5 Ways to Break the Addictive Cycle: Drug Addiction Recovery

You will need to accept help from medical staff, possibly be admitted to a detox facility, and commit to continued support to reach and maintain your goal of sobriety. There are people who can help you with the struggle you’re facing. Alcohol abuse, illicit drugs or sex with multiple partners may seem harmless and fun. Still, the initial euphoria or pleasure can turn into a craving that threatens safety and well-being. Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles.

Most programs provide information about alcohol and alcoholism to help correct false expectancies. Primary prevention focuses on children who have not exhibited specific problems but who may be at risk because of genetic or environmental factors or both. Secondary prevention (i.e., intervention) is targeted toward children who already exhibit behaviors predictive of later AOD use. Finally, the goal of tertiary prevention is to help children who are already involved with AOD’s and to prevent further deterioration of their behavior. No matter what route you decide to turn to for addiction recovery, you’ll how to break the addiction cycle need to maintain your recovery through long-term goals and aftercare. The most recommended programs with the best statistics for lasting recovery are 12-step programs that connect you to a supportive network and a sponsor that can help you through recovery. By then, the body has learned to use drugs or alcohol as a routine way to turn off unpleasant emotions. Cravings are like tidal waves that can grow stronger, overwhelming, and even all-consuming. Using drugs or alcohol becomes the most important thing in life. One’s attention is absorbed by the need for substances and how to procure them.

The Addiction Cycle

Outpatient detox gives you personalized care and the independence to keep living your life. Some health experts say that it takes over two months to break a bad habit. You certainly need to plan more time for breaking the cycle of addiction. Although everyone’s experience is different, honesty, humility, and perseverance are the key to success. This can be a thought or memory that is rooted in past pain or trauma. Either consciously or unconsciously, there is an urge to suppress or shut down these unpleasant emotions. Next, the emotional trigger or triggers may lead to stronger cravings for drugs or alcohol. According to research published by The European Journal of Social Psychology, forming or breaking a habit takes an average of 66 days. Take into account that this is just a finding concluded from research using participants who got results ranging from 18 to 254 days .

When individuals struggle with addiction, their families also suffer. Understanding the impact their behavior has had on loved ones offers opportunities for addicted individuals to make amends. During sessions, families can address conflict with the guidance of a professional therapist. Family therapy helps loved ones increase addiction understanding and how it affects personal Sober House relationships. They can also learn about actions that may contribute to the problem, such as enabling the substance user by pretending the problem doesn’t exist. Group therapy helps individuals see they’re not alone in their struggles. Groups led by therapists are safe spaces where members can feel comfortable sharing their experiences and learning from others.

Breaking The Cycle of Addiction

In the case of a stressful marriage, attending couple’s counseling may be an effective way to address problems that would otherwise lead back to addiction. As a professional addiction treatment center for young adults, we know the reality of the addiction cycle – in all its stages, in all its forms, in all its outcomes. To help you better understand the addiction cycle and identify where your loved one falls, we’ve broken down its phases below. If your loved one falls anywhere in this cycle, rest assured that there is still a great chance for a breakthrough – for a chance at sobriety. Physical withdrawal from alcohol and drugs often resolves over a period of several days. However, the process tends to be quite unpleasant, and it can be dangerous. If you decide to quit, it’s best to have support from a healthcare provider. There are also medications that can help with the experience of physical withdrawal.

Once a person establishes a tolerance to a drug, the withdrawal becomes a negative experience, resulting in relapses or destructive behaviors. The Cambridge and Somerville Program for Alcoholism Rehabilitation , located in Somerville, Massachusetts, offers a range of prevention and intervention services, including programs for COA’s. Sessions are conducted by adult staff in school and community settings and by trained peer leaders in after-school groups in junior high schools (Davis et al. 1994). Basic groups provide general information about alcohol-related problems and are open to any child who wishes to attend. COA-specific groups concentrate on alcoholism in the family and strategies for coping. The Students Together And Resourceful program is designed to provide students with accurate information on alcoholism and its effects on the family as well as increase social competence skills. The influence of the child’s developmental stage must be considered during program design. For example, elementary school-aged children do not always have realistic perceptions of relationships and causal links and may believe that they are the cause of their parents’ drinking problem. During the middle school years, COA’s, as well as other children, often make decisions about using AOD’s themselves. In addition, the emergence of emotional or mental health problems is not unusual for many adolescents, including COA’s .

