ADDICTION: A HABIT OR A DISEASE

Addiction

Imprimis a debate around whether addiction is a habit or a disease has been going around over the years and the conclusion that most people take out of it is often incorrect. 

Let us first know what actually is the verbal meaning of the word Addiction

The word addiction comes from Latin that originated in the 1800’s, meaning “the fact or condition of being addicted to a particular substance or activity.” and often goes by various synonyms like Dependency, Enslavement, Compulsion, Fixation and much more. 

In other words, Addiction can be simply defined as a compulsive, chronic, physiological or psychological need for a habit-forming substance, behavior, or activity having harmful physical, psychological, or social effects and typically causing well-defined symptoms (such as anxiety, irritability, tremors, or nausea) upon withdrawal or abstinence. 

The key takeaways we can understand from this are:

1 Addiction includes both substances and activities (e.g., Drugs, Gambling etc.)
2 Addiction leads to significant harm. 
3 Addiction is repetition of behaviour despite significant harm.
4. Addiction continues because it was pleasurable at some point. 

Therefore, the question that arises frequently is why a person despite undergoing substantial pain and detriment is unable to stop himself from engaging in addictive behaviours/activities? 

The answer to this is quite simple because the person involved has become addicted and his brain chemistry has been damaged so much that he shows inability to control his conduct when it comes to his choice of substance/activity. 

Addiction A Mental Illness

The American Society of Addiction Medicine defines addiction as “a treatable, chronic medical disease involving complex interactions among brain circuits, genetics, the environment, and an individual’s life experiences. People with addiction use substances or engage in behaviors that become compulsive and often continue despite harmful consequences.”

So, how can we think of addiction as just a behaviour or a meek habit, when it is much more multifaceted and complicated than that.

Addiction as suggested above is a Disease. A disease that is Primary, Chronic, Progressive and Fatal in nature if not treated and hence should not be considered as a mere habit as it can have life threatening repercussions on the patient. A disease that needs to be considered as any other ailment, and treated accordingly.

Addiction A Mental Disease

Rehab Center in India primarily works on detoxification of drugs from the body and then treat patients to recover from addiction and teach them to live a happy and blissful life ahead. They actually work on the mental health that makes them quit drugs within a few months. It is their dignity and discipline to keep this habit for a longer time period. 

The professionals help the patients to learn the real meaning of life and the families to attend the family counselling sessions and conferences held in the centers to understand the cause of addiction in their patient and also conduct several sessions to achieve every milestone in the recovery process.

Dr. JPS Bhatia is specialized professional for addiction treatment. Having more than 35 years of experience in psychiatry and mental health treatment for addicts, he is running a luxury and renowned rehab center located in Amritsar, Punjab. Being the top rated Nasha Mukti Kendra in Amritsar, thousands of patients have already recovered and are leading a happy life with their families. 

 

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