alt Hacker NewsThe concern regarding a drug as a crutch is stil valid. Smokers/drinkers may deal with stress by smoking/drinking. After cessation, ways to deal with stress need to be learned from a new.
"Addiction" is ambiguous and a term almost better not used. "Addiction" may constitute chemical dependency but can also be largely a set of habits. A set of habits and lifestyle are pretty much the same thing.
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What's wrong eith a medicine as a crutch? If you break your leg you use a damn crutch and that's good. If you suffer from an illness and we have a medicine that's worse than the illness and affordable - go for it. Phrasing it as a crutch suggests it is somehow only a temporary that prevents you from finding a "real" solution by changing your "lifestyle". It doesn't matter, only outcomes matter.
> The concern regarding a drug as a crutch is stil valid.
People with pacemakers can't get off of them either, but it doesn't have the same stigma. Diabetics often need regular insulin injections, but it doesn't have the same stigma. People with high-blood pressure often need regular medication, but it doesn't have the same stigma. It's mostly antidepressants and now Ozempic which have this stigma.
> A set of habits and lifestyle are pretty much the same thing.
I believe the DSM does not consider them "pretty much the same thing".
'Anew' is an adverb: learn anew.
'Learn from a new' is missing an object.
The problem is that calling it a "crutch" is already presupposing a negative judgment of it. Use a neutral word; e.g. it is a weight loss aid.