MHM Magazine

Issue 3 | 2021 | MENTALHEALTHMATTERS | 11 MHM DRUG AWARENESS MONTH The disease of Addiction: We did not choose to become addicts. We suffer from a disease that expresses itself in ways that are anti-social andmakes detection, diagnosis and treatment difficult. What makes us addicts is the disease of addiction-not the drugs, not our behaviour, but our disease. There is something within us that makes us unable to control our use of drugs. This same "something" also makes us prone to obsession and compulsion in other areas of our lives. How can we tell when our disease is active? When we become trapped in obsessive, compulsive, self-centered routines, endless loops that lead nowhere but t physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional decay.