The Nature of Addictive Diseases

Drug addiction and addictions to foods, sex, gambling, exercise, and many other things are widespread in modern societies. Addiction or dependence are terms used to describe persistent psychoactive drug use, but these terms also can be applied to other forms of repetitive behaviors. Many of these repetitive behaviors are regulated by specific regions of the brain that are influenced by drugs. Consequently, drug addiction may involve effects on systems that are involved in regulating forms of addiction that are necessary for the maintenance of life. Addictions also seem to be regulated by genetic factors. Because drug addiction may influence the activities of systems that evolved to regulate behaviors necessary to survive (ie, eating and drinking) and because individuals may differ in addict-ability for a given drug caused by genetic reasons, addiction should be considered as a disease and therapy should be developed with this concept in mind.