Is Addiction a Disease?: Understanding Addiction

Understanding Addiction as a Disease

What Causes Addiction?

Addiction is mainly caused by a combination of one or more factors, such as genetics, environment, life experiences, brain chemistry, trauma, stress, or underlying/untreated mental health conditions. 

More often than not, addiction and substance abuse are caused by the desire to lessen, mask, or numb painful memories, sensations, or thoughts. This is known as self-medicating.

Is Addiction a Disease?

Yes. The American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) defines addiction as a chronic brain disorder. 

Although addiction is classified as a chronic disease, it, along with substance use disorder (SUD), is treatable and manageable with professional help and support, much like conditions such as hypertension or diabetes.

Why Is Addiction Called a Disease?

Addiction is classified as a disease because it causes changes in brain functioning and structure.

Those struggling with substance abuse and addiction may also do so because of genetic, environmental, and behavioral factors.

Addiction and Brain Changes

How Does Addiction Rewire the Brain?

Chemicals found in drugs and alcohol, or pleasurable actions from addictive behaviors, target and rewire the reward system of the brain. 

The brain functions by utilizing a delicate balance of brain chemistry. Among them are neurotransmitters. These are chemicals that carry signals from a nerve cell (neuron) to other cells of the body.

Addictive drugs can change the chemistry of the brain and interfere with the brain and nervous system’s ability to function. This mainly affects the brain’s reward circuit.

What Role Does Dopamine Play in Addiction?

Dopamine is an essential neurotransmitter that helps us survive and is stimulated by drug use and abuse. 

The reward center of the brain serves as a survival tool, lighting up when we engage in activities essential to staying alive.

Activities such as eating food or bonding with others will activate this reward center, which releases dopamine, the “pleasure” chemical. This chemical also factors into our ability to learn and self-motivate. As a result, the rush of dopamine through drug abuse reinforces its use.

Drugs will surge the brain with dopamine, which teaches the brain that this is good and should be done again. The dopamine surges caused by drugs are far more potent than any natural reward can be.

Eventually, the brain will become used to this overwhelming flood of dopamine. This becomes a tolerance, which forces you to increase your dosage to get the same pleasure or “high” as before.

When you try to stop using the drugs, the absence can cause a craving for that drug and/or withdrawal symptoms.

Which Parts of the Brain Are Affected?

All of the brain is affected by addiction, but the main parts of the brain most affected are the basal ganglia, extended amygdala, and prefrontal cortex.

The prefrontal cortex is the part of the brain responsible for decision-making and exerting self-control over impulses. Meanwhile, the basal ganglia, part of the reward circuit of the brain, plays an important role in positive motivation. Finally, the extended amygdala plays a role in how we feel stress, anxiety, and unease, which is often triggered during withdrawal, motivating you to seek more drugs to stop the feelings.

Some drugs, such as opioids and opiates, target other parts of the brain, such as the brain stem. Stimulants, on the other hand, primarily affect the nervous system.

What Makes Addiction a Brain Disease

Why Is Addiction Classified as a Brain Disease?

Addiction is classified as a brain disease because it involves changes to the brain that affect stress, reward, and self-control. 

These changes can result in compulsive drug-seeking behavior despite the known harm it causes to oneself or a loved one. The changes that occur in the brain because of addiction can persist long after a person stops using drugs, which is similar to other chronic diseases.

How Do Brain Changes Impact Behavior?

Changes in the brain caused by addiction reduce a person’s ability to manage or stop their drug use. 

As addiction affects the center of the brain that is used for impulse control and decision making, changes can result in more prevalent risk-taking behavior. This can result in accidents or death if left unchecked.

The brain’s reward center being hijacked can also result in a person’s life being consumed by the acquisition, use, and recovery from drugs or alcohol. One of the main signs of addiction is the ignoring or inability to handle responsibilities, such as keeping a job or eating well, due to this pattern of behavior.

What Does Neuroscience Show About Addiction?

Current neuroscience shows that addiction does change the brain, and it’s important to search for methods to reverse said damage. 

Addiction goes beyond substances, and there is a focus on how behaviors, such as gambling and social media use, also target and rewire the reward system of the brain.

