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Can Addiction Be Cured? How to Fully Recover

Addiction is a chronic and progressive disease. The longer it goes untreated, the worse it will get. But what happens after you complete treatment?

If you are wondering whether an addiction treatment center will cure your substance use disorder, the short answer is no. Unfortunately, because addiction is chronic, you have to continue maintaining your recovery to avoid a relapse.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), “Like treatment for other chronic diseases such as heart disease or asthma, addiction treatment is not a cure, but a way of managing the condition.”[1]

Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to ensure you avoid relapsing on drugs and alcohol. You learn many of the necessary skills to maintain sobriety during a drug rehab program. You must continue participating in the essential treatments and engaging in a supportive community once you live independently.

In this article, you will learn:

If there is a cure for alcohol and drug addiction
Why you must maintain your sobriety long-term
How to manage your sobriety and avoid a relapse

Is There a Cure for Drug Addiction?

Addiction is defined as a chronic, progressive, and relapsing disease. When you attend treatment for a substance use disorder, you are learning how to manage your condition long-term.

Substance use disorders can be compared to other chronic conditions like hypertension, diabetes, and asthma. All of these conditions are treatable, but they do not go away. You have to continue taking medications and engaging in lifestyle changes to stay healthy.

Even further, both hypertension and asthma have a relapse rate of 50 to 70%. Addiction has a similar relapse rate, at 40 to 60%.[1] This proves that relapses are common among addicts, making it vital that you learn how to prevent relapse and use your tools to stay sober.

What are the Risk Factors for Addiction Relapse?

The first step in the long-term management of substance use disorders is learning about what causes relapses. Because addiction is not curable, you need to know how to maintain your sobriety. When you are aware of the risk factors of relapse, it makes it easier to avoid them or prepare for triggers.

The most common risk factors for drug and alcohol relapse include:[2]

Having low self-esteem concerning your ability to stay sober
Believing that abusing drugs and alcohol provides you with benefits
Lack of motivation or being ambivalent about making healthy lifestyle changes
Not having healthy coping mechanisms to rely on in the face of triggers
Dealing with current stressful situations or memories of traumatic experiences
Experiencing negative emotions without getting the support or treatment you need
Inadequate social and emotional support from family members or therapists
Experiencing cravings for drugs and alcohol and not knowing how to counteract them

Thankfully, drug addiction treatment programs like the Mandala Healing Center help you address these risk factors by arming you with the coping skills and support you need to be successful.

If Addiction Isn’t Curable, What Can You Do?

While there is not a cure for addiction, it is treatable and manageable. It can seem like a daunting task to stay sober for the rest of your life, but some tips and tricks make it easier to cope with.

To manage your substance use disorder, you should:

Attend a Rehab Program

The first step in overcoming addiction is attending a professional rehab center. First, you will undergo medical detox to address withdrawal symptoms and receive medical treatment to overcome the physical effects of addiction.

The rest of your time in addiction treatment will be focused on overcoming the underlying causes of your substance abuse and developing important relapse-prevention techniques. You might engage in individual therapy, family therapy, group counseling, and more.

Address Underlying Causes

While you might be able to overcome the underlying causes of your addiction during treatment, sometimes it takes more time and patience. To explain, examples of underlying causes include past trauma and co-occurring mental health conditions like anxiety, depression, or bipolar disorder. It is common for people to begin abusing substances to cope with trauma or the symptoms of a mental illness.

If you are still suffering from past trauma or a mental health disorder, you should continue therapy after you complete rehab. This will decrease your risk of developing worse symptoms of addiction.

Make a Relapse Prevention Plan

Before you complete rehab, you probably worked with your counselor to create a relapse prevention plan. These plans often include a list of triggers to look out for, healthy coping mechanisms to use, plans in case you do experience a relapse and tools to use to stay connected to your recovery outside of treatment.

While your original relapse prevention plan might be sufficient to stay sober long-term, you will likely experience new triggers and stressors. As you go through your independent life as a sober person, you should be updating your relapse prevention plan to reflect your new experiences.

Participate in Support Groups

Another great way to maintain addiction recovery is by attending support groups. Because addiction is not curable, you will need to continue learning new ways to stay sober. Addiction support groups like 12-step meetings will provide you with a space to stay connected to a recovery community.

If you choose a 12-step program in particular, you will go through a process that helps you recover from addiction even further. As you work through the 12 steps, you will learn about the negative effects of your addiction, make amends to people you have harmed, and begin to rely on a higher power to offer you support.

Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle

Another part of maintaining your sobriety is adopting a healthy lifestyle. When you are eating well, exercising regularly, and sleeping on a normal schedule, you are naturally reducing stress and increasing feel-good chemicals in your brain. As a result, you will be experiencing less of those negative emotions that could lead to a relapse.

Find Help for Drug Addiction and Alcoholism

If you or a loved one suffers from a substance use disorder, it’s time to seek professional help. At the Mandala Healing Center, we offer a comprehensive treatment program that includes all of the tools and support you will need to maintain long-term recovery. While we cannot cure your addiction, we can make it possible for you to manage it.

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