What Is the Disease Model of Addiction?

Addiction Recovery Publishing Addiction Recovery May 13, 2025

The iconic Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu famously said, “Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them – that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality; let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.” This is also the reality of addiction. Many people are under the impression that people who struggle to recover are doing so out of willful resistance. This is simply untrue. Addiction is a disease that wants to keep people suffering. Yes, the disease model of addiction brings much suffering to millions of people, but the good news is that there is a solution.

Healing From a Disease at the Cellular Level

The key to a healthy, long-term recovery is healing at the cellular level. But what exactly does “healing at the cellular level” truly mean? It simply means that to fully recover from the disease of addiction, one must recover all aspects of their capital “S” Self. This includes the physical, mental, emotional, and even spiritual.

Healing at the cellular level also requires getting to the underlying root/core causes of addiction rather than just treating what is on the surface level. There is a reason why many people who have a significant amount of time in recovery say, “It is about the thinking much more than it is about the drinking.” This is because it is about why one takes the drink or the drug rather than the drink or the drug on their own.

Better Understanding Addiction

Addiction affects millions of people every day. This includes people both in the U.S. and around the world. Addiction is one of the most common ailments in the world. There are many reasons for this. One is that there is an abundance of alcohol and substances that are easily accessible.

Two is that we live in a culture that often positively promotes alcohol and substance use rather than discussing their negative effects. Three is that people are unsure of what addiction really is. This is not their fault; there is just a lack of helpful information available for people to properly understand the severity of the problem. Another reason that addiction is so prevalent is that it is a chronic disease.

Better Understanding the Disease Model of Addiction

Many people stigmatize addiction as some type of moral failing or “choice.” This is simply untrue. Addiction is based on a disease model. Most recovery professionals and addiction specialists now agree that addiction is a chronic, relapsing disease (also referred to as a disorder).

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), “Addiction is defined as a chronic, relapsing disorder characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use despite adverse consequences. It is considered a brain disorder because it involves functional changes to brain circuits involved in reward, stress, and self-control. Those changes may last a long time after a person has stopped taking drugs.” Most people now agree that addiction has more in common with other types of chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer than it does with a “choice.” It is also important to understand that addiction is a ”family disease.”

The Family Disease Model of Addiction

Besides the individual struggling, the family is often the most affected by their loved one’s addiction. According to the peer-reviewed journal Social Work in Public Health, “The family remains the primary source of attachment, nurturing, and socialization for humans in our current society. Therefore, the impact of substance use disorders (SUDs) on the family and individual family members merits attention. Each family and each family member is uniquely affected by the individual using substances, including but not limited to having unmet developmental needs, impaired attachment, economic hardship, legal problems, emotional distress, and sometimes violence being perpetrated against him or her.”

Many people refer to the disease of addiction as a “tornado that destroys everyone and everything in its path.” This is especially true when it comes to family and close friends. However, while these individuals are often the most affected, they also often have the greatest opportunity to get their loved one the help they need. They are the “first line of defense,” so to speak. However, to do so, they must be able to spot the signs and symptoms of addiction.

The Signs and Symptoms of Addiction

Now, the signs and symptoms of addiction are always going to vary based on the individual. However, one can look out for many universal signs and symptoms. The following are just a few of the signs and symptoms of addiction:

Experiencing trouble at work or school
Having trouble with sleep cycles, including sleeping too much and not sleeping enough (hypersomnia and insomnia)
Feeling anxious, nervous, or overly “stressed out”
Loss of appetite and a lack of care regarding physical appearance and well-being
Exhibiting excessive mood swings
Isolating away from family and close friends
Losing interest in activities once enjoyed
Having feelings of worthlessness, hopelessness, and helplessness
Not being able to stop once starting to drink or use substances
Experiencing physical ailments such as headaches, body aches, and gastrointestinal problems
Engaging in risky behaviors
Causing harm to oneself or others
Having suicidal ideations

Now, yes, many people minimize addiction or falsely categorize it as that previously mentioned “choice.” However, as one can see, these signs and symptoms are significant and can be deadly. Hence, the “disease model” of addiction. This is why reaching out for professional help as soon as possible is vital. Doing so could mean the difference between short-term side effects and long-term consequences. It can also help an individual avoid a potential relapse.

A Chronic Relapsing Disease

Yes, another major aspect of the disease model of addiction is that it often includes chronic relapses. This is when an individual tries to recover but continues to return to using alcohol and/or drugs (even when they don’t want to).

Also, many people don’t realize just how prevalent relapses are. According to the peer-reviewed journal Current Psychiatry Reports, “It has long been known that addictive disorders are chronic and relapsing in nature. Recent estimates from clinical treatment studies suggest that more than two-thirds of individuals relapse within weeks to months of initiating treatment.” Also, “For 1-year outcomes across alcohol, nicotine, weight, and illicit drug abuse, studies show that more than 85% of individuals relapse and return to drug use within 1 year of treatment.”

Now, the good news is that even individuals who are categorized as “chronic relapsers” can recover with long-term success. The key is connecting to the right recovery center that focuses on comprehensive and individualized care – a recovery center that prioritizes “healing at the cellular level.”

The Importance of Individualized and Comprehensive Addiction Care

The fact of the matter is that the recovery and addiction treatment realm has boomed into a multi-million dollar industry. This is positive in the sense that there are more places for people in need of addiction care to go. However, it has also created a boon of bad actors looking to cash in on people’s misery. These are the recovery centers that are putting their financial bottom line above their clients’ well-being.

These are also the same recovery centers that focus on “one-note” overarching recovery plans. They don’t treat their clients’ individual needs. This is a mistake because, as no two addiction journeys are the same, neither should their recovery journeys be.

