Does the “disease model” encourage relapse?
Most recovery programs and addiction experts employ the “disease model” of alcoholism when they treat addicts. This means that addiction is viewed in the medical field and rehabilitation industry as a disorder with genetic roots. Those who are inflicted with the neurological condition cannot drink alcohol without losing control, questioning the notion that willpower has anything to do with an addict’s choice to drink.
Research has indicated that belief in the disease model may actually hurt efforts to quit drinking — the excuse to “give in” to temptations to use being pardoned by the idea that the disease is truly to blame.
The onset of a relapse can’t be scientifically pinpointed, but there some strong predictors that can identify what led to alcohol use for a recovering addict: surging cravings, negativity, frequent agitation, and lack of motivation are clear signals. But one of the strongest signals that can forecast an addict’s decent into relapse is whether he or she thinks alcoholism is an illness. This demonstrates how some addicts who have a hard time remaining abstinent from alcohol find comfort in associating their relapses with an illness, and identify them as behaviors they can’t control.
Although the disease model is supported by a great amount of research that confirms there is such thing as an inherited vulnerability to alcoholism, the common perception of what the “disease of addiction” really means is not always accurate or scientifically validated.
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