During this stage, a person’s addictive behavior is generally positive, maybe even pleasant, and hasn’t led to any negative consequences. Still, there is a strong belief in the medical community that pain drugs are a greater risk to people in recovery than not treating their pain. There are many ways addictive substances can change gene expression. They can alter myths about addiction and recovery which proteins bind to DNA to turn genes on and off and which segments of DNA are unwound. They can change the process of how DNA is read and translated into proteins, as well as alter the proteins that determine how cells use energy to function. Though addiction to drugs and alcohol is well-known and widespread, many other forms of addiction are less known.

• And they deserve empathetic and supportive treatment just like any other sick person.
• Developing an addiction does not mean someone is a bad person or a moral failure.
• While we’re firm believers in the power that comes with education and setting boundaries, we never want loved ones to feel shame or as if it’s their sole responsibility to get someone well.

These are the same circuits linked to survival, driving powerful urges no different from those driving the need to eat or drink water. Exactly how these drugs cause changes in gene regulation is unknown. However, a direct link between alcohol consumption and changes in gene expression in mice provides a clue. A byproduct of alcohol being broken down in the liver called acetate can cross the blood-brain barrier and unwind DNA from histones in mouse memory circuits. Similarly, cocaine can cause an alternative form of a gene to be expressed in the reward centers of mice, leading them to seek out more cocaine.

Addiction Treatment at Gaudenzia

If you are living with an addiction, it doesn’t mean you’re weak. Finding a  medical treatment plan or recovery support community can help you heal. Still, the media perpetuates the myth that there is a right way https://ecosoberhouse.com/ and a wrong way to recover, and that treatment that is luxurious or comfortable is inherently bad. It’s the first stage of addiction recovery, where a person usually does not consider the behavior as an issue.

• This includes discouraging individuals from seeking the SUD or addiction treatment they need due to stigma.
• Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) is a form of addiction treatment that combines medication, counseling, and behavioral therapy.
• Having a parent who struggles with addiction also makes you more likely to learn that addictive behavior is normal, further increasing your risk.
• If you are below a certain income threshold, you may be eligible for public healthcare through Medicaid for certain treatment centers.
• Unfortunately, bias against people who use drugs (PWUD) and individuals with an SUD can have incredibly harmful consequences.

Despite a large body of scientific research, myths and misconceptions about addiction remain prevalent in today’s society, contributing to stigma, barriers to treatment, and higher health burdens. Recovery looks different for everyone because each person is a unique individual. If you asked ten people in long-term recovery what was most helpful to them in their journey to get sober, you might get ten different answers. At Safe Harbor Recovery Center, we offer residential programs for people who could most benefit from being at treatment around the clock.

Common Myths About Substance Use Disorders

We offer a range of programs to meet your specific needs, including detox, residential treatment, and a family program. Our treatment team works together to provide a custom individualized treatment plan that will allow each person to have the greatest opportunity for long-term peace, freedom, and ultimately purposeful lives. We also offer optional full-service, Christian faith-based recovery programs.

• Many people who get sober do so with the help of 12-step programs like AA.
• The body and brain have become so used to them due to what is known as tolerance.
• Prescription medications can be more deadly than illicit drugs and it’s estimated that around five young people die daily from overdoses with these medications.
• Some people have worse withdrawal when detoxing after relapse and it’s normal to feel a bit discouraged.

And nothing refutes personal agency like the so-called medical model that addiction is a disease invading from outside the person, a point of view propounded for decades by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. And no one in a power or policy advocacy position in the U.S. seems to notice, or care about, the negative consequences of this approach. If you tried treatment before but were not able to maintain sobriety, that doesn’t mean that treatment doesn’t work. It simply means you are experiencing what is typical of someone along the journey of addiction recovery. As the National Institute on Drug Abuse explains, 40 to 60% of people in recovery from addiction experience setbacks or relapse.

The 5 Stages of Addiction Recovery

When someone reaches the point of addiction after chronic use, the substances that once gave them a “high” or desired effect now no longer have those same effects. The body and brain have become so used to them due to what is known as tolerance. At this point, the body will physically become sick if it doesn’t receive the substance.