Is Addiction a Choice or a Disease?

Is addiction a choice?

I was listening to a discussion about addiction on NPR’s wbur.org “ON Point with Tom Ashbrook” which was fascinating.  A research psychologist, Gene Heyman, says addiction is a choice, or a series of choices. It is, he says, voluntary.  http://www.onpointradio.org/2009/08/is-addiction-a-matter-of-choice

In the second paragraph of the article Gene Heyman contends that most heavy drug users, for example, break free in their early 30s. Most diabetes sufferers, by contrast, do not.  What does Gene Heyman mean by “Choice”?  My dad was a “Type 2″ diabetic.  He had the choice to treat his “disease (diabetes)” with diet and exercise.   When my father exercised and ate a low sugar and low fat diet, he diminished the negative consequences of his condition.  His disease did not go away.   Did my father have a Choice?  Yes he had a choice to maintain his health with diet and exercise.  He did not have a choice whether he was diabetic or not.  He had the disease of diabetes.

How does this compare to addiction?  I have the disease of addiction, much like my father had the disease of diabetes.  I was addicted to drugs and alcohol from 19 to 27, I went into remission at 27, relapsed at 39 and then went into remission again at 42.  Much like my father, I reduced the negative consequences of my addiction from 27 to 39.  From age 27 to 39, I went to 12 Step meetings, I exercised, I was abstinent from drugs and alcohol, I was of service to addicts and my community and I worked with a sponsor on the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous.   One day at 39 I made the choice to use drugs and alcohol again.  For the next 3 years I tried repeatedly to stop, attending five different treatment programs.  The last program I stayed in was for 6 months.  Did I have a choice to use drugs or alcohol, yes I did.  Did I have a choice of whether to have the disease of addiction, no I did not.

My father and I both had chronic and fatal diseases.  My father had diabetes.  I have the disease of addiction.   My father died of complications to his diabetes at the age of 62.  I hope I can avoid dying from complications from the disease of addiction, one day at a time.

Alex