For more than 100 years, alcoholism has been viewed as a disease; however, this framing has created barriers to diagnosing, treating and even understanding the condition, one psychologist argues.
"By adhering so strictly to the disease model…I think that we miss the opportunity to frame alcoholism in ways that could help some people," said Lance Brendan Young, a postdoctoral research fellow with the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Center for Comprehensive Access & Delivery Research and Evaluation in Iowa City, Iowa.
Thinking of the condition as a disease diminishes the moral stigma of it. However, this framing introduces the stigma of disease, Young said....