Edward A. Dreyfus

About the author: Edward A. Dreyfus is a clinical psychologist in private practice in the Los Angeles/Santa Monica area of California.

Many types of compulsive behavior, including alcoholism, are incorrectly viewed as diseases. Alcoholism was originally termed a disease in order to help people understand that it is a serious problem for which they should seek help. However, the disease model has been overused and distorted to the extent that many alcoholics and other emotionally disturbed people incorrectly believe that they are physically "sick" and need medical rather than psychological help to overcome their addictions.

Many mental health practitioners are promoting the notion that alcohol abuse, drug abuse, over-eating, gambling, anorexia, bulimia and smoking are diseases. By using the disease model, its proponents believe that people are more apt to seek help because having...