Is addiction a disease?

Previously published on 'This Is The Awful Truth":

"You cannot perform in a manner inconsistent with the way you see yourself."- Zig Ziglar

Without any qualification in the fields of medicine, biology or psychology I am not particularly qualified to say, but the simple and short answer is 'No, addiction is not a disease'. At worst I am just thinking out loud, and I thank you in advance for humoring me. At best, an actual professional may be inspired by something said here and do something positive with it.

All addictions are different, even when just comparing two people with the same addiction.. Not all addictions are harmful, some are benign, and some are beneficial. Some are simply a heightened interest in an object or subject while others are a full fledged obsession. Some addictions are physical, but most if not all are mental in nature. They certainly all appear to be just that at the outset.

Before I continue, there's an article worth reading here on this same question, by someone who is qualified to speak on it.
Psychology Today: The Heart Addiction, Is Addiction Really A Disease?

Take note:

In addiction there is no infectious agent (as in tuberculosis), no pathological biological process (as in diabetes), and no biologically degenerative condition (as in Alzheimer's disease).

and this:

addictive acts occur when precipitated by emotionally significant events, they can be prevented by understanding what makes these events so emotionally important, and they can be replaced by other emotionally meaningful actions or even other psychological symptoms that are not addictions.  Addictive behavior is a readily understandable symptom, not a disease. 

The good doctor, and I agree with this, boils down addiction to a symptom, but offers no guidance as to what it might be a symptom of. Humor me just a little further.
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To make my case, I am first going to point you toward Maslow's Hierarchy Of Needs. Note that at the base is the primary physiological need for Homeostasis, and while this deals mainly with biological functions like oxygen and cell regulation or circadian rhythms, I believe this is also what tries to maintain or seek equilibrium with the way people see themselves compared to others within the context of the chaotic system of  values a person accumulates through experiences firsthand and many hands removed.  If it's not too presumptuous, please consider this a new spin on the theory of relativity.

How they picture themself in comparison or how they imagine things as they 'ought to be' creates parameters as a range the mind seeks to maintain or obtain. This appears to take place on a subconscious level, but based almost entirely on things believed at a conscious level.
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Consider the idea of a guilty conscience. The individual knows they've behaved in a way that is beneath the standards or personal rules they've set for themselves and that thought sticks with them, whether as a loud signal or just a minor hum, until something is done to made amends and then that signal or hum dissipates. Balance and equilibrium are then restored as the image of what they are realigns with what they feel they should be.

Consider why diets usually only work in the short term, if at all. This brilliant 
TED Talk on Youtube given by Sandra Aamodt 
shows a very similar phenomenon of the body ignoring surface desires and heeding instead the mental image that is desired to be obtained or maintained. If they become consciously aware of how they're falling out of that range, and new parameters are not prepared for, the mind has the body start finding ways to put them back in that range.

Consider people that win big lottery jackpots or come into large inheritances or windfalls. If they were expecting it and find it agreeable that they should have this newfound wealth, they can usually maintain that new level without much trouble. Sadly, for a sizable portion of these 'lucky' people, the story has no happy ending. This article on why lottery winners go bankrupt, pushes the notion that they lack financial literacy or just can't control themselves. I think they're missing what really happens. I think it's the same idea of a person measuring the difference between where they are and where they think they should be, and the mind doing the rest to achieve the desired equilibrium and balance according to the range the person has set for themself.

You should be wondering at this point how that need for balance becomes an addiction in some cases, and how each case can differ so wildly from one to the next. This does not cover the whole range, and you can feel free to run with it, but it is a start:

• Does this person value belonging or individuality more, and how well do they see themselves doing the more important one?
• How well does the person cope with being outside what they consider their normal range in some particular facet of their lives?
• What values does the person hold as the most important, and how do they react if those values are attacked, violated or compromised?

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Addiction is not a disease. Addiction is not even a disorder. Addictions are the proper result of a mind trying to find some balance between where a person imagines they are and where they imagine they belong, and are wholly dependent on the values of that person. Further, I believe calling an addiction a disease must, by all accounts, make the problem worse, as it creates its own range in which the person labelled is no longer responsible for their actions or they are just some hapless victim unable to change their circumstances, and so long as a person believes either or both, the mind will find a way to keep them there.

Further still, I would be wary of any group that maintains that a person must recognize themself as a victim so they replace the one crutch, with this new group as the new crutch, especially if that new crutch requires donations to prop them up.

I don't think I'm alone here at all.
AA: Of Course It's A Cult.

As ever, don't take my word for it. Think for yourself. Comment, rebut or pass this on as you see fit. Thanks.