What is Addiction?
Contrary to popular belief, addiction to alcohol or other drugs is not some incurable brain disease. It cannot be explained as some genetic disorder that is handed down at birth. There are many different factors, including social and biological that can have an impact. Anyone can become addicted, and anyone can be cured from addiction Each individual is different and my require different types of treatments to achieve the best results.
We specialize in working with non-traditional programs that don't view addiction as a chronic, relapsing brain disease, which is the lie that is continually forced upon our society. As a result of our efforts and overwhelming positive responses to the information we find and share, we have started what is known as The New Face of Recovery .
This is a movment toward ending addiction forever with successful rehabilitation practices and becoming permanently recovered - not continually going in and out of treatment and staying "in recovery." By survey we have found that most people do believe this should be the case
How Addiction Starts
All addictions to alcohol and other drugs start out in a similar fashion. A person has some type of unwanted condition in life that they feel they need some type of relief from. This could be a physical problem, mental, emotional, social or spiritual, etc. Drugs are then taken as a way of temporarily dealing with problems in life, as they appear to cover up the pain or discomfort at first. As more problems arise, more drugs are used, and soon the individual becomes dependent.
As the drugs are used more and more, a tolerance usually starts to build. This means that they now need more of the same drug to achieve the desired effect. When someone becomes dependent on the drug they start to have withdrawal symptoms and so now they're taking more of it to escape those feelings as well. When full-blown addiction sets in, the individual's focus in life revolves around the drugs and everything else is put on the back burner. This is where people begin to lie, cheat and steal and do whatever they have to in order to get more drugs, neglecting themselves and their responsibilities to others.
This is where the vicious circle develops to the point where nothing can be confronted in life without the drugs, and the very thing they think they need to feel better now becomes the reason for their destruction.
A true solution for addiction isn't one that only treats the symptoms - it is something that works with the individual to handle those symptoms as well as the underlying cause of what led them to take drugs in the first place. By finding more effective alternative solutions to life's difficulties, the former addict will then no longer desire to take drugs and thus be happier, more productive and more responsible for themselves and others.