glamorizing addiction

glamorizing addiction For decades, we’ve been told that addiction is a disease — something you catch, something that happens to you. And while that framework has helped remove stigma and open doors to treatment, it’s time to ask a harder question: what if addiction is also a choice?

Before you react, hear this out.
Yes, addiction changes the brain. Yes, trauma, genetics, and environment play enormous roles. But calling addiction only a disease strips away something equally important: personal responsibility.

When we tell people they’re powerless, we take away their power to heal. Framing addiction solely as a disease can become a trap — one that says, “you can’t help it,” when, in reality, recovery begins with the exact opposite realization: you can.

There’s a fine line between compassion and complacency. Compassion says, “You are struggling, but you can recover.” Complacency says, “You are sick, and you always will be.” The first empowers. The second imprisons.

Acknowledging that addiction involves choice doesn’t erase the pain or science behind it — it restores agency. It reminds people that healing is active, not passive. Every decision to seek help, attend meetings, refuse a drink, or face the past is a choice.

The “disease model” has its place in understanding the biology of addiction, but we cannot forget the human behind the diagnosis. Recovery thrives when accountability meets empathy.