How Did We Get Here?

It is important to understand how the addiction treatment industry began and how its beliefs and practices gradually evolved into today’s standards of care. The problems associated with alcohol and drug use have been around for millennia, but the notion of addiction as a chronic medical illness is a relatively new (twentieth-century) concept. Stigma and misunderstanding abound, and antiquated attitudes about addiction as a moral failing continue to marginalize and shame the people we are tasked with helping. The chapter addresses how current addiction treatment is designed and its involvement with both medical and physical elements.