{"id":24971,"date":"2025-03-18T08:00:12","date_gmt":"2025-03-18T12:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=24971"},"modified":"2025-03-15T08:20:05","modified_gmt":"2025-03-15T12:20:05","slug":"addiction-more-than-a-choice-a-disease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2025\/03\/addiction-more-than-a-choice-a-disease.html","title":{"rendered":"Addiction: More than a Choice, A Disease"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Lauren was furious. Her husband had another setback and was using opioids again. She was ready to walk out on him. \u201cIt\u2019s his choice to use again. No one forced him to take those pills. He\u2019s an addict because he chooses to use drugs. Don\u2019t tell me it\u2019s a disease. He started. He can stop.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Does this sound familiar? Is there someone in your life who is struggling with addiction, and you find yourself thinking they\u2019ve brought it upon themselves? It\u2019s easy to believe addiction is simply a matter of choice and willpower, but the truth is far more complex. Addiction is not just about choice\u2014it\u2019s a disease.<\/p>\n

I know this personally as I watched a love one refuse to admit his lack of control over this disease and get the needed help. Today would have been his birthday.<\/p>\n

Why Addiction Isn\u2019t Just a Choice<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some people are more prone to addiction than others, and the reasons are not just about willpower. Genetics, mental health, personality traits, and environment all play a role. Addiction often begins with a conscious decision to try something, but for many, it quickly shifts from use to dependence, and before they know it, they\u2019re trapped in a cycle they can\u2019t escape from on their own.<\/p>\n

The Brain’s Role in Addiction<\/strong><\/p>\n

Addiction isn\u2019t just a mental battle\u2014it\u2019s deeply biological. With repeated substance use, the brain undergoes changes that make it harder to stop. Drugs, like opioids, affect the brain\u2019s reward system by triggering a release of dopamine, which is the brain’s “feel-good” chemical. This rush of euphoria reinforces the desire to continue using the drug. But over time, the brain becomes less responsive to the drug, requiring more of it to feel the same effects. The initial pleasure fades, and what was once a source of enjoyment becomes a need to avoid discomfort.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the brain\u2019s prefrontal cortex, responsible for decision-making, is damaged with repeated drug use. When this area isn\u2019t functioning properly, people struggle to see the negative consequences of their actions. This makes it harder for someone to simply \u201cwill\u201d their way out of addiction.<\/p>\n

Addiction Is Not a Moral Failure<\/strong><\/p>\n

Because of these brain changes, addiction is no longer seen as just a failure of will or character. It\u2019s a chronic, relapsing disease that requires treatment and support. People often turn to drugs to cope with pain, stress, or emotions, and though it may start to feel better or escape, it quickly spirals into a loss of control. Eventually, addiction takes a heavy toll\u2014on relationships, jobs, health, and more.<\/p>\n

The Road to Recovery<\/strong><\/p>\n

If someone you love is struggling with addiction, it\u2019s important to remember that they need help, not judgment. The addicted person must admit powerlessness to the disease and want to change. Recovery is a long, difficult journey that often requires support from loved ones and professional help. Programs like Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, and Celebrate Recovery offer essential support, providing a nonjudgmental, compassionate community that helps people navigate the path to sobriety.<\/p>\n

Above all, faith is a powerful part of recovery. Surrendering control, trusting in God\u2019s plan, and staying humble can guide someone through the challenging process of healing and self-discovery. God can transform lives. This brings hope to even the most hopeless.<\/p>\n

Addiction is a disease, but with the right support and motivation to change, people can reclaim their lives and find hope again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lauren was furious. Her husband had another setback and was using opioids again. She was ready to walk out on him. \u201cIt\u2019s his choice to use again. No one forced him to take those pills. He\u2019s an addict because he chooses to use drugs. Don\u2019t tell me it\u2019s a disease. He started. He can stop.\u201d…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4099],"tags":[166,8759,1707,3566,3427,8756],"class_list":["post-24971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stress","tag-addiction","tag-drug-dependence","tag-drug-use","tag-opioids","tag-substance-use","tag-the-brain-and-addiction"],"yoast_head":"\nAddiction: More than a Choice, A Disease<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It\u2019s easy to believe addiction is simply a matter of choice and willpower, but the truth is, addiction is a brain disease.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=24971\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Addiction: More than a Choice, A Disease\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s easy to believe addiction is simply a matter of choice and willpower, but the truth is, addiction is a brain disease.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=24971\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doing Life Together\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-18T12:00:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-03-15T12:20:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2025\/03\/pills-1569173_1280.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda Mintle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@drlindamintle\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Addiction: More than a Choice, A Disease","description":"It\u2019s easy to believe addiction is simply a matter of choice and willpower, but the truth is, addiction is a brain disease.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=24971","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Addiction: More than a Choice, A Disease","og_description":"It\u2019s easy to believe addiction is simply a matter of choice and willpower, but the truth is, addiction is a brain disease.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=24971","og_site_name":"Doing Life Together","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","article_published_time":"2025-03-18T12:00:12+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-03-15T12:20:05+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2025\/03\/pills-1569173_1280.jpg"}],"author":"Linda Mintle","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@drlindamintle","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=24971","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=24971","name":"Addiction: More than a Choice, A Disease","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=24971#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=24971#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2025\/03\/pills-1569173_1280.jpg","datePublished":"2025-03-18T12:00:12+00:00","dateModified":"2025-03-15T12:20:05+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142"},"description":"It\u2019s easy to believe addiction is simply a matter of choice and willpower, but the truth is, addiction is a brain disease.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=24971#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=24971"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=24971#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2025\/03\/pills-1569173_1280.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2025\/03\/pills-1569173_1280.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=24971#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Addiction: More than a Choice, A Disease"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/","name":"Doing Life Together","description":"Relationship Doctor, Mental Health, Emotional Wellness, Relationship Advice & Entertainment","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142","name":"Linda Mintle","description":"It is rare that a trained academic who speaks passionately to the heart of people providing real answers to real life problems is so relatable. Dr. Linda\u2019s fun personality and expertise comes through whether she\u2019s helping her audience stress less or make peace with their thighs! Dr. Linda has her Ph.D. in Urban Health and Clinical Psychology and is a national expert on mental health. She has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders, anxiety, depression and pain management. With 30 years of clinical experience working with couples, families and individuals, she brings her common-sense approach to people who want to live in positive mental health. Dr. Linda is also a bestselling author with 21 book titles to her credit, a radio host of the Dr. Linda Mintle show, professor, national speaker, winner of the Mom\u2019s Choice Award, a national news consultant, featured writer for Beliefnet and hosts her own website. Her academic appointments keep her abreast of current research in her areas of expertise. Her media experience includes seven years as the resident expert for ABC Family\u2019s Living the Life television show and regular appearances on network television and radio. It is often said that being with Dr. Linda is like having coffee with a friend. She makes the complicated issues of relationships and mental health easy to understand and applicable to everyday living. The ease she has with people, coupled with her clinical training and experience makes her a sought-after speaker on college campuses, conferences and special events. Whether she is doing a TV skit with Tim Conway or discussing teen violence with Queen Latifa, Dr. Linda will entertain, educate and integrate faith and mental health in everyday living. Check out her latest book Hope and Healing for Anxiety, a whole-person approach to eliminate anxiety. .","sameAs":["https:\/\/drlindamintle.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/x.com\/drlindamintle"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/author\/lmintle"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/419"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24971"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24971\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24992,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24971\/revisions\/24992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}