Whats interesting is that wiki says disease is encompassing of; disorder, morbidity and illness, though each term is considered preferable depending on situations. So while disease may be a correct term in describing drug addiction, disoder or illness may be the more preferable term. This makes me wonder why we hear people call drug addiction a disease nowadays while the political correct term for other mental illnesses or disorders remain illness or disorder.
We say someone whos a coke head or alcoholic has a diseases. Although if I say someone that is obese or suffers from depression has a disease people would say that’s the wrong term. I guess by calling a coke head (also wiki says coke isnt even
physically addicting) as someone who is infected with disease you make it easier to pity them and put less personally responsibility or blame on their “condition”. It makes sense, personal responsibility is no longer in vogue.....
Disorder
In medicine, a
disorder is a functional abnormality or disturbance.
[10] Medical disorders can be categorized into
mental disorders,
physical disorders,
genetic disorders,
emotional and behavioral disorders, and
functional disorders.
The term
disorder is often considered more value-neutral and less stigmatizing than the terms
disease or
illness, and therefore is preferred terminology in some circumstances. In mental health, the term
mental disorder is used as a way of acknowledging the complex interaction of
biological, social, and psychological factors in
psychiatric conditions. However, the term
disorder is also used in many other areas of medicine, primarily to identify physical disorders that are not caused by infectious organisms, such as
metabolic disorders.