Knowledge about addiction is power

Knowledge isn’t the entire answer, but knowledge is indispensable in recovery from addiction. Knowledge about addiction is power. Ignorance, even self-imposed ignorance as in denial, can kill an alcoholic or drug addict. In treatment we use education as a large part of the treatment experience. Knowing about the problem is the beginning of doing something about it. Once someone knows the truth, it’s difficult to un-know it, although many people try. Here are some of the education topics we cover in intensive outpatient addiction treatment.

Relapse Prevention

Guilt and Shame

Coping with Stress

Support/Intro to 12 Step Programs

Health and Wellness (Sleep, Nutrition, Exercise)

Families in Recovery

Brain Chemistry of Addiction

Spirituality in Recovery

Self Esteem

The Relationship of Anxiety and Depression to Addiction

Recovery Management — Long Term Recovery

Relaxation/Meditation

The more a person knows about their addiction and what to do in recovery the better. Many times when a person goes to an individual therapist to deal with problems caused by heavy drinking the addiction might be overlooked because mental health issues mask the underlying addiction. This isn’t always the case — there are definitely mental health issues that have to be addressed, and the mental health issues can be primary. However, if someone addicted to alcohol or some other drug deals only with symptoms of addiction and never receives the knowledge necessary to fully understand addiction and recovery, they might mistake the good feeling from therapy as a cure for their problems.

If, however, the alcoholic or drug addict does not stop drinking and doesn’t develop a relapse prevention plan, the addiction will continue to get worse and the old symptoms will return over and over. There’s much to learn about addiction because it effects all areas of a person’s life — there’s the family recovery, the physical recovery, mental recovery, the occupational recovery (usually) — there can be financial problems, legal problems, nutritional problems, etc. It takes a long time to recover from years of addiction. One of the first big steps is gaining knowledge and understanding of addiction. Knowledge about addiction is power.