People used to have character flaws. Now they have medically dismissible “disorders.”
I think it all started with the "alcoholism is a disease" campaign of the late '60s.
It might have started before that.
But I was in my early teens back then, and I distinctly remember thinking "that doesn't sound right" when I heard it on TV.
It was in Public Service Announcements, and it was also taken up on several television shows of the time. Writers wrote an alcoholic episode into one or two doctor shows, I'm pretty sure.