NetflixAndZzzzzz t1_j2f2qa2 wrote on December 31, 2022 at 8:10 PM

Reply to comment by nauseacomaneci in Will we ever cure addiction? by 4ucklehead

I guess I want to clarify, I take no issue with treating eating disorders and other dangerous, addictive behaviors with the severity they deserve. Dying from anorexia isn't more of a failure of willpower than overdosing, or anything like that, and I'm not trying to gatekeep a psychological disease. I understand that's a fine line.

What I mean to suggest is that chemical dependence is absolutely the biggest factor driving addictive behavior in millions of people, and to say that addiction is just the psychological component feels inaccurate to me, and like it could be used as rhetoric to shift blame back onto users (which is often the discussion) as opposed to the pharmacological forces driving the behavior.

nauseacomaneci t1_j2fa8s8 wrote on December 31, 2022 at 9:05 PM

Chemical dependence is a necessary but insufficient precondition for addiction. Addiction is a biopsychosocial disorder & one needs a particular constellation of biological, psychological, & sociological symptoms or risk factors to be diagnosed.

Anyone who says that addiction is purely biological, or purely psychological is missing part of the puzzle.

Being chemically dependent on something doesn't necessarily mean you're addicted to it.

Take the example I wrote about elsewhere in this thread. I am chemically dependent on my antidepressants. Meaning, if I stopped taking them, I would experience deleterious physical symptoms. However, I am not "addicted" to these medications as such, because, for one, I am not abusing them [I take them as prescribed], & taking these medications does not impact my ability to live my life or meet social or familial obligations, &c.

So, chemical dependence needs to be present to diagnose a substance use disorder, but chemical dependence on its own is insufficient in terms of meeting the criteria of substance use disorder.

Addiction & substance use disorder are different, too. Eating disorders are process/behavioral addictions, but not substance use disorders as there is no, well, substance involved per se.