A disease, by definition, is “a condition or tendency regarded as abnormal and harmful”, and by that definition, alcoholism and drug addiction certainly fall in to the category of “harmful”…although not so “abnormal” these days. Still, I believe that be most important proof that alcoholism and drug addiction are quite certainly diseases is the fact that the substances effect the mind and the body in such a way as to not allow the user to stop using.
There has been pioneering research in the area of alcoholism in the passed two decades, and there are actually genetic markers that make people more susceptible to addiction. Family history plays a big role in this; if your parents and grandparents are addicts, then there is a good chance you carry the genetic disposition for addiction as well. This is, of course, not to say that you will definitely fall victim to the disease of addiction, as I grew up with an alcoholic father and am now nearly 30 years old without any addiction at all…save my daily dose of Dr. Pepper!
On the other side of the coin, there is “mental addiction” to substances. People often turn to things like drugs and alcohol because of deeper issues and then find themselves carrying very large monkeys on their backs that just won’t seem to go away…on problem has blossomed into two problems. Treating an addiction starts from within the addict…assessing and understanding the things that led to, and allowed, the addict to become addicted to their substance of choice. If you simply take away an alcoholics access to alcohol by locking them in a room for a certain amount of time, you are only “detoxing” them, not treating their addiction, and they will go back to it.
Addictions these days are like candy…they come in all shapes and sizes, all colors and some even come with fancy wrapping; alcoholism, drug addiction, pornography addiction, food addiction, gaming addiction, gambling addiction…to name a few. I believe that the most important thing to remember is that people who suffer from these conditions most certainly cannot simply stop their behavior, they can be treated, and some might even be able to treat themselves, but it is not something that simply goes away…this is why addiction is a disease.