HEALTHY LIFESTYLES TAKE WORK –
Nov. 2, 2023 –
Addiction is both biological and social
First, it is important to know where addiction originates.
It is not a choice someone made. Addiction is “a biomedical condition, and it is a condition that you need sustained treatment for,” Dick said.
Many factors contribute to the development of the chronic disease, Kelly said.
“Some people right out of the gate have a genetic predisposition, where their family has history of an alcohol or other drug addiction,” he said.
Those predispositions can combine with a history of trauma or developmental experiences to make someone much more likely to develop an addiction, Kelly added.
When thinking about addiction, people need to remember that because of genetic factors and how different bodies react, the feeling of craving a drink may be entirely different for someone with substance use disorder than it is for you, Dick said.
