Addiction throughout History
Jennifer Acker, M.A.
Throughout our human history, drug and alcohol use has been viewed through many lenses. Psychoactive substances have been used through history in religious ceremonies, for medicinal purposes, and for social connection. Early accounts of substance misuse date back to ancient Mesopotamia when the opium poppy was cultivated and called the “Hul Gil” or the “joy plant”. Ancient Greek records refer to overconsumption of alcohol as “drink madness”. There are even biblical records of both positive and negative outcome of alcohol use.
In the 18th Century the medical community began to record and categorize “abnormal patterns” of substance use which began the shift from a purely moral failing to seeing drug and alcohol abuse as creating medical concerns. In the 19th century following the American Civil War when opium was widely used for pain management this lead to veterans experiencing “soldiers disease” or opium addiction. This label is some of the
earliest mentions of addiction as a disease which further expanded our understanding of addiction not as a moral failure but as a disease. Throughout the 20th century the public’s opinion on addiction has continued to oscillate between the shame based moral failing and a hope filled treatable illness. In 1935 Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith founded Alcoholics Anonymous, a self-help program using shared experiences and the 12- Steps to help people find recovery from Alcohol. Later other variations of this program, such as Narcotics Anonymous, were founded on the same principles of spirituality, mutual support, and anonymity. Unfortunately, there have been targeted campaigns that have led to a deeply stigmatized and fear-based view of those who struggle with addiction. Because of these campaigns those suffering have gone without treatment leading to unnecessary incarceration and death.
With advancements in both medical and psychiatric research and treatment, we are shifting the stigma of addiction. We now know there are biological and environmental factors, such as genetic predisposition, trauma, poverty, and other adverse childhood experiences that contribute to the development of addiction. We understand the neurobiology of addiction that keeps a person seeking more and more of a substance. We even understand the pharmacology of the different substances and how they affect a person’s brain and body. With all this knowledge we have developed highly effective treatments for Substance Use Disorder and Co-Occurring Mental Illness that not only treat the medical components of chemical dependency but also address the spiritual and emotional needs of the human suffering from the millennia of stigma.