Disease or Choice Opioid Addiction

OPIOID EPIDEMIC

Opioid Epidemic: Is Addiction a Choice or Disease?

From the onset, it would be prudent to note that addiction starts as a choice and slowly morphs into a disease. I will explain. To begin with, addiction could be deemed a choice at the onset owing to the fact that an individual could elect to either use or not use opioids. However, constant use of opioids results in a strong compulsion to continue using the said drugs – effectively resulting in addiction. Indeed, according to Lautieri and Thomas (2021), addiction could be conceptualized as a mental disorder. More specifically, addiction, as Lautieri and Thomas (2021) point out “has been described as a medical disorder that affects the brain and changes behavior.” Further review of available literature indicates that there are a number of distinct features that make addiction more of a disease than a choice.

Unlike would be the case if it were a choice, opioid addiction results in changes in the brain’s response to scenarios that relate to self-control, stress, and rewards (Lautieri and Thomas, 2021). As has further been pointed out, the said changes happen to be long-term. Indeed, according to Lautieri and Thomas (2021), these changes in the brain’s response could last long after an individual stops abusing drugs. It is also important to note that like a disease, opioid addiction could be successfully treated through the deployment of various medical interventions. One such intervention involves the use of medications including, but not limited to; extended release naltrexone (Vivitrol), methadone, and buprenorphine (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2016).

However, there are those who have argued that addiction cannot fit under a chronic illness model for a number of reasons. One such reason is that “the best survey data available indicate that most drug addicts quit their addiction, a fact inconsistent with a chronic-disease model” (Branch, 2011, p. 264).