Treating the Soul: The Damaging Stigma of “Addiction” – Part 2 of 3

by | Jan 13, 2025 | Addiction Treatment, Substance Abuse, TAC Blog

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Dr. Mark E. Shaw with TAC TEAM

We are discussing the disease concept theory of mental illness and how degrading and stigmatizing it is to people made in the image of God to categorize them based on their behavioral choices. The way the addiction treatment world fell headlong right into damaging and stigmatizing labels is so very sad. Measuring drug or alcohol levels through toxicology reports and the return to a drug over and over again doesn’t describe disease but describes the will of humankind to get what he or she wants.

Often, the individual experience of a certain drug is sought after intentionally and meticulously. This does not represent a disorder of just the physical body’s system but a desire of the heart. Desires for an end result that dominate a life, but God’s Word discerns the thoughts and intentions at the heart level. And God instructs us about our own hearts in the book of James, “But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” (James 1:14-15)

“Disorders” to “Treat” (or is it a Trick?)

Calling the behaviors associated with addiction as “disorders” – based purely upon the bodily response of tolerance or withdrawal (and throwing in a little brain re-wiring language) falls way short of scientifically being able to call addiction a disease or a Substance Use Disorder. And it is damaging to the person to stigmatize them with labels that the mental health field attaches to them forever. Even the word recovery is stigmatizing in some sense because of its medical connotations insinuating one has a disease.

Every day the trustworthy character of God is challenged by the mental health system in America. Claiming to be wise enough to be able to treat the souls that God created in His own image better than God Himself is foolish.

While I worked in the addiction treatment and rehabilitation world early in the 90’s, even though I taught Bible studies to people I served, my failure at times to proclaim Christ as totally sufficient in ALL of my addiction counseling during those early years was foolish. Foolishly forgetting to proclaim Jesus Christ in our care for people is neglecting the wisdom of God. Proverbs 8 is a stern warning about this omission.

“I, wisdom, dwell with prudence,

and I find knowledge and discretion.

The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil.

Pride and arrogance and the way of evil

and perverted speech I hate.

I have counsel and sound wisdom;

I have insight; I have strength.” (Proverbs 8:12-14)

“Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.” Colossians 1:28 ESV

Our urgent, passionate, and yes, repeating plea for mankind continues because of all the lies of the addiction treatment world. And because I was there in it, I understand. Man proclaims these half-truths and lies about those who are said to be caught in any addiction:

  • Practitioners in addiction science say to their clients: You have a disease (or a disorder) because you keep using drugs; you want to stop but can’t. You are unable to make sound decisions because of your use of substances.
  • Researchers and experts in addiction medicine say: We need to label all these behaviors and categorize them by their commonalities so we can treat them. (note this attempts to make it a medical issue and not a spiritual one)
  • Assigning labels has FAILED to improve the statistics of what they call recovery rates (addictions biblical counselors would say, “transformed lives”). The critique of the system has been: We need to stop the stigma. This is the problem they say. Using words like “Addict” and “alcoholic” is stigmatizing them with negative sounding labels. Change our labels to positive and encouraging ones and our system will work better to reach more people.
  • Critics of the addiction treatment industry say: Labels stigmatize by making people feel “less than” which is why they do not seek our treatment. No one wants to be stigmatized so let’s use Marijuana Use Disorder instead.

But it’s a vicious cycle! The world attempts to re-label sinful behaviors into their own system of stigmatizing terms and the solution is worse, not better. The disease concept actually de-humanizes people and gives them a theorized, lifelong disease that can never be overcome. It’s not true.

God’s Word “stigmatizes” people by putting us ALL in one category: God labels us as sinners.

Ever since Adam and Eve, people are born with a sin nature and then commit sin during their lives. It doesn’t take long to sin after you are born. But God also offers His help to transform the stigma He has given us into a new identity found only in His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ! Trusting in Christ to fix the stigma of “sinner” and provide a true believer an entirely new identity is what happens by faith: redemption and saving grace through faith, which is a gift of God. (Ephesians 2:8-9)  That’s a huge difference between the secular world’s approach and the biblical approach to addiction. The world is all double talk based upon “do better,” “we will help you,” and “because you cannot help yourself change you will need a drug or our counseling forever” – those are contradictory messages!! Essentially these secular practitioners use the current “system of thought” and “belief in self” to become the “saviors” in whom all hope is placed. And they are false gods who are impotent.

But God is not impotent. He is all powerful, all wise, and all loving. Perfectly so! He alone has the power to transform the human will (Ezek. 36:26).

We want you to know there is hope for the addicted. God’s Word and the Gospel offer so much more than the hopeless stigmatizing labels of mental health.It’s not a lifelong disease. It’s not a medical issue. It’s a spiritual heart issue first and foremost.

“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence…”

2 Peter 1:3 ESV

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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