Alongside understanding why we are prone to addiction, focus is also on how to rewire the brain towards recovery. This includes the development of brain-based treatments and behavioral therapies to establish new habits and pathways in the brain.

Such treatments being explored in neurobiological medicine include deep-brain stimulation and transcranial magnetic stimulation to help reset maladaptive brain circuits. The goal of which is to reverse the lasting damage addiction does to the brain.

Risk Factors That Contribute to Addiction

What Causes Addiction?

Addiction is often the result of a desire to mask, numb, or relieve pain from serious health problems, trauma, underlying or undiagnosed mental illness, or stress, known as self-medication. 

Why people become addicted is often due to factors beyond their control, such as their genetics and the environment they were born into.

Two people could take the same dose of the same drug, and one might become addicted and not the other. Of course, some drugs are more potent than others, and when paired with an individual’s particular genetics, can influence whether they develop an addiction or not.

What Role Does Family History Play?

The risk of addiction increases for an individual if they have immediate family members who also struggle with addiction. 

Family history plays a significant role in addiction and includes both genetic and environmental factors.

For example, if a parent has a gene that makes them more likely to become addicted to alcohol, you may have the same gene. Family members demonstrating substance use and abuse as a coping mechanism may influence children (who learn by watching adults) to turn to substance abuse first rather than a healthier coping skill.

You are not guaranteed to develop an addiction because a family member has, but it’s a good indication that you should be cautious and aware of the risks.

Do Environmental Factors Influence Addiction?

Yes, the environment you are born and live in can influence your susceptibility to substance use, abuse, and addiction. 

Environmental factors can include trauma, family dynamics, peer pressure, socioeconomic status, and early exposure to substance use.

Why Addiction Is Not Just About Willpower

Is Addiction Just a Lack of Self-Control?

No, addiction is a complex disorder that alters brain functions and behavior to the degree that it becomes difficult for someone to resist the impulse to engage in drug use, even when they know it has negative consequences.

These changes can keep people trapped in a cycle of drug abuse and addiction, making recovery difficult without professional help.

Why Do People Keep Using Even When They Want to Stop?

When your brain function is altered, it becomes much more difficult to resist the urge to use drugs. 

People will often keep using drugs to prevent withdrawal symptoms and cravings, which can be disruptive and painful at best, or deadly at worst, such as delirium tremens.

How Is Addiction Similar to Other Chronic Diseases?

Addiction is similar to other chronic diseases, such as diabetes, because both conditions are:

• Preventable
• Treatable and manageable 
• Changes biology 
• Progressive 
• Gets worse over time if left untreated
• Lasts a lifetime 
• Can cause death

With the right medical and mental health care, a person with addiction can remain in recovery and live a full, happy life.

Evidence That Supports the Science of Addiction

What Research Proves Addiction Is a Disease?

Research done by institutions such as the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) collects studies and other sources of data that point to addiction being a brain disease. 

Institutions such as these are always keeping up with the latest research on the understanding and treatment of addiction.

How Do Brain Scans Support This?

Neuroimaging can show the damage addiction causes to the brain, as well as the recovery from it when a person stops using substances. 

These images are valuable in proving that addiction damages key parts of the brain that influence behavior and impulse control.

What Do Clinicians Say About Addiction?

A clinician or neuroscientist would agree that addiction is a chronic disease and that it’s a complex condition requiring compassion and understanding. 

Great efforts are being made to reduce stigmatizing language and make addiction education, care, and treatment more accessible. They emphasize that addiction is not because of poor choices or weak willpower, but rather from complex and varying factors that are often beyond your control.

What This Means for Loved Ones

How Can Families Better Understand Addiction?

Family members can better understand addiction by being open and willing to accept help and education from mental healthcare professionals. 

This can be through intervention services or family therapy with a therapist trained in addiction treatment.

What Can Families Do to Help?

Families can help their loved ones by being understanding, compassionate, and non-judgmental.

Avoid using stigmatizing language and approach addiction in a loved one as a disorder needing serious health care, not as a moral failing or bad choice. Being judgmental does not help and can discourage your loved one from seeking the help they need. Listen to your loved one’s treatment providers, as they may give you tips to help you better support your loved one.

