What is an “addictive personality”?
That’s a very controversial topic in the field. Research has not shown to be that there is a specific addictive personality but the reality is there are some people that are looking for good feelings all the time. They kind of organize their life around good feelings. So, there’s part of that addictive personality, part [...]
Doctors don’t see addiction as a disease yet refer to AA
According to recent statements by our new drug czar, most doctors don’t really see addiction as a disease. It seems to me that for many years, people in the medical field didn’t want to treat addiction problems because of the lousy success rate. They found it easier to send them off to AA. I think [...]
What happens for addicts after inpatient care?
Outpatient, or after care, is probably one of the more controversial domains right now in the addiction field. It’s come to be recognized that the greatest failure of addiction treatment right now lies in after care. Historically, people check-out after thirty days, or maybe even sometimes forty-five days, and they say, “Good-bye,” then there’s very [...]
What are the advantages of outpatient care for addiction?
Outpatient services for behavioral addiction are preferable primarily because you’re living in the environment that you’re going to live in after all the treatment is completed. With outpatient care, you’re going to be faced with the stresses of life that you’re going to have to live with later. You’re going to have to deal with [...]
What is the cost of outpatient treatment for addiction?
Outpatient care ranges from free of charge, meaning self-help groups like SMART Recovery, Moderation Management, but there’s also some other ones like SOS, Women for Sobriety and Recovery Incorporated. These are all outpatient, free, self-help groups that are available via the internet. Not every single town has one, but please look at the internet, and [...]
What is the difference between a “slip” and relapsing in addiction recovery?
A slip, or a lapse or relapse, are just terms that we use as professionals to sort of convey the length of time and severity of the fall back into the old behaviors. A relapse is considered a full fall back into the old destructive behaviors. It may be short-term. It may be as short [...]
Why does relapse happen to addicts?
Relapse happens to behavioral addicts because it’s very normal to relapse. No matter what it is that you’ve done for a long period of time, it is still difficult if you are asking yourself or someone is asking you to not do that. Let’s say we asked you not to brush your teeth; I think [...]