In the beginning, change is very difficult to any drug- or alcohol-addicted person. This is due to the possibility of changing your surroundings, friends, and sometimes family upon who you socialize. You may need to find new friends, leave your family home, or even stop frequenting your normal hangouts to continue the healing process and start making the change to the path to recovery. At this step, you start thinking about the good ole times when you hung out and partied with friends before you really got serious about becoming clean and sober. The one thing you forget is that they don’t want you to be clean and sober. Rather, they still want you down there with them, living the life of an addict.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse National Survey on Drug Use and Health, chronic alcohol use affects the lives of 50 percent of the population in the U.S. In noting some of the alcohol recovery statistics out there, there are nearly 22.5 million people in the U.S. who are in need of treatment or alternatives to alcohol treatment and sadly only 3.8 million people will actually get the help they need.
The NIDA also reports that approximately 41 percent of admissions to recovery treatment programs are for alcohol use. Of the people admitted to alcohol programs, 60 percent were white, 21 percent were African-American, and 13.7 percent were of Hispanic origin..
AA and NA
For a successful recovery from drugs and alcohol, you need to now find a support group that will help you through the process, preferably a group that has succeeded and can help you see the signs of relapse. Support is important because recovering addicts have been there and can pull you back out before you drink or do drugs again. There are many online resources and groups that can help you with your recovery.
Two of the most successful is Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA). These are support groups that usually meet 2-3 days a week and are formed of recovering drug and/or alcohol addicts that have been clean and sober for many years and are experts in reading the signs of relapse. They will even assign you a sponsor who you can talk with any time day or night along your road to recovery in between meetings if you start to fall prey to the addiction again.
The results of AA’s most recent study in 2007 were promising. According to AA, 33 percent of the 8,000 North American members it surveyed had remained sober for over 10 years. Twelve percent were sober for 5 to 10 years; 24 percent were sober 1 to 5 years; and 31 percent were sober for less than a year.
Relapses on the Road to Recovery
If you start using the substance again, it will be harder for you to quit. You may try to just tell yourself only one drink, that’s all, or “I will have or just one pill today, but I can stop.” This is the time when you need a meeting or to contact your sponsor and be truthful and honest of your urges and wants. This is a normal sign every drug and alcohol addict goes through. The ones that reach for help have a higher rate of success in getting through this step towards recovery. During this period of time, communication is a key factor to express your urges and desires instead of reaching for a drink or a pill to make yourself feel better.
For any drug or alcohol addict, the change step will always be crucial and difficult in many ways. Regardless, completing this step is a huge accomplishment both mentally and physically. Making the right changes and correct choices will help guide you towards your goal of recovery. You just need to be strong when your old pals call and try to get you to come over. When those negative thoughts that drove you to drink and use medication creep back in to your mind, just say ”No!” Instead, surround yourself with the people that support you and can help you from falling back into addiction.
Pacific Bay Recovery is the top drug and alcohol addiction treatment center in San Diego CA. With over a 90% success rate long term, the providers at Pacific Bay enjoy working with drug, alcohol and dual diagnosis patients! Call us today for the top private inpatient rehab center in all of California.
Resources:
The Fix Does AA Really Work? A Round-Up of Recent Studies Retrieved https://www.thefix.com/content/the-real-statistics-of-aa7301
Saintjude Retreats Addiction Recovery Statistics Retrieved https://www.soberforever.net/addictions-recovery/addiction-recovery-statistics.cfm
