Addiction Recovery: Chase it like you Chase your drugs

Many years ago when my family member was struggling with addiction I attended a Naranon meeting. During the evening I heard something that was so poignant that I have never forgotten it. What I heard that night was from an addiction therapist that was a guest speaker and this is what he said” people attempting addiction recovery should chase their recovery with the same intensity that they chase their drugs”. This statement almost knocked me off my chair. Think about the intensity, creativity, manipulation, persistence and patience that individuals exhibit when chasing drug dealers and drugs.

How many addiction treatment programs do individuals need to attend before they get it? “It” being long term addiction recovery; one program, five or ten? It is certainly not unusual to speak with some people that have attended ten or more programs and are still not in recovery from alcohol and substance abuse. Why is recovery so hard for these people? What is it that is missing so they don’t get it? What do they need to do to accomplish recovery? How many people go into an alcohol and chemical dependency treatment program and within thirty to ninety days of discharge have relapsed? The truth is relapse from most alcohol and chemical dependency treatment programs can be as high as 75-95%. Do people intentionally sabotage their addiction recovery so that they can continue to struggle with the disease of addiction? Is this life so wonderful that this now becomes ones life goal?

Obviously the disease of addiction and associative recovery is very complex and multi-dimensional. So recovery does require appropriate individualized treatment based on an individual’s needs. And as different as the reasons for one’s addiction and differences of therapeutic needs, one aspect that at least to me would be necessary and consistent to achieve and sustain addiction and alcohol recovery is to utilize the same intensity, creativity, manipulation, persistence, and patience that one would use to chase their drug dealers and drugs. Can one imagine that if people in recovery would utilize these same behaviors in a positive way how successful they could become in their recovery process.