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Tag: addiction is a mental illness

Is addiction a disease or a choice?

Some people believe that using drugs is a choice. That it’s the person with addiction who is at fault because they dared to try drugs in the first place.

Most of us have abused a drug at some point in our lives–whether that’s a cigarette, alcohol, marijuana or  a prescription medication.

Most of us are able to stop.

But for those who are predisposed, the brain engages instantly. All of a sudden that drug fills in a blank their life has been missing.

I have kept this quote from Brian Cuban, who wrote the following in an article called  How … Read more...

Mental illness and addiction need to be treated together

dual diagnosis

So many times, I’d take Charles somewhere for treatment and they’d draw a line in the sand between mental illness and drug abuse/addiction. Everything seemed to be treated separately although they most always seem to happen together.

Substance use disorder is listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III) as a mental illness. Mental and emotional symptoms of alcoholism exist long before the grave physical complications of the disease appear.

In a study of 133 of those with substance use disorder, 93% met the criteria for one or more psychiatric disorders other than substance abuse. Depressions … Read more...