Recovery Blog
Consumer Spotlight
Dialogue for Recovery
After treatment for substance abuse, whether it is in hospital-based treatment programs, therapeutic communities, or recovery homes, many patients return to former high-risk environments or stressful family situations. Returning to these settings without a network of people to support abstinence increases chances of a relapse. As a consequence, substance abuse recidivism following treatment is high for both men and women. Alternative approaches need to be explored, and there are some promising types of recovery centers and transitional homes, such as those offered at Mariners Inn. Within this self-help communal living setting, recovering alcoholics were able to maintain employment, thereby reducing their need for government subsidies. Maintaining employment for recovering alcoholics may promote increased personal responsibility, which may impact self-efficacy beliefs.
We'd like to hear what you have to say about your journey in recovery and the steps you've taken to make a change, whether it be NA or AA meetings, Transitional living arrangements, in-patient or out-patient treatment, or the like.
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Addiction and Recovery
Drug addiction is a complex illness characterized by intense and, at times, uncontrollable drug craving, along with compulsive drug seeking and use that persist even in the face of devastating consequences. While the path to drug addiction begins with the voluntary act of taking drugs, over time a person's ability to choose not to do so becomes compromised, and seeking and consuming the drug becomes compulsive. This behavior results largely from the effects of prolonged drug exposure on brain functioning. Addiction is a brain disease that affects multiple brain circuits, including those involved in reward and motivation, learning and memory, and inhibitory control over behavior.
Because drug abuse and addiction have so many dimensions and disrupt so many aspects of an individual's life, treatment is not simple. Effective treatment programs typically incorporate many components, each directed to a particular aspect of the illness and its consequences. Addiction treatment must help the individual stop using drugs, maintain a drug-free lifestyle, and achieve productive functioning in the family, at work, and in society. Because addiction is typically a chronic disease, people cannot simply stop using drugs for a few days and be cured. Most patients require long-term or repeated episodes of care to achieve the ultimate goal of sustained abstinence and recovery of their lives.
Too often, addiction goes untreated: According to SAMHSA's National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 23.2 million persons (9.4 percent of the U.S. population) aged 12 or older needed treatment for an illicit drug or alcohol use problem in 2007. Of these individuals, 2.4 million (10.4 percent of those who needed treatment) received treatment at a specialty facility (i.e., hospital, drug or alcohol rehabilitation or mental health center). Thus, 20.8 million persons (8.4 percent of the population aged 12 or older) needed treatment for an illicit drug or alcohol use problem but did not receive it. These estimates are similar to those in previous years.
Principles of Effective Treatment
Scientific research since the mid–1970s shows that treatment can help patients addicted to drugs stop using, avoid relapse, and successfully recover their lives. Based on this research, key principles have emerged that should form the basis of any effective treatment programs:
Addiction is a complex but treatable disease that affects brain function and behavior.
No single treatment is appropriate for everyone.
Treatment needs to be readily available.
Effective treatment attends to multiple needs of the individual, not just his or her drug abuse.
Remaining in treatment for an adequate period of time is critical.
Counseling—individual and/or group—and other behavioral therapies are the most commonly used forms of drug abuse treatment.
Medications are an important element of treatment for many patients, especially when combined with counseling and other behavioral therapies.
An individual's treatment and services plan must be assessed continually and modified as necessary to ensure that it meets his or her changing needs.
Many drug–addicted individuals also have other mental disorders.
Medically assisted detoxification is only the first stage of addiction treatment and by itself does little to change long–term drug abuse.
Treatment does not need to be voluntary to be effective.
Drug use during treatment must be monitored continuously, as lapses during treatment do occur.
Treatment programs should assess patients for the presence of HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B and C, tuberculosis, and other infectious diseases as well as provide targeted risk–reduction counseling to help patients modify or change behaviors that place them at risk of contracting or spreading infectious diseases.
Effective Treatment Approaches
Medication and behavioral therapy, especially when combined, are important elements of an overall therapeutic process that often begins with detoxification, followed by treatment and relapse prevention. Easing withdrawal symptoms can be important in the initiation of treatment; preventing relapse is necessary for maintaining its effects. And sometimes, as with other chronic conditions, episodes of relapse may require a return to prior treatment components. A continuum of care that includes a customized treatment regimen—addressing all aspects of an individual's life, including medical and mental health services—and follow–up options (e.g., community – or family-based recovery support systems) can be crucial to a person's success in achieving and maintaining a drug–free lifestyle.
Source: http://www.nida.nih.gov/infofacts/treatmeth.html
A Mother In Distress
My mother has a long history of substance abuse. I think many people out there who have close relatives in a state of addiction have seen the signs early on. My mother has been abusing either drugs or alcohol for as far back as I can remember. Although she's not current on drugs, at least to my knowledge, the alcohol is just as bad, if not worse. She can get so belligerent to the point that its frightening. However, she always tries to cut herself off after a few weeks and sober up. This seems to be a case of kicking the can down the road.
I think she needs long term treatment. I just don't know how to get her to go. I've realized that its not so much as to what I want for her life but what she wants to do. She has to want to make a "REAL" change and attempt at recovery. I think a long term in patient treatment program would be great for her. In addition, I think she would definitely need the assistance of some sort of recovery home or transitional center to assist her in making adult decisions and taking responsibility for herself. Although she has always found some way to keep a home, that home may not have had working utilities or in some cases she was sort of squatting. A good recovery home could help her learn the value of paying bills like rent and getting a job instead of depending on government assistance, which she has done for as long as I can remember. I can't ever remember her having a job and she doesn't have any physical disabilities.
I thinking of staging an intervention with other family members but I don't want to push her away. I'll do some research and find out the best approach to push her in the right direction because when it all comes down to it, that's all we need sometimes: a little push and to know that there are people that care about us.