1. Is Addiction Really a Disease?

Dr. Kevin McCauley explores the most important
question about addiction ...

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• drug
• addiction
• addictions
• addict
• AA
• NA
• heroin
• meth
• oxy
• treatment
• rehab

[gledalac1979]

cancer and diabetes can be reversed much easier than drug addiction and they are also self inflicted so this video misses target

[kevintmccauley1965]

@gledalac1979 Keep in mind this 2 minute clip merely sets up the "Choice vs Disease" debate for the rest of the video. The remaining 60 minutes show why the "Choice Argument" is problematic. Nevertheless, its "reversibility" or "self-infliction" would neither disqualify addiction from being, nor prove it to be, a disease. Type I DM is not reversible, although Type II can be managed in some pts with diet & exercise. Some cancers could be said (tastelessly) to be self-inflicted, but most are not.

[HansDesterhoft]

I have to say this dude instead of using drugs or alcohol u got addicted to finding out why addiction is a choice...therefore u replaced alcohol with something else...being addicted to something is still an addiction and just because it might be healthier doesn't mean that it is a choice...the only choice you made was to find a different addiction

[kevintmccauley1965]

@HansDesterhoft I don't disagree with that one bit. Although technically, an "addiction" implies a decrease in functioning, and the decision to be distracted/incapacitated/enthr­alled by something else might not fit the standard, clinical definition. But I do think this is a way that many people with drug and alcohol problems get better: they find something more interesting. And people with actual addiction find a "higher power" - whether supernatural or not.

[TheReddwarff100]

Recovering from an addiction is not quitting.

But finding a way to not start again.

[MrScottmac33]

Alcoholism and drug addiction are so insidious we can't even agree what to call them... I saw my dad have about 20 seizures due to alcoholism...then he died alone in some room over a bar... maybe it's not a disease, but it's not something done by choice either...

[damnation0708]

why is he walking around in the canyons?

[smarkbarnes]

@Penguinz13989 I hope you take the time to watch the entire video. A few months ago, I watched Kevin's video. It is the best presentation I have found on the topic. Addiction is very much a disease. It is a disease of the brain. Our brains are incredibly plastic and able to adapt quickly to change. But, when that process goes wrong, we have the disease of addiction. Telling someone they are a f*** up does not really give them a way forward. Kevin's video is a great help to many people.

[30Zoidberg]

@circusoflife You can stop smoking. You can't stop having type 1 diabetes.

[mlkopituras]

@mlkopituras i hope the movie aint bullshit

[mlkopituras]

disagree but like

[BhaktaRobin]

"The Blessed Lord said: It is lust only, Arjuna, which is born of contact with the material modes of passion and later transformed into wrath, and which is the all-devouring, sinful enemy of this world."[Bhagavad-Gita AS IT IS - 3.37 by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada]

Maybe you have come over the eastern wisdom already.

The vedic philosophy explains how the soul is forced into bondage(addiction to sense enjoyment) and how to recover with the help of Yoga - linking oneself to God.

[circusoflife]

@circusoflife The Beautiful Truth is on Youtube in full 92 minutes.

[circusoflife]

@kevintmccauley1965 All DIEseases are a choice...conscious or unconscious...check video out - The Beautiful Truth, on how even late state cancer can be reversed... -- I'll watch the rest of ur video clips. Nice metaphor using geology.....many dieseases reversed by DIEt changes...other changes by thought process changes...the tricky thing is now there are toxins that affect our health....everywhere!

[madmanmantra]

1:12 I didn't choose to be pumped with morphine when my mother was giving birth to me.