disorder characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use can impact society’s overall health and social policy strategies and help diminish the health and social costs associated with drug abuse and addiction (Leshner, 1997).
Addiction as a Disease
For decades, the orthodox view in neuroscience and psychiatry has been that addiction is a psychiatric disease (Jellinek, 1960). In 1968 it was included in the second revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, positioning it explicitly as a mental illness for the purpose diagnosis and treatment (APA, 1968).
In the 1990’s, however following the new advances in neuroimaging, some of the biological mechanisms of addiction became apparent and some scientists conceptualized addiction as a disease of biological, rather than purely mental origins. For example, in his capacity as the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Alan Leshner wrote that the reason we ought to think of addiction as a disease is that it ‘is tied to changes in brain structure and
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