Symptoms of an Addiction Cycle

For example, some people are constantly overworking and using other tactics to run from sadness because they find it threatening to admit. Again, honesty goes a long way toward ensuring your success with this step as well. This time of introspection will help you avoid wasting time and energy trying something that never worked on previous attempts to quit. Some people are more habit-resistant than others, and some habits are harder to make than others. Healthy habits are just like any other habit, they require investment, effort, and routine.

Competencies are skills that help children cope with stress, thereby reducing their risk for alcoholism and other psychosocial problems. Most programs teach specific emotion-focused and problem-focused coping skills (Nastasi and DeZolt 1994; Folkman 1984). For example, the child’s inability to control parental drinking may be offset by the knowledge that sources of help are available. Some people experiment because they are curious, while others are exposed to prescription opioids as means of prescribed pain relief.

It can become harder to hold a steady job, which can create problems in all facets of life. How and why does this deadly cycle of addiction begin in the first place? Life can get tough and can include financial, professional, emotional, relationship, or family issues. These burdens produce stress, anxiety, resentment, anger, and, most importantly, fear. Often, these circumstances and situations prompt feelings that people do not want to feel or handle. Using a substance to numb their emotions may feel like a simple solution for many individuals during these difficult times. As a result, the cycle of addiction often begins when someone wants to feel better and alleviate their suffering. The consequences of drug or alcohol addiction are very serious short-term and long-term. Long-term use of drugs or alcohol can lead to various physical and mental complications. Treatment can help prevent worst-case scenarios, such as severe brain damage or even death.

• Overcoming addiction is much harder when you aren’t familiar with what’s going on inside your body.
• Parental and family training are promising areas that have been shown to reduce child and adolescent risk factors (Dishion and Andrews 1995; Webster-Stratton et al. 1988).
• If you feel that any of our contact information to a specific treatment center is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please contact at
• Next, list the “benefits” of continuing to use drugs and alcohol.
• If you are struggling with addiction in California there is help available.
• Children who grow up in homes with addicted individuals may experience neglect and abuse by their parents or strangers.

Addicts rarely break the cycle of addiction without guidance from people who have their best interests at heart. Because it takes time for addiction to develop, it also takes time to break the cycle of addiction. The longer someone continues the ritual of addiction, the deeper entrenched it becomes, and the harder it can be to break the cycle. According to substance use experts, substance use disorders—also known as substance abuse or addiction—can be passed down by family members through genetic factors. Google for “rehab near me” or “addiction treatment near me.” Assemble a shortlist of suitable rehab centers. Until you admit you have a problem with alcohol, prescription medications, or illicit drugs, you cannot begin the process of recovery, and you’ll be caught in that vicious cycle of addiction. When you find that you can no longer cope without drugs or alcohol, you have developed a dependence on the substance you have been using. However, A substance use disorder is different than dependency. There are 2 types of dependency when it comes to drug use, psychological and physical dependence. Staying clean or sober is a significant struggle for individuals who undergo substance abuse treatment.

The 5 Stages of Addiction

Another standard definition of triggers is “people, places, and things” that prompt a craving for the activity or substance. At this final stage of addiction, an individual cannot go a day without drinking or using their substance of choice. People may lose jobs or relationships and could even face homelessness in some situations. The longer an individual lives with a substance use disorder, the more inescapable addiction can feel. When you’re trying to break the cycle of addiction, you don’t have to define who’s right, but it’s instrumental to tune into what’s right for you. Before you can break the cycle of addiction, you first have to confirm that the issue is addiction. Remember that there is no fixed timeline for how long it takes an addiction to develop.