The Disease Theoretical Model of Addiction

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Disease Theoretical Model of Alcohol Addiction

Tenets of Disease Theoretical Model:

Doweiko (2019) asserts that a central tenet of the medical model is that an urge to use a chemical is a compulsive, uncontrollable desire to use drugs that must be satisfied. The medical model assumes that the person is not responsible for having the underlying disorder or exhibiting the signs and symptoms. After all, with few exceptions, diseases are unwelcome states that people contract. The signs and symptoms are not human actions but instead are mechanistic biophysical effects of the underlying pathology. Neurobiological Models state that drug use alters brain chemistry, leading to Addiction. The dopamine-driven pathway drives reward and pleasure-seeking individuals to get more sips. Capuzzi and Strauffer (2020) explain that the transmitter dopamine plays an essential role in the limbic system and develops into Addiction. Most drugs affect the brain's "reward circuit," causing euphoria and flooding it with the chemical messenger dopamine. Individuals who start using drugs begin to experience changes in the brain chemistry of the limbic system, which leads to Addiction. Morse (2004) explained that the medical model treats the insistent "craving" and the related seeking and using the conduct of people with addictions to substances as signs and symptoms of an underlying disorder. Marge's tolerance to alcohol is escalated by the development of a need to abuse alcohol through the reward circuit response. She believes that her family members and people in her circle do not understand her because she needs to drink more alcohol to get the desired effects to satisfy her urges. Hence, Marge tolerates alcohol to manage her human interaction and the challenges of dealing with her son and health conditions.

Strengths and Limitations of Disease Theoretical Model:

The strengths of the theoretical model are that it allows a health practitioner to have the opportunity to engage with the individual and approach the addiction condition as a health condition that requires pharmaceutical drugs in conjunction with counseling treatment to reverse Addiction (Capuzzi and Strauffer, 2020). Another strength is that the disease model enables the addicted person to be a part of the solution that has been developed to ensure that they are committed to the change process. For example, Marge showed her willingness and commitment to treatments; she stated, "I have to make it work…for my kids and Ken." Further, the theoretical model places the patient at the center of their medication. Their temperaments and ability to cooperate with the practitioners are established. Since most individuals cannot recognize the severity of their condition, the theoretical model enables the addicted person to confront the issue through the help of a practitioner (Doweiko, 2019). Lastly, the theoretical model considers Addiction as a health condition that requires management and therapeutic approaches that help the individual detox.

One limitation of the disease model is that the healthcare professional treats the disease entity, the substance use, and not the person (Doweiko, 2019). Another limitation is the belief that an urge to use a chemical is compulsive and may be challenging to maintain. Seeking and using behavior is distinguishable from most signs of disease because it is intentional action rather than simply the state or movement of a body. Evidence-based research proves that "addicts are not automatons. If they have good enough reason not to seek and use, in most cases, they do not (Moore, 2004). The theoretical model does not consider the position of social support to the patient since it is exclusively based on medical approaches to enabling an addict to recover from the use of alcohol. Further, the model employs an outpatient model that can easily subject a patient to remission.

Contributions of Disease Theoretical Model to the Field of Addiction Treatment:

The major contribution of the theoretical disease model of alcohol addiction is the recognition that any addiction is a brain disease that keeps on making a person return to the addiction behavior they are engaged in. Moore (2004) believes that all medical modelers agree that addicts are sick, and recent investigative methods and scientific understanding of the brain have fueled increasing emphasis on the "brain disease" view. The theoretical model enables health practitioners to approach the medication of addicts as a mental issue by allowing them to recognize the impact of substance abuse on their cognitive and psychological well-being, which is an initial point of recovery. The theoretical model helps in offering medication to addicted individuals by ensuring that there is recognition of drugs' ability to alter the structure and functioning of the brain (Stevens et al., 2019). Thereby, the model emphasizes the need to care for the individual's mental condition as an approach that initiates their recovery process from addictions. Moreover, the model contributes to addiction treatment by addressing the behavioral adjustments that the individual should comply with to ensure that their recovery plan is not hindered by remission, whereby they must go back within the circles in which they were exploiting drugs. The model contributes to addiction treatment by offering approaches that would help the individual maintain complete abstinence from the substances they are abusing and activities that may escalate their drug abuse.

Limitations affecting the Applicability of the Model Marge Treatment:

The model is impacted by the limitation of overreliance on treatment approaches and does not consider prevention and enforcement approaches that would help deal with drug addiction. The theoretical model considers Addiction a disease that needs to be medicated and does not require prevention and enforcement approaches to help an addict recover from the abuse of the substances they are using (Stevens et al., 2019). In Marge's case, she is subject to medication, and the family members and friends have not considered prevention approaches to help her overcome the alcohol addiction problem. Further, the model's applicability hinders the reliance on Addiction as a mental issue. However, in Marge's case, she claims that her family and friends have failed to understand her. The case implies that the model does not consider social support enabling an addicted person to recover from the condition.

References:

Capuzzi, D., & Stauffer, M. D. (2020). Foundations of Addictions counseling. (4th ed.): New York: NY: Pearson Education, Inc.

Doweiko, H. E. (2019). Concepts of chemical dependency (10th ed.). Stamford, CT: Cengage.

Morse, S. J. (2004). Medicine and Morals, Craving and Compulsion. Substance Use & Misuse, 39(3), 437–460. https://doi.org/10.1081/JA-120029985.

Stevens, J. E., Steinley, D., McDowell, Y. E., Boness, C. L., Trull, T. J., Martin, C. S., & Sher, K. J. (2019). Toward more efficient diagnostic criteria sets and rules: The use of optimization approaches in addiction science. Addictive behaviors, 94, 57-64. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6544486/