Can Addiction Be Cured
Scientists haven’t yet found a cure for cancer. Scientists also haven’t yet found a cure for addiction, or substance use disorder. The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous suspected this would be the case back in 1935 when the book was published. What would a cure for alcoholism look like, exactly? Would it mean that someone who has developed alcoholism would never again experience the “phenomena of craving” or the “obsession” of alcohol which comes with alcoholism?
Or might a cure for alcoholism mean that an alcoholic might never have to get carried away with his or her drinking again, left to a life of imbibing, free from sickness ever again? The Big Book postulated that an alcoholic can never be made into a non-alcoholic, but that he or she can learn to live in a way which frees them from the need to drink- because an alcoholic cannot manage and control their drinking.
“Physicians who are familiar with alcoholism agree there is no such thing as making a normal drinker out of an alcoholic. Science may one day accomplish this, but it hasn’t done so yet.”
At the time, there were no treatments that helped relieve the “insanity” of alcoholism. The twelve steps were a revolutionary step forward in providing alcoholics with a structured way to live their lives and recover.
Treatment Practices Today
Today, there are many practices which do the same. Therapy of various forms, holistic healing methods, spiritual practices, structure, accountability, and more help the addict or alcoholic live in a way that doesn’t inspire them to take a drink or a drug. These aren’t cures for addiction or for alcoholism.
They don’t make addiction or alcoholism disappear in the brain. What these various practices and treatment methods do is reprogram the brain to change the impact left behind by drug and alcohol addiction. Science hasn’t yet determined if these practices change the brain so substantially as to completely eliminate addiction- whatever that would mean.
Science has found that these practices heal the brain, as well as the body, and change the way the brain responds to triggers and cues for drugs and alcohol.
Lakehouse Recovery Center is proud of the treatment program we have created for men and women to recover from drug and alcohol addiction. Our small client to staff ratio promises intimate and attentive treatment, including the best of clinical, holistic, and integrative practices. For information, call us today at 877.762.3707.