According to Mayo Clinic:

"... addiction, also called substance use disorder, is a disease that affects a person's brain and behavior and leads to an inability to control the use of a legal or illegal drug or medicine"

Read more here: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/drug-addiction/symptoms-causes/syc-20365112

There is much more acknowledgement in the world that caring for our mental health is as important as our physical health. That said, stigma around mental health and substance use disorder remains. Words like weakness, selfish, choice, etc. are not helpful and they do not help with recovery or the management of disease.

As others have mentioned in the discussion, managing a chronic condition, like addiction, is hard. Recovery takes time and constant attention, along with the support of medical professionals and the people around you. That can include the support of members of this forum, too.

For this reason, I would like to remind everyone of the Community Guidelines (https://connect.mayoclinic.org/blog/about-connect/tab/community-guidelines/) Respect for all members is the foundation of Mayo Clinic Connect. Please show respect for members even when you do not share their views. Disagreements are fine. But mutual respect is essential.