social problems as alcoholism and drug abuse as diseases rather than behavior disorders? What are the implications of treating other social problems as diseases? What are the implications for the medical care system of the proliferation of these new diseases?

It is not as important to distinguish between behavior disorder and disease as it is to find the root causes of these classifications. Behavior disorders suggest that the person's actions are somewhat preventable while diseases are portrayed as unpreventable. Much grey area and confusion arise in these discussions because causes and effect relationships are not explicit. Obesity can be considered both a disease or a behavior problem, like other kinds of substance abuse. But what are the factors that lead to any specific problem? Unfortunately until individuals realize that they are responsible for their own conduct and rampant victimization ceases to be celebrated, these problems of identifying causes of problems...
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