Monday, October 29, 2007
Above are two different people's reactions to being asked to describe an alcoholic, the resulting comments from my walk around Towson. Both of these people are local to Towson, the first is a homeless man, the second a man in his twenties. In general I found that people, at least in the downtown Towson area are either reluctant or simply refuse to comment on this topic, leading me to believe that a best it is an uncomfortable subject for those asked.
street walking
today i walked around downtown towson for a couple hours asking people to answer questions about alcoholism and addiction and mostly all i got was hot and sweaty (in hindsight wearing corduroy pants on an 80 degree day was a bad choice). this subject makes alot of people really uncomfortable, most people said they themselves had a problem with alcohol or drugs and felt like they couldn't answer any questions, or other people just simply did not want to answer any questions once i explained what i was doing. one guy literally ran away from me. i did have a really good conversation with a homeless guy named chuck about his experience wih alcoholism and he answered one of my questions which was cool. so sunday i'm going to try getting more people to answer some questions. in terms of the collage presentation, i was thinking of using peoples' answers to my questions in combination with images and quotes or headlines i pull from news sources, the collages are going to be sort of rauschenberg inspired.
Addiction is a Disease
Currently, there is still needless debate over whether or not drug and alcohol addiction is a disease. Addiction, like many other diseases, is caused by both environmetal and physiological factors. The debate which surrounds the issue both keeps the addict/alcoholic sick and helps perpetuate the stigma surrounding the disease and its treatment.
Despite repeated confirmation from various reputable medical sources that drug and alcohol addiction have genetic components that classify them as a disease, public perception is still divided on this issue. I am asserting an effort to align public opinion with the reality of the disease concept of addiction.
As with any issue worth considering there are two sides to the perception of addiction, those who consider addicts and alcoholics ‘bad” people, and those who consider them sick people. Medical sources such as the American Psychiatric Association, The National Institute on Drug Abuse, and The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, are in agreement that addiction is a disease. In contrast, I have yet to be able to locate any reputable organization that claims addiction is not a disease, through my research I have found that it is only individual psychiatrists and psychologists which quite probably are working from their own biases and motives that make this argument. The core issue debated is whether or not addicts and alcoholics are making the choice to pick up a drink or a drug or are compelled to do so by biological factors. That this issue is even discussed adds to the stigma surrounding it, stigma that doesn’t exist around other diseases like cancer, which is unequivocally viewed as a sickness the sufferer is powerless over having. This stigma still exists obviously in part simply due to information that is circulated telling people addiction is not a disease, but is probably compounded by the side effects of drug and alcohol addiction. From an outside and uninformed view, it sometimes seems as though the addict is consistently choosing to poison themselves and because of this is making disruptive/illegal/socially unacceptable choices. In addition the standard treatment for the disease is unlike any other, the most effective being cognitive therapy in combination with 12 step groups, there is no pill or procedure to cure addiction. As I stated earlier I feel that those claiming that addiction is not a disease are working from their own personal biases and motives rather than medical fact, but I suppose I am too to an extent. It is important to consider both sides of the issue, and valuable to have an understanding of the opposing viewpoint in my efforts to change them.
As with any issue worth considering there are two sides to the perception of addiction, those who consider addicts and alcoholics ‘bad” people, and those who consider them sick people. Medical sources such as the American Psychiatric Association, The National Institute on Drug Abuse, and The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, are in agreement that addiction is a disease. In contrast, I have yet to be able to locate any reputable organization that claims addiction is not a disease, through my research I have found that it is only individual psychiatrists and psychologists which quite probably are working from their own biases and motives that make this argument. The core issue debated is whether or not addicts and alcoholics are making the choice to pick up a drink or a drug or are compelled to do so by biological factors. That this issue is even discussed adds to the stigma surrounding it, stigma that doesn’t exist around other diseases like cancer, which is unequivocally viewed as a sickness the sufferer is powerless over having. This stigma still exists obviously in part simply due to information that is circulated telling people addiction is not a disease, but is probably compounded by the side effects of drug and alcohol addiction. From an outside and uninformed view, it sometimes seems as though the addict is consistently choosing to poison themselves and because of this is making disruptive/illegal/socially unacceptable choices. In addition the standard treatment for the disease is unlike any other, the most effective being cognitive therapy in combination with 12 step groups, there is no pill or procedure to cure addiction. As I stated earlier I feel that those claiming that addiction is not a disease are working from their own personal biases and motives rather than medical fact, but I suppose I am too to an extent. It is important to consider both sides of the issue, and valuable to have an understanding of the opposing viewpoint in my efforts to change them.
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