Duel Diagnosis: Bipolar type 1 (and/or Schizoaffective) + Addiction

It doesnt matter to me what I call it, I know I need help with my life that goes beyond drugs, but drugs have led me to lows I never thought that I would reach. When I think of a "disease" I think of a medical condition. A disease, to me, has always been something that a doctor could take a blood test or a biopsy for and those tests say definitively that you have a disease or not. This is what I struggle with when I hear disease of addiction. I have the same problem when I am told that I am bipolar or schizoaffeffective, because I have been in denial for long periods of time because doctors could only diagnose me from observing my symptoms, but there is no blood test and there is no x-ray, so I would always believe my illness is a judgement call, and I would judge my own condition and say that there's nothing wrong with me despite the fact that I am manic, delusional, and psychotic. However when I come down from this state, my previous erratic and wreckless behavior becomes clear and I can now say that I am bipolar type 1 or schizoaffective without hesitation.

It is easier for me to say that I am an addict than it is for me to say that I suffer from the disease of addiction. I have denied myself from accepting addiction as a disease. I have had in the back of my head the belief that calling my addiction a disease excuses me if I were to start going back to using drugs. I also believe that calling my addiction a disease gives my condition more weight than I believe that it deserves. However I never thought that considering my condition a disease may be what I need to do to give my addiction the attention that it deserves.