Anonymous asked:

Do you believe that addiction is a disease (as in a biological or psychological condition) or that it is a self-imposed affliction based on choice?

Hey my friend, first of all: If you’re suffering from an addiction, please get help with this right away.

Having fought a fifteen year porn addiction and also being a Psych major (the latter which doesn’t make me any kind of authority), I can tell you that the inside of addiction is a lot like the dual theory of light — it is made of both waves and photons, just as addiction can be both biological and a choice.

It doesn’t work to say it’s only one or the other.  On one hand, it’s been proven biologically that some people are more likely to be sensitive to alcohol and substance addiction.  There are some who have a propensity for gambling, for spending, for sex.  We must not be so hard on them, since they’re (probably) wired this way.

At the same time, to constantly claim that addiction is a disease is often abused to give permission for irresponsible behavior.  If I kept claiming that my former porn addiction was a “disease,” which was possibly true, then I could’ve also subconsciously found excuses to continue ruining my life through porn and supporting a brutally exploitative industry.  Yes, maybe it was a disease.  But it was also a choice, and I took deliberate steps to get it under control and kill it once and for all.  I know how I’m physically wired, but I can still do something about it.

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