Long Term Addiction Recovery
Most current and former
addicts who have been to traditional treatment programs say that they are "in
recovery." The baffling part is that some still consider themselves
"recovering" even afte 20 years. We certainly don't want to discredit their
achievements - in fact, it's just the opposite. Let's give credit where it's
due - a person who has maintained a clean and sober lifestyle free from relapse
should be considered recovered. Despite skewed research, there is
still no proof that addiction is an incurable brain disease, and people can and
do permantly recover every single day. You probably know people in your life
right now who used to have a substance abuse problem in their past, but you
never would have guessed it if they didn't tell you.
The first thing one must do
have a successful recovery is often to understand what addiction is - at least
to them - so that they can make sense of the confusion and start with a stable
point. Saying that relapse is a part of recovery only opens the door for
failure. If you expect it to happen, then it will probably happen. If you don't
expect it to happen and truly intend on staying clean and being happy, then it
is surely possible. After defining addiction, it is also important to define
what a successful recovery would be for them. Then it's a matter of mapping out
point A to point B and the proper applications in life needed to get there.
For every person there are
going to be difficulties in life the present themselves as barriers to long
term recovery. These barriers may be common to all people - like dealing with
money or relationships - or the may be uniqe to them as individuals. No matter
the barrier or reason for difficulty, there is a solution and it is vital to
find workable alternative solutions to those problems. Without those workable
alternatives, life simply becomes too overwhelming again and the only relief in
sight for the addict is to go use more drugs again.
Probably one of the biggest barriers to long term
recovery is actually created by many treatment programs. This one happens to
come under the guise of help, but it is actually very damaging for most people.
The barrier we're speaking of is a replacement drug, or multiple drugs, given
as a prescription in an effort to merely treat the symptoms of addiction, not
actually solve the problem. Aside from the heavy side effects many of these
drugs have, it cannot be ignored that the individual is still wholly or
partially dependent on a toxic chemical to get through the day. This is not
rehabilitation and it is not recovery. It is merely a medicalized treatment of
people like animals that doesn't recognize an individual's mental (not brain)
and spiritual ability to overcome tremendous obstacles.
Once the right drug rehab is found and
things are under way, then a long term recovery plan should be created as a
follow-up action after completion of the program. A good rehab center will help
with a discharge plan from the faiclity, which will incorporate some immediate
and long-range goals to work toward. These goals are part of the recovery plan
to create an optimum stable environment with proper support and sufficient
productivity in life to prevent relapse and continue self betterment.