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Article: Disease concept of chemical dependency
- Article from:
- Gale Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Disease concept of chemical dependency
Definition
Disease concept of chemical dependency is the concept that a disorder (such as chemical dependency) is like
a disease and has a characteristic set of signs, symptoms, and natural history (clinical course, or outcome).
Description
The disease concept has long been accepted by the medical community. The concept proposes that a disease is characterized by a specific set of signs and symptoms and that the disease, if left untreated, will progress to some endpoint or outcome (clinical course). However, controversy arises when the medical community is faced with new abnormal conditions, owing mostly to the new technologies in genetic ...