What About Addiction Treatment

One main function of Treatment is providingneeded to advance the approval and backing of
"Tools", or skills to help resist the "craving" for thethe whole treatment concept. In other chronic
drug-of-choice. In the end, though, helping thedisorders (diabetes, high blood pressure, etc) we
addict return to normal functioning in society candon't give up on people because they have a
be the most important and difficult part of therelapse, we give them more or even increased
recovery process. Being an addict ruins a person'streatment. Thinking that most people should
life, and it takes a lot of patience to regain theachieve total abstinence in one treatment episode
ability to work as a responsible employee, functionis not realistic. Once we realize and accept that
as a family member, and just generally be aaddiction is a relapsing disorder we can reduce the
productive member of society! If, as is oftendrug use and lengthen the time between relapses.
true, an addict took drugs because of life failures,Then, by getting people to quickly return to some
we can't put them back into that failure situationform of treatment, we can ultimately achieve the
unprepared, and expect them not to use drugsgoal of total abstinence. When viewed and applied
again!in this manner treatment can be, and is, very
There is a widespread mistrust among the publiceffective. It's just simply, often, a long, difficult
and many politicians regarding the effectivenessprocess, but the goal is achievable. This is a
ofa society is defined by how it deals with difficultproven fact. Patience and understanding are
problems!difficult because the symptoms and effects of
Are we going to continue with the kind of thinkingaddiction are so harmful to people who have any
that spawned "Leper" colonies to isolate thedirect involvement with an addict! As with cancer,
victims of that disease? We need to bring thedepression, and other major disorders, it's very
same standards to treatment of addiction thatdifficult to achieve complete success on the first
we apply to other "chronic, but treatabletry. The bottom line is that there are a
disorders". It often takes months to bringtremendous number of people suffering from
diabetes or high blood pressure into a manageableaddiction, in our society. Do we just throw them
state. Cancer and many other diseases can takeaway?
years and unbelievable amounts of effort andHow are we going to approach this problem? It is
money to control, but we do it anyway. It'scomplex!
difficult to achieve complete abstinence, becauseAddiction has spread so widely and so rapidly that
the brain has been so changed by the drugs, butmany people hate addicts and are blinded by this.
the pressures that bring on many addictions areThis is because addiction has such far-reaching
still out there and addicts fear them.effects on the non-addicts whose society they
So many different things are responsible forshare. Treating addicts as criminals has failed to
different people resorting to drugs to cope; that itachieve any acceptable positive result, because it's
only follows that various diversified treatmentsthe wrong approach. Criminality is most often a
can be more or less effective for differentresult of addiction, not the cause. Until we see
individuals. Matching treatments to individuals isaddiction as a health problem, families will continue
imperative to be able to expect good results. Weto suffer, and our society will not heal. Most of
ought to bring the same standards to treatingthe prisons could and should be replaced by
drug abuse that we apply to any other disorder.treatment programs and outpatient counseling
There is no cookie cutter treatment for anyclinics.
chronic disorder. One may try severalIt only follows, that a complex problem might
medications, each over a nominal period of time,require complex solutions to succeed in solving
before bringing blood pressure under control. Itthat problem! Right? Science knows more about
can take weeks, or even months, but we don'taddiction than we would ever have thought
give up until we find the right one. How manypossible in the past. We know that addiction is a
times have we heard a doctor a doctor, in regardcomplex phenomenon, involving physiology (bodily
to antibiotics, say "take all of the pills, even if youhealth), psychology (the brain and nervous
get to feeling better before they're all gone"?system), and sociology (public and professional
That's what we have to do with the treatmentattitudes and beliefs) in many combinations.
for drug addiction. Treatment is like taking aTreatment professionals know this and have a
certain amount of pills. The behaviors that arewide range of approaches available and in use
changed in treatment change the braincurrently. John Q. Public, including policy makers
(remember, we can behaviorally modify the brainand politicians, need to know what science and
and pills can do the same thing, for example,treatment professionals know, at some level. You
taking anti-depressants). So we have to treatneed to understand this, especially if you have an
people long enough for the treatment to beaddict in your life. Addiction is a complex disease
effective, with long-lasting results.that won't be conquered by intuition or ideology.
Treatment.Once we understand this; science will then be able
This is largely based on lack of understanding,to achieve results like they have with
because relapse rates are so high. Acceptance ofschizophrenia, depression, diabetes, heart disease
a more realistic set of expectations is what'sand others.