ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

The Disease Model: Pros and Cons

Updated on June 6, 2012
Source

The disease model follows the concept "that individuals suffering from alcoholism had a physiological problem with alcohol." This is one of the most widely accepted theories. In fact, it is so accepted that the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) group have adopted this concept and have implemented it into their recovery process. After AA adopted this concept, many other groups like "Narcotics Anonymous (NA), Cocaine Anonymous (CA), Sex Addicts Anonymous (SAA), Gamblers Anonymous (GA), and Overeaters Anonymous (OA)" decided to adopt the disease model into their programs as well (Stevens and Smith, 2009). One of the great things about the groups that follow the disease model, such as the AA support group, is that they also support the belief that you have to submit yourself to a high authority. That higher authority to most people is God. Including any form of religion into the recovering process is vital to an addict sustaining substance abuse free.


Once the disease model became accepted by the APA, many treatment centers became available to alcoholics. These treatment centers viewed alcoholism as a disease and provided in and out-patient treatment to those in need of it. This also opened a lot of doors for alcoholics to seek help for themselves with their addiction. In the past, if you were unable to hold down your liquor, then you were considered to have unfit morals and no will-power. This model explains how the idea of having will-power with alcohol isn't achievable for someone who suffers with the alcoholic disease. The acceptance of alcoholism as a disease made more alcoholics less embarrassed about their addiction.


Unfortunately, the disease model follows the belief that "abstinence equals a healthy lifestyle and relapse equals sickness" (Stevens and Smith, 2009). This thought process is a weakness for this very well liked and used model. Relapsing is now considered part of the recovery process, in which, many clinicians encourage. It is believed that a relapse will help the recovering addict understand why he or she began their addiction. This also helps the clinician establish how the recovering addict can remain free of substance abuse. It would be difficult for a clinician who is wanting their client to relapse for the recovering process to recommend going to AA group meetings while the client is attending individual treatment; both of these treatments would contradict each other.


References


Stevens, P., & Smith, R. (2009). Substance abuse counseling: Theory and practice. (5th ed., p. 4). Boston: Pearson.



working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)