"Addiction researchers have relied largely on addicts who are in
treatment, but most of those who meet the criteria for addiction were
never in treatment." ... [T]he factual basis for the claim that
addiction is a chronic, relapsing disorder is based on populations
that also may be unrepresentative of addicts as a whole?" p 67
"[I]deas about addiction reflect habits of mind regarding drug
effects and choice rather than the research." ... [If one assumes
that] "self-destructive behavior implies illness" p 87 then "the
disease interpretation follows as a natural consequence of widely
held ideas regarding individual responsibility and free will." p 88
but "excess is a fundamental feature of voluntary behavior." p 134
"[C]hoices which create an undesirable way of life are made one day
at a time; they are not made at the level of a lifestyle." p 133
Herman, Gene. Addiction: a disorder of choice. Harvard, 2009.
www.peoplewho.org