Substance Addiction: Not A Moral Defect Anymore - A Brain Disease

Substance Addiction in society in the last decade has become accepted more as a disease of the brain rather then a defect of character. Something that was once thought of as a defect of characater that If one could not operate their consumption like a light switch simple as on and off they were just looked upon like a useless part of society. Addiction actually began being accepted prior to the new millennium due to the fact that almost everybody in North America could relate to the fact that in some way or form, addiction has touched their lives through close family, relatives, friends, co-workers and so on. It is said when any addict is in active addiction - using & abusing substances without a second thought - that the addict directly effects 5 people in their lives in a substantial way. In turn those 5 individuals also effect 3 people in their lives, not as dramatically but still in a noticeable degree.

With addiction almost becoming a household subject that is not so taboo any more many loved ones of people seeking help for their disease often help the addicted one if the person is only completely ready to give it their all. Now that many people are getting clean through rehabilitation centrers, counselling, psychiatry and many other methods there obviously is a large relapse rate - first timers especially - but once in recovery they always seem to return and eventually string together some lengths of time in which they are sober. 

The great thing about society's new take on addiction is that it is becoming one of the most interesting and newly entered fields of study for doctors who plain and simple have most likely been affected like aformentioned above by addiction. Now that it is the year 2013 the CAT scans are available of a brain of an addict compared to a normal healthy brain unlike 30 years ago when only the radical thinkers which are the people to thank today for starting simple logs of addicted people to show the future that after a certain point there is a large percentage of what on the outside would appear to be everyday average person but with one severe flaw - an unability to drink, gamble or anything that activates the pleasure center at a normal capacity. Once they have almost stepped across an invisible line if you will from social to habitual and with every addict this does happen and there is no turning back.

Today we recognize addiction for what it truly is, the many manisfestations that it hides behind and the only proven methods to arrest the affliction at some point. There is no cure to addiction, only a way to manage the disease, like every other disease.