Principles and Disciplines of Recovery

Addiction is a chronic and devastating disease that continues to plague civilization, and viable solutions are scarce. With information and education so readily available, it is unlikely
that anyone still thinks that abuse of alcohol and/or drugs is anything but destructive. Substance abuse education alone has not proven to be a solution. It would be wonderful if
knowledge of the disease in addition to the serious consequences of ongoing substance abuse were enough to motivate the alcoholic/addict to establish and maintain sobriety but
that is not the case. It is illogical for a person to continue to use alcohol who has a diagnosis of cirrhosis of the liver or for a person to continue to inject drugs sharing a dirty needle
with someone infected with HIV. It makes no sense for someone to continue with the addiction when the myriads of adverse consequences gets worse and worse, cannot hold a job,
whose children are hungry, who stays in trouble with the law, and who cannot pay the rent. Yet that continues to happen, underscoring the powerful pull of the addiction and
emphasizing the reality that, for most alcoholic/addicts, fear, like adverse consequences, are short term or ineffective motivators. The devastation of the disease of addiction is real
and the purported permanent changes to brain chemistry are frightening and can make sobriety seem unachievable and certainly unsustainable to the alcoholic/addict, family,
friends, and community. Untreated addiction is indeed a living nightmare for the alcoholic/addict that creates a domino effect on children, parents, communities, and nations.