Does Science Excuse Addiction?

Myriad books have been written on free will, sin, moral responsibility and the science of addiction. A question asked often is – does science excuse addiction?  We hear about sex addiction, gambling addiction, drug addiction, food addiction — it seems like science makes excuses for what most people once called bad behavior or sinful behavior. Addiction, to be honest, has been spread thin, but science continues to discover more about how the brain works, and it never helps anyone when we ignore science. From my perspective, science is not excusing addiction — science creates the opportunity for humans to take more responsibility for their behavior.

Science discovers how brain chemicals influence our behavior. In the past when it was said that someone lacked self-control, well, now science is discovering why. Does this mean that people have no control over certain behaviors? No. Well, people with serious mental conditions like schizophrenia don’t respond well to treatment, but most who “lack of self-control” are amenable to change. Alcoholics are driven to drink by a chronic brain disease, but there’s treatment for alcoholism. A person who’s driven to overeat is influenced by certain brain chemicals that send a message to eat, eat, eat, but this person can find a way to handle the over-eating. The person who starts gambling and can’t stop, can stop if they understand what’s going on and do something different to recover from the condition. Why we think that mechanical devices need repair, and we even accept that are bodies need repair when we get sick, but find it shameful to admit that our brains need repair every once in awhile, I don’t know. Well, I do know, but it’s getting harder to understand this attitude in the Information Age.

So, science is helping humans understand their minds and bodies better, thus, we can change the parts of ourselves that cause us serious problems. Over-eating leads to serious health problems and emotional instability and, often, low self-esteem. When over-eaters were called slothful, it only added to the shame they felt. Now that the over-eater can gain knowledge provided by science that explains the urge to over-eat, there are no more excuses — it’s time to act to treat the condition and recover. The same goes for the alcoholic, the gambler, etc.

When we really consider the ramifications of scientific discoveries, the conclusion is not that excuses are made for bad behavior. Does science excuse addiction? No, science gives us an understanding of what makes us tick and, thus, how we can change for the better. Even if someone is religious, they’d have to believe that science is condoned if it helps us know ourselves better and enables us to become healthier and better able to help, understand and love one another.