Addiction Recovery: A New Life

We’re inundated with news about the consequences of addiction, but seldom do we hear about addiction recovery. It happens in thousands of lives each day — people recovering from addiction and starting anew. 

It’s quite literally a new life when a person recovers from addiction — they think differently and act differently. There’s plenty of evidence that our brains can change at anytime in our lives. We’ve been incorrectly taught that we can change very little from what we start with in life, and that at a certain age it’s all pretty much set in stone. 

Science has discovered that the brain is elastic, it can change drastically with effort. We can create or strengthen new neural pathways by exercising certain parts of brain that have to do with learning. The addict can stop using drugs and the addict can change — they can begin thinking in new ways and get to the point that drinking alcohol or using some other drug is not appealing at all.

Most addicts can’t imagine not craving their drug of choice. They assume they’ll always want to use the drug, and that they’ll have to spend day after day struggling with the desire to use the drug. Millions of recovering addicts have reached a point they no longer desire drugs. They’re happy without the drug — they’re thriving without the drug. Drugs no longer cross their minds unless they’re reminding themselves they don’t want to go back to that dark and lonely place.

Perhaps you know someone who’s recovered. Then you’ll know what I mean. It’s amazing to watch the change in a person when they rise from the depths of addiction to the heights of recovery. It’s a great story that needs to be told more often.