How Does Support Improve Recovery?

Support gives your loved one the strength they need to go through each step of addiction treatment as well as prevent potential relapse. 

Addiction treatment is designed to help your loved one improve their overall well-being and utilize the tools needed for relapse prevention. Being supportive gives your loved one a place to fall back on should they run into difficulties, especially if they are dealing with cravings or peer pressure.

Support also prevents isolation, which is one of the main causes of relapse in newly treated individuals.

Effective Treatment for Substance Use Disorder

What Are the Most Effective Treatments?

Effective addiction treatment is primarily a combination of psychiatry and psychotherapy.

Medication-assisted treatment is used as needed to help treat any underlying conditions that may influence your addiction. The most common psychotherapies used in addiction treatment are cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). Other modalities may be used depending on your needs.

Which Programs Help Most?

Addiction treatment centers like Infinite Recovery utilize detox, residential, outpatient, and aftercare services to best treat drug addiction. 

There is no singular program that helps the most, as all of them work together to be a part of your treatment plan.

Specific programs may vary depending on your needs. Many people start in detox before moving into residential treatment. Once fully stabilized, they move into an outpatient program, such as a partial hospitalization program (PHP) or intensive outpatient program (IOP), gradually reducing the intensity of the program until they complete treatment.

What Role Does Aftercare Play?

Aftercare is critical in the treatment of drug dependence and addiction as it provides continuous support once treatment is complete. 

This continued support reduces the risk of relapse and provides a community of individuals who understand exactly what you went through and continue to go through. Aftercare services at Infinite Recovery include an alumni program, sober living, and community events.

FAQs About Addiction as a Disease

Is addiction a disease or a choice?

Addiction itself is classified as a brain disease because it changes the brain’s structure and chemistry, reducing a person’s ability to regulate behavior.

Using substances for the first time may be a choice, but there’s more to addiction than just that. A person may be predisposed to addiction because of genetic or psychological factors that are beyond their control. Further changes to the brain that impair decision-making make it difficult to stop using substances, even when a person wants to.

Nobody deserves an addiction, and nobody willingly chooses to become addicted. Many, in fact, use drugs or alcohol with the full belief that they can stop when they want to, only to realize that they cannot on their own, quickly.

What part of the brain does addiction affect?

Addiction affects many parts of the brain, which can include the basal ganglia, extended amygdala, and prefrontal cortex.

However, other parts of the brain can be affected, depending on the substance, such as the:

• Nucleus accumbens (part of the brain’s reward circuitry)
• Hippocampus (memory formation and learning)
• Ventral tegmental area (key part of the brain’s dopamine system)
• Hypothalamus (addiction can cause stress responses and hormonal imbalances)
• Insula (when hyperactive, can induce physical cravings and sensitivity to drug-related cues)
• Anterior cingulate cortex (emotional regulation, decision-making, and error detection)
• Orbitofrontal cortex (evaluates rewards and makes value-based decisions)
• Brain stem (Regulates breathing, heartbeat, and other automatic bodily functions. Primarily affected by opioid use)

As you can see, the brain is greatly affected by addiction. However, some areas are more heavily affected than others.

Can people recover from addiction?

Yes, anyone can recover from addiction with the right professional help and support. 

Treatment centers like Infinite Recovery are prepared to help you or a loved one recover from addiction. You just need to reach out for help. 

How do doctors diagnose addiction?

Clinicians use DSM-5 criteria to diagnose someone with addiction.

Some of the criteria to be diagnosed with addiction include experiencing cravings and withdrawal symptoms when you stop using drugs or alcohol, and continued use of them despite harm to yourself and others.

Addiction is a serious disease that affects countless people across the United States. Despite how scary it may be, addiction is a treatable and manageable condition. It takes professional help, support, and the drive to change, and anything is possible. That’s why Infinite Recovery in Austin, Texas, offers comprehensive and compassionate addiction treatment for a wide range of drugs and substances. There is no fear or stigma at Infinite Recovery, as we understand that addiction at its core is a response to pain. From medically-assisted detox to aftercare services, Infinite Recovery is here to help you or your loved one successfully recover from addiction. To learn more about our addiction treatment services, call (844) 928-1502 today.