Make No Mistake: Addiction Is a Disease

Some people think of drug or alcohol addiction is a weakness. These people also believe that ending addiction is just a personal choice. In reality, addiction is a complex disease. While willpower and good intentions won’t heal addiction by themselves, the right addiction treatment programs in Southern California can lead to lasting recovery.

What Is Drug Addiction?

Drug-seeking and compulsive drug taking are the two biggest signs of drug addiction. Even when suffering harmful consequences of using drugs or alcohol, individuals with an addiction will keep using.

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At first, substance abuse starts with curiosity or poor decision-making. Addiction actually changes how the brain works, which makes it such a crippling disease.

Another sign of addiction is a relapse. Keep in mind, however, that relapse doesn’t equal defeat. It’s merely a sign that you need more treatment or to learn relapse prevention techniques to fight your addiction. Your needs change throughout your lifetime, so how you successfully approach your disease changes, too.

Addiction Is a Disease that Changes Your Brain

Most abused substances have something in common: they affect your brain’s reward system. This intricate system controls how you feel pleasure and motivates you to repeat things that make you feel rewarded. When you take drugs or drink alcohol, your brain’s reward circuit causes the high feeling you want to experience again.

Continuing to use drugs and alcohol leads your brain to adjust to having these chemicals in your system. Instead of fighting the substances, your brain reprograms itself to work with them. When the substances no longer create the amazing high you once felt, you’ve developed a tolerance. Craving that initial high, you take more and more of the substance.

As your brain changes how it works with your substances, it also changes how you feel in the rest of your life. You stop feeling pleasure in normal activities, like spending time with loved ones, playing sports or doing things you once enjoyed. The disease also affects brain function in learning, judgment, making decisions, feeling stress, memory, and behaviors.

Drug and alcohol addiction is a chronic, relapsing disease requiring help from experts in the field of addiction, through a quality rehab program. While the disease isn’t curable, you can keep it under control through healthy recovery. This recovery requires addiction education, development of coping skills, a variety of therapies and understanding of your own personal addiction. Addiction is a disease you can control for the rest of your life.

Addiction Is a Disease that Requires Professional Treatment

At Serenity Lodge we . After undergoing detox and therapy, Serenity Lodge offers you structure and amenities. Sobriety requires both structure and alternative coping mechanisms, and you can find both at Serenity Lodge. Entering drug rehab is the best time to build healthy habits and coping mechanisms for your sober life. You should start with eating 3 nutritious meals a day. Monitoring in inpatient rehab helps you account fully for what you eat.

In our safe, relaxing environment, clients also take full advantage of amenities including but not limited to:

Serenity Lodge amenities are more than just perks. Hobbies and fitness can boost self-esteem and provide clients with lifelong skills and habits that improve mood and lead to better overall health. From sports to creative art, Serenity Lodge offers you the chance to have fun without addiction. Learn more about Serenity Lodge by calling [Direct] now. You can beat your addiction with the right help, so call now!

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