UNDERSTANDING ADDICTION
Image by MK Studio R epeated and destructive episodes of drunkenness are conceptualized as a chronic, relapsing disease. Addiction is a chronic primary progressive disease and a person addicted to alcohol/drugs should be regarded as a sick person, just as one who is suffering from tuberculosis, cancer, heart disease, or other serious chronic disorders. In today’s world, there is a growing recognition that managing severe and persistent alcohol and other drugs problems through single or serial episodes of acute treatment is clinically ineffective and constitutes poor stewardship of individual, family, and community resources. Research conducted at the University of California's Drug Abuse Research Center underscores several key points: A single, acute intervention rarely has sufficient effect to initiate a stable and enduring recovery in those with severe and persistent alcohol and other drug problems. Multiple episodes of treatment ...