I've always felt a little uncomfortable with the disease concept too. I feel I understand the neuroscience behind addiction, and what it does to us chemically. And yes, technically by definition, addiction is a disease (but with that loose of a definition, a lot of things are). It's conceptually how we view the term "disease" too. I have a hard time reconciling that I'm as sick as my dying mother who had pancreatic cancer. I watched this horrid tumor, this other disease, eat the hell out of my mother, with the chemotherapy killing everything else. Watching her take her last breath as I took shots of whisky on the floor. But I'm sick tooooo...
Yeah, it's a delicate subject. I don't think there is a one size fits all for everyone. The disease model has made sense to million of people and educated them in a way that shaming them has not; rehab has worked for many individuals as well. There are weirdos like my grandfather who have never popped open a big book, never been to a therapist or rehab, pondered the meaning of his addiction and just one day up and quit after 42 years of heavy drinking with no spiritual maintenance or second thoughts ever. Everyone is different. I think, like you mentioned, the core of it is, STOP. Cling to whatever you need to, try whatever you need to try, but stop the madness and put the plug in the jug.