Letters to the Editor
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Yes, addiction IS a disease
To those who claim addiction is not a disease: your statements run counter to the evidence believed by the vast majority of scientists who study addiction. Drugs alter the brain in debilitating and very permanent ways. So does cancer of the brain (although of course what cancer does to the brain and what drugs do are totally different). It is as heartless to state that addiction is not a disease as to state that cancer is not a disease.
One thing I should make clear, however, is that even if addiction is a disease, it is not an excuse. Calling it a diseased is not a ploy to beg forgiveness for the son's despicable actions while in search of drugs. It is a statement of fact that leads to the logical conclusion that the only way to deal with an addict is to treat him, once he wants to be treated. I do not think that the father and son described in this article use addiction as an excuse. I also don't think they published their memoirs out of self-aggrandizement. They know how much it helps someone in their situation to know that others are going through the same thing. That is called being part of a community, not blowing your horn just to become famous.
Other letter-writers have pointed out some of the father's behaviors that might have led to the son's addiction, but I put myself in that father's shoes, and I am not convinced I would have done much differently - with the exception, which may be key, of staying with my child's mother and not engaging in behaviors that would precipitate a separation. Nevertheless, I can't overcome the feeling that the father did everything he could, and that if I ever find myself in his situation, I would be just as helpless. For a parent, that thought is not just discomforting. It is frightening.