During that time, the agency and its staff have learned a great deal about the disease of addiction. One of those things is that surprisingly few clients who come to us for treatment have any real understanding of what addiction is. Following are some observations and comments designed to provide a greater understanding of the disease, and, perhaps, to assist those who suffer from it information that will help them understand their problem and find proper treatment. What Addiction is Not Addiction is not a weakness or a lack of willpower. It is not a moral deficiency, nor is it a character flaw.
Addiction is a complicated and seductive disease.
A part of it has to do with the alteration of brain chemistry, resulting in loss of control of behavior and a powerful craving for the addict's drug of choice, whether it be cocaine, alcohol, or another drug. The disease can be hereditary, and it can result from behavior learned by observing and imitating practices in the environment in which the addict lives. Addiction can be cultural and sometimes ethnic in nature. All of these factors, in fact, can come together at the same time to make the disease of addiction amazingly powerful. At the heart of the disease is compulsion , a force that makes a person continue to behave in a way that is bad for them and that they do not want to continue.