Here at Exclusive Hawaii Rehab, we know that “one-size-fits-all” recovery plans rarely work. That is why all of our recovery plans take the individual into account. This happens from the moment we conduct a comprehensive intake to when we create an effective aftercare program. We also focus on a comprehensive, multi-angled approach to addiction treatment.

Treating the Disease Model With Psychotherapy

The mult-angled approach simply refers to the approach that utilizes as many effective means, methods, and modalities as possible. This includes modalities from all areas of recovery. These modalities include experiential therapies like nature immersion therapy and art therapy, holistic healing methods like yoga therapy and meditation, and psychotherapies like cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT).

CBT and DBT can be particularly beneficial because they get to the previously mentioned underlying issues of addiction. They help an individual see the negative way in which they have been viewing themselves and the world around them, and help them to shift that thinking to the positive. They also focus on why an individual takes the drink or the drug rather than merely what happens after.

DBT can also be particularly effective because it focuses on “acceptance” and “mindfulness.” According to the peer-reviewed journal Psychiatry (Edgmont), “In DBT, several interventions and skills are geared toward conveying acceptance of the patient and helping the patient accept him or herself, others, and the world…. Some of the mindfulness skills involve attending to and nonjudgmentally observing the current experience, describing the facts of the current experience or situation, and fully participating in the activity/experience of the present, while attending to one thing at a time (‘one-mindfully’) and focusing on effective, skillful behavior. Therapists teach patients mindfulness skills in skills training, encourage mindfulness in individual therapy, and often practice mindfulness themselves.”

Treating the Disease Model With Experiential Therapy

The disease model of addiction can also be treated with experiential therapies. These are therapies that focus more on an individual’s experiences rather than discussion with a therapist (hence the name – “experiential”). There are many types of beneficial experiential therapies may be creative or adventure-based. Creative experiential therapies include modalities like art therapy, and adventure therapy may include any type of nature-based therapy. Getting out into nature can be highly beneficial. According to the U.S. National Park Service, “5 minutes walking in nature improves mood, self-esteem, and relaxation. Frequent exposure to nature reduces anxiety and depression, while promoting a sense of well-being and fulfillment. Physical activity in a green space can reduce stress and lower cortisol levels by 15%.”

Nature immersion therapy offers a myriad of benefits. According to the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, “Besides improvements to physical and psychological well-being, exposure to natural environments has been shown to bring about positive impacts on cognitive functioning…. While cognitive restoration and physiological well-being are the prominent and renowned benefits of nature exposure, there is one important construct that is often overlooked in environmental psychology research studies—that is, the human-nature relationship, also known as connectedness to nature (CN).”

Art therapy doesn’t focus on nature, but is an experiential therapy with loads of benefits. According to the peer-reviewed journal Cureus, “Art therapy is used most commonly to treat mental illnesses and can aid in controlling manifestations correlated with psychosocially challenging behaviours, slowing cognitive decline, and enhancing the quality of life. [It] can help people express themselves more freely, improve their mental health, and improve interpersonal relationships. The basis of art therapy is established on the idea that people can recover and feel better via artistic expression.” Art therapy is also very complementary with many holistic healing methods like yoga and meditation for treating the disease model of addiction.

Treating the Disease Model With Holistic Healing Methods

Yoga and meditation are ideal for avoiding a relapse and treating the disease model of addiction. The renowned yogi and spiritual leader B.K.S. Iyengar famously said, “Meditation is oneness, when there is no longer time, sex, or country. The moment when, after you have concentrated on doing a pose (or anything else) perfectly, you hold it and then forget everything, not because you want to forget but because you are concentrated: this is meditation.”

Yoga and meditation have been around for thousands of years. Originally, they were just utilized as spiritual or religious practices, but they have since moved into the realm of recovery. Yoga and meditation also offer an array of other benefits. The following are just a few of those benefits:

Creates empathy
Connects individuals with new, relatable people
Acquiring a better sense of self
Improved breathing
Better strength and posture
A greater focus on mindfulness
Finding a better sense of mental balance and clarity
Helping one connect with others and heal relationships
Increased positivity and wellness
Encourages spirituality
Reduces anxiety and depression
Can help individuals who struggle with suicidal ideations

As one can see, these benefits are vast and varied. As previously mentioned, these modalities also work very well with other types of treatment, making them even more valuable to individuals who are seeking a more comprehensive plan of action. The key is finding the right types of treatments that work together and sticking to them.

Working With Others in Recovery

Another highly effective way of treating the disease model of addiction is to work with other people in recovery. In fact, “working with others” in recovery is so highly recommended that they even named a chapter after it in the primary text of 12-Step recovery (commonly referred to as the Big Book).

The chapter states, “Practical experience shows that nothing will so much ensure immunity from drinking [and using] as intensive work with other [people in recovery]. It works when other activities fail…. You can help when no one else can. This is the cycle of recovery – being helped by those who have come before us and then helping those who are new to recovery.

Healing at the Cellular Level With Exclusive Hawaii Rehab

Here at Exclusive Hawaii Rehab, we believe in healing at the cellular level. That is why we take the disease model of addiction very seriously and only offer individualized and comprehensive recovery plans, with a focus on the future.

Lao Tzu also famously said, “Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.” That step can start right here on the Hamakua Coast of Hawaii’s Big Island. Recovery is out there. It’s time to go and get it. You can do this! We can help.

Most addiction recovery and medical professionals agree that addiction is a disease. It is important to understand what that means and how this understanding can help people with their own recovery. The good news is that addiction is a treatable disease with the right recovery center and a multi-angled approach. If you feel like you or a loved one is struggling with issues of addiction, mental illness, or co-occurring disorders, we can help get you on the right road to recovery right away. You don’t have to go through this process alone. For more information about the disease model of addiction, please reach out to Exclusive Hawaii Rehab today at (808) 775-0200.