Comments on: What do you call addiction? You call it addiction

By: Brittiana M

Brittiana M — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 20:26:41 +0000

I too believe and support that addiction is the best term to use for addiction. I feel that it is the most common term associated and used with clinics and organizations such as AA and other various support groups. I appreciated the above post mentioning the power of semantics. I find it silly that the term has become limited and leaves out tons of other addictions and issues. With sex & food being major categories in addiction, they should definitely be in the addictions category.

By: Katie Lynett

Katie Lynett — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 06:55:43 +0000

I also agree that addiction is the best term to use for this phenomena. I believe that it is important to remove the “object of addiction” from the “relationship of addiction”. I know that I have talked about this in comments on this blog before, but I have really become interested and moved by the idea that ” addiction is an adaptive relationship with an object instead of healthy relationships with people”. This really emphasizes that it is not about the object and any object can be addictive if the person with addiction develops that relationship with object. If more people though about addiction this way, then I think the way we catergorize it would become less important.

However, one other thing struck me while reading your discussion about dependence and how it has other more neutral meaning such as being dependent on insulin if you are a diabetic. The example of a person with chronic pain using opiates to manage the pain struck me. One of my interests is working with people with chronic pain and when doing research I learned that most people with chronic pain do not become addicted to their narcotic medication. However, some doctors are so fearful of that they won’t give people the medicine they need. If you think about addiction in the relationship context, people are not likely to develop an addiction if they are using it for its intended physical purpose and they have real human relationships in their lives.

By: David P

David P — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 22:16:07 +0000

Semantics. It is in so many ways a game of semantics. I know that proper diagnosis is important to treating and disease or disorder. The irony for me is that those who do not have addiction or disorder make the decision on what to call it. In AA, it is called the “ISUM”. I have called the ick or addiction. I live with it every day and I don’t know what is proper. It just seems very strange for them to be changing its designation in the DSM V. I wonder how much time went into it. I mean how much time did these very bright and intelligent people spend not treating someone or not making someone’s life better, but worrying what to call what it is we have.

I wonder how many meetings or discussions or email or phone calls and debates and how much money was spent on deciding what to call a disease that has been around since time started being counted. I very much appreciate that those esteemed experts chose to even care enough about addictions to worry about what to call it or how it should be labeled in the DSM. But, really? How about finding different ways to treat it? How about a nicer approach for dealing with those afflicted with this disease? How about finding something different than locking up drug addicts for having the disease or disorder? I have been to state prison. It is really more like 90% have drug crimes or 9 out of 10 are they due to drugs and alcohol.

In closing, again I want to say how grateful I am that those very important people care enough to even argue about what to call the disease/disorder of addiction. In fact, I am very grateful to anyone who gives there life’s blood to the treatment of addicts. It is very hard and complicated–not everyone can or wants to do it. People die and they seem to only want to do damage to themselves. It is heartbreaking work. Many thanks, some of you professionals saved my life. Just the idea that I had a disease that it was treatable and that I wasn’t so damaged that society could not forgive me was enough for me to begin the journey of my recovery.

By: MRW

MRW — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 22:51:54 +0000

I too support that we should just call addiction an addiction. Again, it is really frustrating when science which can be tested, measured, and is valid can be disregarded? With sex & food being major categories in addiction they should definitely be in the addictions category. To not include them would be a problem. I think a lot of it has to do w/society and what has been adopted under the addictions category…because of politics we don’t look at the criteria for addiction we look at the object, and that doesn’t bring about resolution. I am very weary about what the new DSM will bring as I think it is difficult enough to inform clients, but to deal w/the DSM errors or what not and that is supposed to be a good reference tool for me as a counselor? That’s a bit scary

By: Melissa Walker

Melissa Walker — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 03:43:35 +0000

I’m going to have to agree on addiction. I have a husband with a severe problem with addiction and there is so much information floating around. Much of this information addresses addiction as if walking on eggshells. Addiction is a serious problem and it must be addressed head-on. My family is being torn apart by this problem and there is so much that a person has to go through in order to have this addressed as a true problem and not just a personal choice.
An addiction affects every aspect of a persons life and should be seen as an incredibly important and potentially catastrophic problem.

By: Cindy E

Cindy E — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:37:31 +0000

I agree that the term addiction is the most known definition for the abuse of drugs. I am in favor of taking the politics out of a subject that is scientific, medical and behavioral. Insurance companies need to get on board and provide services to the customers that they are paid for and the only way to get around the hang-ups is to not get political.

By: Shane

Shane — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 04:42:10 +0000

I believe that addiction is the best term to use. It is associated with ATOD, and is commonly used in organizations, clinics and communities. It is sad to here that the politics behind this will unfortunately limit the addiction term, and keep out food, and sex. I hope that in the near future policy makers will see the benefit to adding these addictions to the list.