According to dictionary.com, an addiction is: 1. a disordered or incorrectly functioning organ, part, structure, or system of the body resulting from the effect of genetic or developmental errors, infection, poisons, nutritional deficiency or imbalance, toxicity, or unfavorable environmental factors; illness; sickness; ailment. 2. any abnormal condition in a plant that interferes with its vital physiological processes, caused by pathogenic microorganisms, parasites, unfavorable environmental, genetic, or nutritional factors, etc. 3. any harmful, depraved, or morbid condition, as of the mind or society: His fascination with executions is a disease. 4. decomposition of a material under special circumstances.
I'm posting this on r/darknetmarkets because I think this subreddit, more than any related subreddits like r/drugs, will show the least bias, or maybe at least the most even mixture of biases:) Recently, in another thread (the one about naloxone) I suggested that addiction is not really a disease, though I did suggest that the disease idea should be popularized because it greatly reduces the stigma associated with addiction. Interestingly, I received a decent amount of downvoting and negative replies, suggesting that many people WANT to believe they are diseased, or at least want the sympathy the idea engenders. Now of the 4 definitions listed above, only 1, 2, and 4, are really scientific, 3 is more of a common usage definition. I should also point out addiction is usually defined as a compulsive behavior wherein an individual seeks out a stimulus as much as possible, generally to the point that they harm themselves or others (the last part is rarely precise as to what counts as "harm").
My argument for why this idea is false is based on the following rational: Our brains have evolved naturally to repeatedly seek out things that give us pleasure, like food, sex, social status etc. If you take that definition of addiction and remove the "causes problems" qualifier in its second half (and I think we should because all habits cause at least one problem: they take up time and energy), then we have no choice but to accept that addiction, though it may be a problem in many instances, is not a disease, because it represents our natural, inborn response to things that make us feel good.
HOWEVER, I'd like to emphasize that I still think the "addiction is a disease" concept should continue to be propagated. Right or wrong, it still helps de-stigmatize addiction, which is a good thing. P.S. Yes I have lots of first-person experience with addiction, likely more than you do. Also please be civil, and respond using logic, I know we're all entitled to an opinion, thanks.
Umm.... "DarkNetMarkets"... Think you in the wrong sub bud.
I know cancer is a disease, if that helps...