Some people who suffer from addiction and/or mental illness wrongly feel that they are flawed or weak for becoming addicted to something or for having a mental illness.

Some people who suffer from addiction and/or mental illness wrongly feel that they are flawed or weak for becoming addicted to something or for having a mental illness. As an allied health assistant, you might need to help remind these people that there is nothing flawed or weak about them. How would you thoroughly define addiction, its details, and its diagnosis for them so that they could better understand these things? Identify addiction for these individuals and explain the science behind its behavioral elements, as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). How could you reassure them that addiction and mental illness are both illnesses that have scientific facts behind them? Examine the science of addiction, and share your findings with them. Investigate how substance abuse pertains to mental illness, and explain your findings.