A version of this post was originally published in 2018 and is part of an ongoing review of past posts about the conceptual boundaries of addiction, the disease model, and recovery. Photo by Daniel Reche on Pexels.com The narrative that the opioid and overdose crisis is a product of despair has become very popular. The … Continue reading The opioid crisis as a disease of despair?
Author: Jason Schwartz
I have been an addiction professional and social worker since 1994. I started blogging in 2005 as the Clinical Director at Dawn Farm. I no longer work at Dawn Farm and am now the Director of Behavioral Medicine at a community hospital, and a lecturer at Eastern Michigan University’s School of Social Work.
Views expressed here are my own.
Keep in mind that the field, the contexts in which the field operates, and my views have changed over time.
Addiction is disordered learning AND much more.
A version of this post was originally published in 2016 and is part of an ongoing review of past posts about the conceptual boundaries of addiction and its relationship to the disease model and recovery. I've had a lot requests to respond to this recent piece in the NY Times. A Personal Narrative or Universal … Continue reading Addiction is disordered learning AND much more.
Response to Why Addiction is NOT a Brain Disease
This post was originally published in 2012 and is part of an ongoing review of past posts about the conceptual boundaries of addiction and its relationship to the disease model and recovery. In a thoughtful post, Marc Lewis questions the disease model of addiction. He doesn't dismiss it out of hand. He seems to look … Continue reading Response to Why Addiction is NOT a Brain Disease
Substance Use Disorders as a category
This post was originally published in 2016. By now, the DSM-IV is a distant memory but this post seemed relevant to our recent discussion about the conceptual boundaries of addiction and its relationship to the disease model and recovery. There's been a big change in the way professionals and advocates talk and think about drug … Continue reading Substance Use Disorders as a category
Defining addiction and problem ownership
Yesterday's post and the discussion around it brought up a lot of good questions. Among them was the question, does it really matter whether we call it a disease? It prompted me to look at some old posts. I'll share versions of a few of them in the coming days. A few variations of this … Continue reading Defining addiction and problem ownership
Is it misleading to call addiction a disease?
The New York Times published a guest essay this weekend challenging the disease model of addiction. I've read several similar pieces over the years and frequently have the same experience. I agree with most of the writer's points, but disagree with his conclusions. Let's walk through it. Annual U.S. overdose deaths recently topped 100,000, a record … Continue reading Is it misleading to call addiction a disease?
Top ten of 2021 #7 – What should be the gold standard for addiction treatment?
This was originally published in a 2019 National Association of Social Workers’ Alcohol, Tobacco and other Drug specialty section newsletter. The most striking thing about substance abuse treatment is the mismatch between the duration of treatment and the duration of the illness.—Robert DuPont, MD DuPont R. (March, 2018) Interview with Brian Coon. Interview presented at the NC … Continue reading Top ten of 2021 #7 – What should be the gold standard for addiction treatment?
The agony of opioid withdrawal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhpAYw9kCt8 Someone shared this video several weeks ago and it really resonated with me. I've been an addiction professional for 27 years, so I've learned a lot about the effects of opioids and the experience of opioid withdrawal from doctors, counselors, clients, recovering people with a history of opioid addiction, and other experts. However, there's … Continue reading The agony of opioid withdrawal
Follow the science . . .
With the emergence of the omicron variant, I've been watching arguments about which kinds of COVID mitigation strategies make sense and which ones do not. I also just came across this letter about the efficacy (or lack thereof) of esketamine for depression. What do these have in common? The common thread I observe is the … Continue reading Follow the science . . .
Moral Panic? Replace ‘moral’ and ‘panic’ with what?
Sam Quinones' recent Atlantic article about methamphetamines came up recently in a conversation with a couple of friends recently. I hadn't read it, but one of the friends responded that it had elements of moral panic. This response was consistent with comments I had seen on Twitter. My impression was that moral panic has been … Continue reading Moral Panic? Replace ‘moral’ and ‘panic’ with what?