Overcoming Addiction: Find an effective path toward recovery

Evidence-based guidelines can assist doctors with choosing the right treatment options. These guidelines help evaluate a patient’s clinical needs and situation to match them with the right level of care, in the most appropriate available setting. For more information on evidence-based guidelines visit Addiction Medicine Primer. For certain drug types, some symptoms are less prominent, and in some cases, not all symptoms apply. For example, withdrawal symptoms are not specified for inhalant use. Inpatient rehabilitation at a full-time facility provides a supportive environment to help people recover without distractions or temptations.

• For people living with addictions, some of their relationships may revolve around addictive behaviors.
• Finally, our findings may form the basis for the theories, the scales, and the criteria for the assessment of addiction recovery.
• This means you’re not just trying random strategies hoping something sticks; you’re using methods with track records of success.
• Even so, national data suggests these rates remain relatively low.
• Even people with severe and chronic substance use disorders can, with help, overcome their illness and regain health and social function.

Recovery Stage 2: Contemplation

A routine review of one’s treatment plan may be necessary to determine if another method could be more effective. Motivational enhancement therapy uses strategies to make the most of people’s readiness to change their behavior and enter treatment. Overcoming a SUD is not as simple as resisting the temptation to take drugs through willpower alone. It may require checking into a rehabilitation facility.45 Recovery can be challenging, but it is possible. Substance use disorder (SUD) is defined as a problematic pattern of substance use leading to clinically significant impairment or distress.

Avoid Replacement Addictive Behaviors

And while the journey through recovery and the subsequent lifelong path of sobriety is unique for everyone, there are some common stages of addiction recovery. Understanding those steps can help you know what you need to do next on Sobriety your own road to recovery or how to help someone in your life who is struggling with addiction. The first step in overcoming addiction involves deciding to make a change.

Understanding Addiction to Support Recovery

Not surprisingly, life stress is one of the main reasons people give for relapsing into prescription drug misuse. For all these reasons, learning methods to better cope with stress is an essential part of recovery. It’s also important to remember that, as with a chronic physical condition, relapse can occur.

• Peer support programs harness this power of shared experience in different ways.
• They may also begin to realize that they can’t break out of the cycle of addiction on their own.
• Recovery starts and continues in relation to personal traits, intensity, duration, personal needs, and society.
• Mindfulness practices have become a cornerstone of modern addiction recovery strategies, offering powerful tools that complement traditional treatment approaches.

Although the early months in recovery are marked by vulnerability, the majority of people who stick with treatment, aftercare, and ongoing support do attain lasting improvements. Insurance alcoholism treatment availability is one of the biggest drivers in whether people with substance use disorders (SUD) can get the help they need. At Greater Boston Addiction Centers, we provide evidence-based addiction treatment tailored to each individual’s needs. This is the stage where individuals actively engage in treatment and therapy to break the cycle of addiction. Addiction is a lifelong disease treated through therapy and lifestyle changes.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy & Motivational Interviewing

One gentleman who struggled with opioid addiction for 15 years combined medication-assisted treatment with regular therapy, daily mindfulness practice, and reconnection with family. Today, he’s five years sober and mentoring others on their recovery journeys. Whether you’re struggling with substances or behaviors, understanding that addiction is a brain disorder—not a personal failure—is the first step toward healing. Neuroplasticity—the brain’s ability to form new connections—means recovery is possible. With the right addiction recovery strategies, the brain can heal and create healthier pathways. This is why professional treatment that addresses both the biological and psychological aspects of addiction is so important.

• When relapse occurs, it’s a sign that the patient should resume treatment, modify treatment, or use a new treatment method.
• In the course of recovery, the individual’s objectives matter and this process may continue at any speed or rate and taking any approach and everyone’s own experience (4, 26, 29-31).
• If a person uses as much of the drug as they did before quitting, they can easily overdose because their bodies are no longer adapted to their previous level of drug exposure.
• Relapse rates for drug use are similar to rates for other chronic medical illnesses.

Get Treatment to Overcome an Addiction

Others find it painful, difficult, and frustrating, sometimes needing many attempts before achieving their goal. Still, others discover new sides to themselves during the quitting process (a greater capacity for compassion, for example). The decision to change is one of the most important steps in overcoming an addiction. By acknowledging that a change is needed, it means that you recognize that there is a problem and have a desire to address it.

Relapse is incredibly common—affecting about 40-60% of people on their recovery journey. This doesn’t represent failure; it’s often just part of the process. Stopping drug use is just one part of a long and complex recovery process. When people enter treatment, addiction has often caused serious consequences in their lives, possibly disrupting their health and how they function in their family lives, at work, and in the community. Medications are also available to help treat addiction to alcohol and nicotine. Stress is a major stimulus for drug craving, according to people with opioid addiction.