Dr. Mark E. Shaw with TAC TEAM

I walked (or maybe crawled like a baby!) into the addiction treatment and rehabilitation world in 1991 when I worked part-time for an adolescent residential program. For the record, I totally bought into and believed the “disease concept” theory of addiction, as we called it back then! I knew nothing else. I didn’t discern the Bible as an authority on the matter of counseling or psychology, and certainly never considered it as a source of wisdom about addiction. 

An irony of ironies—even to my younger self back then—still strikes me as a major concern today in the addiction world. The stigma of addiction.

Most people acknowledge how damaging stigmas are, and yet that’s what the addiction world does – it stigmatizes the people they try to help! That’s what the psychological world does, too, and has always done. Even before the days of that wicked German regime led by a man who almost everyone equates with the worst human being who ever lived. Yes, psychological problems were deemed unfixable, like a disease, and subsequently people deemed those people with problems or irregular behaviors as “less than.” People with problems were pushed aside, hidden, valued less, and treated as really less than human. I make these assertions based upon a book entitled, Saving Abnormal, by Dr. Daniel Berger. I recommend you read it soon if you haven’t already. 

So the disease concept theory of mental illness is stigmatizing in and of itself, and the addiction world fell right into it headlong. What’s worse is that their “new” labels for human behavior are not going to bring better results in changing lives for good. They will fail once again. Their description of what is going on in the body is not based in medical science. There are no blood tests or objective data points for bipolar, ADHD, or addiction, etc. None!

Sure, we can measure blood alcohol levels and perform drug toxicology analyses, but calling the behaviors associated with addiction “disorders” purely based upon the bodily response of tolerance and withdrawal and throwing in a little brain re-wiring language falls way short of scientific. Which wires? Where are they? What part of the body is not functioning properly? 

Using a drug to the point of building up a tolerance to a substance (along with withdrawal symptoms) requires some medical attention. Yes we totally agree. But using new terms

like “Substance Use Disorder” or SUD, (yes they are capitalizing it and using these lables now)

and Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD)

and Marijuana Use Disorder (MUD)

is very stigmatizing. Applying updated labels does not automatically or magically make these behaviors a disease of the body nor of the mind. They are not a result of a disorder of systems in the body or mind. It simply cannot be quantified scientifically. It is so sad. 

So why do addiction practitioners get away with calling these things disorders or diseases? How can they keep implying a medical basis since those are medicalized terms?

The answer is: they like these words better than biblical terminology.

Dale Johnson, Executive Director of ACBC recently interviewed Dr. Mark Shaw about this topic of stigmatization in Truth in Love podcast #495.

(ACBC podcast with Dale Johnson interviewing Mark Shaw)

We want you to know there is hope for the addicted. It’s not a lifelong disease. It’s not a medical issue. It’s a spiritual heart issue first and foremost. All of the other factors, including social and biological, are important but secondary to the spiritual problem at the heart level. Where will you spend eternity? Christ enables His people’s souls to live forever and transforms them all on their way home to Him. 


Mark E. Shaw, D.Min., CABC, ACBC, IABC, CADAC II, is a biblical counselor, ordained minister, speaker, and author of 29 books and booklets of hope and help. Dr. Shaw has been involved in counseling since the early 90’s. He previously served in residential care and medication assisted treatment centers (methadone), but making disciple-makers through Biblical Counseling became his passion in 2001. Mark currently serves his local church in Florida as the Pastor of Counseling at the Nocatee campus of First Baptist Church Jacksonville.

Dr. Shaw’s resources are found at Focus Publishing and Christian Book Distributors. He can also be found at amazon.com/author/markeshaw

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