Common Misconceptions About Addiction

Misconception #1:  It can’t be a disease.  That makes no sense. 

The Truth:  :   Diseases are scary.  So no one wants to think about them.  Some diseases you catch from exposure, like HIV.  Some diseases you inherit a tendency for, like high blood pressure or heart disease.  Some develop over time, such as asthma or diabetes.  And others develop over time for a lot of unknown reasons, like numerous cancers. 

Addiction is just like that.  It is a disease.  Some people are more susceptible to it because of genetics.  Some get it with no genetic history.  Some develop it because of lifestyle.  Others have that lifestyle and never get it.   For some, it develops over the course of years, and for others, it is a clear and present danger almost from the start of use.

Sounding more like a disease now?

Another way addiction is like a disease: When you stop taking your anti-addiction medications, there are consequences.  Think about it.  If you stop taking your diabetes medications, you can expect to go into a diabetic coma.  When you stop taking your asthma medication, you can expect to have your breathing severely compromised.  When you stop taking your heart medicine, you can expect to have a heart attack.  The list goes on and on.

And if you stop taking your anti-addiction medications before your brain has had a chance to heal, you can expect the cravings to come back.

No one stops taking their medications for other diseases just because they “feel better.”  That’s the whole point of the medication:  To feel better.  To get well.  Not cured.  Just well.  Day-to-day, functioning normally, well.

Addiction is a disease.  And with anti-addiction medications we can do more than just get you clean or sober and keep our fingers crossed you don’t relapse. We can actually get you and your brain well.  No more failed willpower.  No more uncontrollable cravings.  No more embarrassment or guilt or shame.  Just well.

Isn’t science great?! 

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Misconception #2:  If you want to bad enough, you can control it. 
Just say no.  And trust God for help.

The Truth:  For some people, managing theri addiction through faith and willpower works really well.  And if it is working for you or someone you know, by all means stay with that path. Your sobriety is truly a blessing.

But for millions, that path does not work… or does not work for long.  Does that mean you lack faith?  Or self discipline?  Absolutely not.  The decision to drink or use may have originally been a voluntary one, but the fact that you are now addicted is not.  Over time, your brain became injured.  And like a cancer that went undetected, it’s not your fault that you didn’t see it coming and couldn’t stop it once you finally woke up to the reality that something was terribly wrong. 

You have a disease lodged deep in the limbic system of your brain. Over time it has damaged your brain’s chemistry and neurological pathways, and you are going to need medical help and anti-addiction medications in order to restore teh chemical balance, heal your pathways and get back to a more “normal” place.

Normal is good. Science is good. You are good. It’s just your brain that needs help getting well.  If you are going to trust something, trust that.

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Misconception #3: Loved ones think "Other addicts can get clean/sober by going to meetings, why can't you? It’s not logical."

The Truth:  There are a lot of recovering addicts out there that manage their addiction successfully through traditional talk therapy-based programs.  Research shows about 30% of them, to be exact.  And we applaud and support them.

But we can’t help but notice that means 70% of the addicts are in a seemingly endless cycle of recovery-relapse-treatment-recovery-relapse-treatment.  70%. That’s a lot.  And most people would find that sort of failure rate unacceptable in other scenarios. So why do we so readily accept that number when it comes to addiction?

Many successful recovering addicts do not want to embrace the reality of addiction as a disease because it does not fit with their personal experience and their years (if not decades) of hard work, discipline, and faith.

But the science has taught us this:  Just as there are about 7 different levels of diabetes, and 12 different levels of high blood pressure, there are about 12 to 15 different types of alcoholism and 12 to 25 types of narcotic addiction.  And that is partially why one treatment method works well for some but does not work the same for everyone.

If you are one of the addicts for whom traditional treatment methods have worked, you and your loved ones are truly very blessed. But Enterhealth is here to offer an alternative treatment to the 70% of addicts and families that are still challenged by a clean or sober life.

We see a lot of addicts that are driven, responsible, accomplished, admired, respected.  They can do almost anything they set their minds to.  Anything but control this.  Does that seem “logical” to you?  

We see a lot of addicts that love their families, their spouses, their jobs, their lives, their church.  But none of that seems to matter when in the presence of their substance of choice.  Does that seem “logical” to you?

And we see a lot of addicts that are despondent, guilt-ridden, and/or just want to die because they can’t control the cravings.  Does that seem “logical” to you?

This is the 70% we are here to help.  This is the 70% we are here to offer hope to… a hope based in science and medical breakthroughs.  A hope based in the fact that it’s not their fault.  A hope based in the fact that they are their “true self” when they are clean or sober. 

We think a lot of the people in this 70% have been misdiagnosed as weak or faithless or selfish.  And they are not.  Far from it.  They are just sick. They have a disease.

That not only is more logical, its also true.

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Misconception #4: You are just trading one addiction for another if you use anti-addiction medicines to control your urges. 

The Truth:  The anti-addiction medicines used in addiction therapy have been proven safe and NON-addictive.  They have been fully vetted by the American Medical Association and the F.D.A.  The way these anti-addiction medications interact with your brain makes it physically impossible to become addicted to them because they are not (and cannot) triggering the addiction centers in the brain. 

What they do is “stand in the gap” between your neurons and your transmitters so that the “signals” your brain normally receives in the addiction center are effectively disconnected.  These anti-addiction medications also turn-off or negate both the compulsive cravings AND the euphoria or “high” associated with pleasure if you do happen to use/drink.

It’s somewhat like this: Your neurons and transmitters have been redlining in overdrive for a VERY long time.  By giving them this “break” from what has become normal, the brain starts to cool down and rebalance its biochemistry.  After this cooling off period, your neurons and transmitters start to function in the way they were originally intended (pre-addiction).  The more they can function that way, the stronger they get and the less likely they are to go back to functioning in overdrive.  And with the brain cooled, quieted and chemically rebalanced, you will find it MUCH easier to focus and/or apply the behavioral therapies and changes you get from other programs.

But it takes awhile.  It takes about 45 to 90 days for the brain to cool down.  And it takes about a year, sometimes two, to get the brain back to normal.  So be patient.  You didn’t get here overnight, and you won’t get well overnight. But you will get progressively better (and ultimately, well) if you stay with the treatment program. 

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Enterhealth creates science-based, medically driven, state-of-the-art alcohol and drug addiction treatment plans uniquely suited to where you are in your recovery journey. 

Contact Enterhealth today at 800.388.4601 to schedule an admission or for more information, email us using the contact form on the left-hand side of this page.