Why Addiction is a Learning Disorder

And Why It Matters

We've been hearing a lot lately around social media that as a community, we need to be harder with negative consequences for people who "don't want treatment" or "don't want to help themselves" or "refuse the help they are offered".

Please take 5 minutes out of your day to hear Maia Szalavitz, world-renowned author, addiction specialist, and long-time chaotic, heroin and cocaine user, speak about addiction as a learning disorder.

Addiction, by definition, is not only a physical dependence on a substance, but it is also compulsively using substances DESPITE negative consequences.

If we want to change the behavior of people who use substances in our community, we need to bring them in without judgment, teach them how to be responsible and self-aware about how their actions affect those around them, and teach them different ways to cope with the world around them.

If compulsive use despite negative consequences is the definition of addiction, why would more negative, punitive consequences get people to change their behavior? We've tried that for decades, and it hasn't worked. This framework for understanding addiction helps to depolarize the conversation of what is right and what is wrong and see this issue in a new light. If you spent time watching Seattle Is Dying, please give this video the same courtesy.

To be clear, we believe there is no one pathway for people on their road to recovery. For some people, abstinence-based, 12-step models are vital. For many others, alternative treatments are necessary and life-saving.

We meet people wherever they are on that spectrum and support them in getting connected to the resources they need and want in a non-judgmental and de-stigmatized way. I want to acknowledge that this is a nuanced and painful discussion for many of us with loved ones or personal experience with addiction and recovery.

As a community, we must find ways to bridge the divide in this conversation, to recognize that what works for one will not work for another, and that we all need each other to continue shifting towards a safer, more supportive community for all of us. <3 <3 <3