The Biggest Lie About Addiction: Disease or Moral Failure?The Biggest Lie About Addiction: Disease or Moral Failure?
Audio/Video – The Freedom Model For Addictions
Mark Sheeran and Michelle Dunbar challenge the idea that addiction is either a disease or a moral failure and argue it is rooted in personal choice and belief. They discuss moderation, critique 12-step moral language, and suggest many people are simply confused by misleading addiction narratives.
33:06•9 Jul 2026
Is Addiction Really a Disease or Just a Moral Label?
Episode Overview
- Addiction is framed as neither a disease nor a moral failing, but as a pattern of choices driven by personal reasons.
- The common claim that removing the disease label prevents shame is challenged, as 12-step ideas still hinge on moral judgement and sin.
- Concepts like willpower and procrastination are described as labels, with real change coming from analysing and changing one’s preferences.
- AA and treatment narratives are criticised for promoting powerlessness, shame and lifelong identity as an addict or alcoholic.
- Moderation is presented as possible for anyone who has the right information and genuinely reassesses the perceived benefits of heavy use.
“It’s not a disease. You’re not a bad person. You’re confused. That’s it.”
What drives someone to seek a life without the labels of “addict” or “alcoholic”? This episode of The Freedom Model for Addictions tackles one of the most heated questions in recovery circles: is addiction a disease or a moral failure? Mark Sheeran and Michelle Dunbar argue it’s neither. They challenge the familiar story that people drink or use because they’re sick, weak, or spiritually broken, pointing out how the disease model and 12-step ideas are tangled up with moral judgement.
As Mark puts it bluntly, “The disease concept is a moral concept because it’s pseudoscience… really what they’re saying is, you’re weak.” You’ll hear them break down the “false dichotomy” people are handed: either you’re powerless with a disease, or you’re a bad person lacking willpower. They insist both miss the mark. Instead, substance use is framed as a set of choices driven by personal reasons and interpretations, not by an external force inside the bottle or pill.
“There is no such thing as willpower… there are just choices that people are making,” Mark explains. Michelle shares her own journey from decades in AA, judging all drinking as “evil”, to later moderating and finding alcohol “really not a big deal”. Together they use everyday examples — from binge-drinking students to people who take prescribed opiates and stop without fuss — to show how behaviour changes as people simply change their minds.
For anyone tired of feeling broken, labelled, or stuck in endless recovery, this conversation offers a stark alternative: “It’s not a disease. You’re not a bad person. You’re confused. That’s it.” The episode is aimed at people questioning traditional treatment, curious about moderation, or wanting to shed the shame-heavy identity that often comes with addiction stories.
If you’ve ever wondered whether you *have* to see yourself as powerless or defective to move on, this one might push you to rethink the whole picture.
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