10 Life-Saving Facts About Addiction

Think less about getting your loved one to admit to addiction and more about what it takes to build a better life. ~ Carrie Wilkens, Ph.D.

Are you concerned about your child because of their drug or alcohol use?

Would a deeper understanding of addiction be helpful for you?

The scientific understanding of addiction is relatively new. So much about drug and alcohol use is based on a person’s beliefs, not scientific research. So, it’s not surprising that myths about addiction are commonplace.

Family members are left wondering why someone suffering negative consequences because of their substance use is unwilling to change. Substance use is devastating for parents to watch and try to understand.

There are no two ways around it. Addiction causes pain, frustration, anger, and fear for family members. However, the more information about addiction you have, the less stuck and helpless you will feel.

Understanding the truth about addiction will help you be more equipped to support your child in a healthy way. You will also feel less stressed and anxious. It is critical to learn about addiction if you are concerned about a loved one.

What is addiction?

Webster’s Dictionary defines addiction as a “compulsive need for and use of a habit-forming substance characterized by tolerance and well-defined physiological symptoms upon withdrawal.”

This definition does not encompass other addictions or compulsive behavior such as gambling, food, or sex addiction. However, it gives a baseline for considering addiction regarding drug or alcohol use.

No one is immune to addiction. No matter how smart or athletic your teen or young adult is, they are at risk if they start using substances. Drug use or alcohol misuse is a serious cry for help. Shaming or embarrassing your child only adds to the problem.

Substance use often begins in the teen years through partying with friends, accompanied by peer pressure to fit in. It can also start with a prescription given by a doctor for pain from an injury. The person finds the medication more and more appealing until they find that they can’t live without it. Prescription medication abuse can lead to heroin use because it is much cheaper to buy when using drugs daily.

We live in a culture that promotes prescription drug and alcohol use. Yet, society looks down on people when they have addiction problems. Too often, people with substance use issues are thought of as lazy, weak-willed, or someone whose morals are flawed.

How can change happen?

Rather than encourage change, labeling a person an “addict” tends to bring shame and negative connotations. People associate the word “addict” with being a liar, irresponsible, dangerous, and in denial about their substance use problem.

Likewise, there has been a common and traditional belief that only one answer to addiction exists. The answer is total abstinence. Especially for young people, the idea of one solution is a deterrent to their willingness to get help for their drug use.

We now know that one size for addiction does not fit all. There are many ways to find recovery or manage your life in a better way. Positive change does not need to look the same for every person.

Some risk factors for addiction are early use, genetics, mental health issues, environment, and early childhood trauma. However, why a person feels it makes sense to use drugs or alcohol can be complicated and diverse.

Understanding, compassion, kindness, and research-based approaches can give you the best chance of motivating your child or loved one to want to change.

Here are ten myths and facts about addiction:

MYTH 1: People with addiction must reach rock bottom before accepting help.

FACT: That is absolutely wrong. There is no evidence that that’s true. Quite the contrary, “the earlier in the addiction process that you can intervene and get someone help, the more they have to live for. The more they have to get better for.” – Dr. Kathleen Brady, a Medical University of South Carolina professor. 

MYTH 2: Addiction is a willpower problem. People can stop if they want to.

FACT: Virtually no one wants alcohol/drug treatment. A person starts as an occasional drug user, a voluntary decision. But as time passes, something happens, and that person goes from being a voluntary drug user to a compulsive drug user. Over time, continued use of addictive drugs changes your brain — sometimes in dramatic, toxic ways, at other times in more subtle ways, but virtually always in ways that result in compulsive and even uncontrollable use.

MYTH 3: People struggling with substance use are bad, crazy, or stupid. These people have character flaws.

FACT: Addiction is a brain disease. Evolving research shows that people with addiction issues are not bad people who need to get good, crazy people who need to get sane, or stupid people who need education. People with an addiction problem have a brain disease that goes beyond their use of drugs.

MYTH 4: People should be punished, not treated, for using drugs.

FACT: Science demonstrates that people with an addiction problem have a brain disease that causes them to have impaired control over their use. They need treatment for their changed brain chemistry to learn to cope with triggers and re-socialize without chemicals. Some people get into cycles of criminal behavior precisely because they must sustain their drug or alcohol use. Their bodies and brains tell them they will not survive without the substance.

MYTH 5: People don’t need treatment. They can stop using it if they want to.

FACT: It is challenging for people addicted to drugs to achieve and maintain long-term abstinence. Research shows that long-term alcohol and other drug use changes a person’s brain function, causing them to crave the drug even more, making quitting increasingly difficult.

MYTH 6: Treatment doesn’t work.

FACT: Treatment can help people. Studies show drug treatment reduces drug use by 40 to 60 percent and can significantly decrease criminal activity during and after treatment. Treatment reduces the risk of HIV infection and improves the prospects for employment, with gains of up to 40 percent after treatment.

MYTH 7: People have to want treatment for it to be effective.

FACT: People who are forced into treatment do recover. People may be required to enter a treatment program in several ways. Employers may threaten to fire someone unless treated; a spouse may threaten to leave the relationship, or the court may offer treatment instead of prison. Research has shown that the outcomes for those legally mandated to enter treatment can be as good as those who voluntarily entered treatment.

Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the federal government’s National Institute on Drug Abuse, acknowledged that “even as an internationally respected researcher, she once believed that to be true. Volkow says, but she knows now that people who are forced into treatment do recover.”

MYTH 8: People who continue to abuse alcohol/drugs after treatment are hopeless.

FACT: Addiction is a chronic disorder; occasional relapse does not mean failure. Stress from work or family problems, social cues (i.e., meeting individuals from one’s drug-using past), or their environment (i.e., encountering streets, objects, or even smells associated with alcohol or other drug use) can easily trigger a relapse. People in early recovery are most vulnerable to drug use during the few months immediately following their release from treatment.

MYTH 9: Addiction is treated behaviorally, so it must be a behavioral problem.

FACT: Addiction is a brain disease that can be treated by changing brain function through several types of treatment. New brain scan studies show that behavioral therapies, counseling, and medications work similarly in changing brain function. New medications have been developed to help patients curb their craving for addicting drugs and alcohol. These medications reduce the chances of relapse and enhance the effectiveness of existing therapies.

MYTH 10: People can stop using/drinking simply by attending twelve-step meetings or other clean and sober support, so they can’t have a brain disease.

FACT: Working a twelve-step program is a lifelong commitment for most people. Twelve-step meetings don’t work for everyone, even for many who genuinely want to stop drinking/using. Some people require more structure in their work and living environments. Research shows that a support system of people with a shared experience is one of the active ingredients of recovery.

*Adapted from the following: Myths of Addiction. Carlton K. Erickson, Ph.D., University of Texas Addiction Science, SAMHSA, NIDA and Join Together, Partnership for Drug-Free Kids 2006 -SOURCES (unless otherwise noted): Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment: A Research-Based Guide. (October 1999). National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institute of Health; Alan I. Leshner, Ph.D., former Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (2001)

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Thank you for all you do to help your child during this challenging time.

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