Recovery from Addiction

Because recovery involves growth, families need to learn and practice new patterns of interaction. Many find in 12-step programs—Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotic Anonymous (NA) are among the best known—a caring, supportive community willing to pull each other through the temptations, the self-rebuke, and the hopelessness that especially mark the early stages of recovery. They also value having role models of recovery and someone to call on when the recovering self is an unsteady newborn. Whatever the stress relief that comes from being in a group, many others are not comfortable with the religiosity, the steady focus on the dangers of relapse rather than on growth, or the subscription to powerlessness of AA and NA. Data show that the programs are helpful for some but not for everyone. Cravings are the intense desire for alcohol or drugs given formidable force by neural circuitry honed over time into single-minded pursuit of the outsize neurochemical reward such substances deliver.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

• Research and clinical experience have identified a number of factors that promote recovery.
• Research shows that a combination of behavioral treatment and medications can lead to higher success rates for some substance use disorders.
• Another is reorienting the brain circuitry of desire—finding or rediscovering a passion or pursuit that gives meaning to life and furnishes personal goals that are capable of supplanting the desire for drugs.

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. An overdose happens when the person uses enough of a drug to produce uncomfortable feelings, life-threatening symptoms, or death. Using insurance for inpatient rehab can significantly reduce your cost for treatment.

• The plan will also include strategies for addressing any dual diagnosis, such as a mental health disorder or any other emotional trauma that is identified.
• Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is the oldest and largest such group, with about 2 million members attending meetings in community centers, church basements, and, often, addiction treatment centers.
• Studies show that families that participate in treatment programs increase the likelihood of a loved one staying in treatment and maintaining gains.
• Given today’s environment, many are not able to attend in-person programs or prefer to stay home, while still needing lifesaving addiction treatment services.
• Treatment and education can help adults learn techniques for handling urges and ways of accepting and managing negative emotions.
• Our programs include in-prison treatment, community corrections outpatient care, day reporting centers and assessment and intervention programs.

First, however, this review presents a conceptual model of continuing care and its principal goals with regard to the promotion of extended recovery. The Recovery Village aims to improve the quality of life for people struggling with a substance use or mental health disorder with fact-based content about the nature of behavioral health conditions, treatment options and their related outcomes. We publish material that is researched, cited, edited and reviewed by licensed medical professionals. The information we provide is not Drug Treatment and Recovery intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. It should not be used in place of the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare provider. The Recovery Village aims to improve the quality of life for people struggling with substance use or mental health disorder with fact-based content about the nature of behavioral health conditions, treatment options and their related outcomes.

Treatment That Works

The field is also starting to move toward more specific guidelines regarding the characteristics of high-quality continuing care. As discussed here, these guidelines likely will need to include information on adapting continuing care over time at the individual level to achieve optimal outcomes. For example, higher-risk patients likely will benefit from continuing care interventions with longer durations, and some patients may have preferences for particular approaches or modalities (e.g., mobile health vs. clinic-based care).

Studies were not excluded for other methodological reasons or for country of origin. Due to the recognition that substance use disorder can be a chronic, long-term disorder, there has been an increase in research on how to improve the effectiveness of continuing care. The purpose of this review is to provide an update on the latest research on SUD continuing care, including newer approaches such as incentives, primary care–based clinical management, measurement-based care, adaptive treatment models, and mobile health components. The review begins with a brief summary of prior reviews (published through 2014) of SUD continuing care research.

Substance Use Treatment

Sober living facilities are often a next step for those who have completed a residential rehab or detox program. Some sober living houses are formally affiliated with rehab programs while others exist totally independently. Because much is at stake in addiction treatment, a large industry has arisen to meet the needs of often-desperate substance users and their families; it is extremely important to select care options that meet scientific standards and are supported by evidence. At Gateway, Addiction Medicine is a holistic approach that uses evidence-based practices. Those practices include therapy and medication, in combination with compassionate patient engagement. At Gateway we treat each person’s unique physical, social and emotional needs.

In addition, self-care is a vital foundation for a healthy new identity. At the very least, self-care should include sleep hygiene, good nutrition, and physical activity. Sleep is essential for shoring up impulse control and fostering good decision-making.

Cravings diminish and disappear in time unless attention is focused on them. Negotiating with oneself for a delay of use, which doesn’t deny the possibility of future use, and then getting busy with something else, capitalizes on the knowledge that cravings dissipate in about 15 minutes. Whatever your goals, it’s the struggle to get there that’s most rewarding.

Insurance Providers

Millions of people do, whether they were once compulsive users of opiates, alcohol, or gambling. Successfully overcoming the compulsion to use drugs usually requires building strengths—learning to understand the feelings that trigger the desire, finding more adaptive, more rewarding ways to manage or resolve them when they arise, and developing interests that provide meaning in life. The endpoint is voluntary control over use and reintegration into the roles and responsibilities of society. Shortly after substance use is stopped, people may experience withdrawal, the onset of unpleasant physical and psychological symptoms —from irritability to shakiness to nausea; delirium and seizures in severe cases.

• Meaning and purpose—finding and developing a new sense of purpose, which can come from many sources. It may include rediscovering a work or social role, finding new recreational interests, or developing a new sense of spiritual connection. The important feature is that the interest avert boredom and provide rewards that outweigh the desire to return to substance use. • Identity—shifting towards a new, positive view of oneself, one more aligned with one’s deeper values and goals, one built on self-confidence gained by acquiring new skills and new behaviors.

Family therapy helps repair damaged relationships and educates loved ones about addiction so they can be supportive of the recovery process. Most commonly used for people seeking to overcome addiction to alcohol or opioids, medication assisted treatment (MAT) helps relieve the cravings and symptoms of withdrawal experienced when quitting the substance. Studies show that MAT reduces the risk of relapse and prevents the risk of overdose.

Benefits of Inpatient Treatment

Studies show that motivational interviewing helps those struggling with addiction to resolve any ambivalence about giving up drug use and inspires them to commit to behavioral change. It is often effective where lectures and confrontational techniques are not because it respects a person’s own desires. • Because recovery is a developmental process, therapy also aims to instill in people an understanding of why they turned to substance use, so they can meet that need in healthier ways. Outpatient treatment enables patients to practice recovery skills immediately in a real-life setting. Depending on the level of treatment selected, it can allow patients to maintain work or school commitments.

A built-in schedule of presentations, group meetings, and therapy sessions not only keeps people busy but serves as a direct antidote to the chaos that marks most lives in addiction. Gateway offers a full continuum of care across a wide range of clinical settings, so no matter where a patient is in life or recovery, we have a program that can be personalized for them. While treatment methods may differ depending on the severity of an individual’s addiction, costs, and even contributing factors, taking the step to seek help is important and shouldn’t be discounted.

Experts believe that tackling the emotional residue of addiction—the guilt and shame—is fundamental to building a healthy life. It’s not possible to undo the damage that was done, but it is possible to build new sources of self-respect by acknowledging past harms, repairing relationships, and maintaining the commitment to recovery. Not only is addiction relapse common, relapse is not considered a sign of failure. In fact, people in recovery might be better off if the term “relapse” were abandoned altogether and “recurrence” substituted, because it is more consistent with the process and less stigmatizing.