Addiction as a Disease: The Call for Perspectives From Addicted Individuals' Family Members and Treatment Providers

摘要

In "Addiction: Current Criticism of the Brain Disease Paradigm," Hammer and colleagues (2013) tackle an important issue by attempting to determine whether or not addiction should be thought of as a disease. Specifically, they look to the opinions of both addicted individuals and addiction researchers to understand this conundrum. The opinions shared weighed the benefits and risks for conceptualizing addiction as a disease, but the authors ultimately conclude that the concept of addiction should remain broad rather than "simply a brain disease." However, we believe that the authors' conclusion is missing the viewpoints of others significantly affected by addiction: family members and treatment providers, who offer insight equally as important as that of addicted individuals and addiction researchers.