There is only one way to “recover” from “addiction”

There is only one way to “recover.” I’m purposely attempting to be provocative when I make this statement – but I also believe it to be 100% true.

I believe that the “cause” of problematic substance use is the belief, held by the individual, that their substance use choices are their best viable option for happiness.

Thus I also believe that the “cause” of any lasting changes in this behavior is the individual’s change of this belief.

People stop using substances problematically (i.e. they “recover”) when they choose to think in ways that destroy the belief that such use is their best viable option for happiness. That is the “one way to recover” – it is the “size” that “fits all.”

People stop behaving a certain way when they stop believing that the given behavior is their best option for happiness.

“Support” doesn’t change the belief; medications don’t change the belief; confrontation of “denial” doesn’t change the belief; “alternative coping methods” or “tools” don’t change the belief; nor does the program I teach change the belief (although, I must say, it offers information and ideas that *if embraced by the individual* can be used by them to change the belief).

The individual volitionally changes the belief by thoroughly assessing the value of substance use, and by opening their mind to consider other options/lifestyles by which they may acquire happiness. There are many freely chosen thoughts on any individual’s path toward  ultimate change of this belief – but however they get there, the process is volitional – that is, it’s chosen by the individual, and can’t be forced or caused by an entity outside the individual’s mind. No one can do it for anyone else. No third party can force that belief out of someone’s mind. The individual has to choose different thoughts for themselves – or, in retaining the same assessment of substance use (belief that it is their best option for happiness), they will naturally continue the same behavior.

Please take note that I said “thoroughly assessing the value of substance use” – that doesn’t mean solely focusing on the negative consequences of substance use (although this is obviously part of one’s assessment of value) – it also means assessing the benefits. Is it providing the kind and quality of happiness you’re looking for in your life. Is it possible you could be happier living some other way?

I think the recovery culture puts too much emphasis on the costs of substance use – people are mostly well aware of these costs, yet they remain willing to pay them in order for the happiness produced by the activity. Many people eventually find that the happiness provided by substance use is very small and short-lived when compared to other life options.

Anything that teaches people to be focused on fighting a compulsion/disease/boogieman of addiction, must also naturally pull attention away from this vital process of re-assessing heavy substance use’s value and the complementary process of developing and pursuing happier options.

Substance use is a choice like any other – and guided by the same factors. People do what they believe is in their best interest (and everyone has their own unique ideas and criteria that form their view of what exactly constitutes their best interest). They’re not behaving “weakly” when they use substances, and they’re not “succumbing to the disease of addiction” – they’re pursuing happiness.

NOTE:

This is not a piece of writing that I spent a considerable amount of time crafting. It’s more a stream of consciousness piece. The ideas represent nothing new for me, but the expression of them in this particular way – as a challenge to the “there’s more than one way to recover” mantra, is a new endeavor for me. This post is a work in progress, and will be edited at will, without notation. Now, I hate the term “recovery” because it implies disease – but I’m using it here as shorthand, and I will use it again now to try to make one last succinct summary of my point, in case there is any confusion. I obviously don’t know the best way to state it yet, but bear with me:

There is only one way to “recover”, and that is by choosing it for yourself.

or, another version, without the dangerous term:

There is only one way to end a pattern of problematic substance use – by choosing to believe you’d be happier without it. 

Another Note:

Everywhere on this site, challenging and even hateful comments have been allowed and often engaged – and dissenting points of view are particularly welcomed when presented with an eye toward constructive debate. But here, on this post, hateful and mean spirited comments will be unwelcome and swiftly erased out of existence, as will dissenting comments that I deem to be unconstructive. I get to do that, because it’s my website, and I believe I will be happier that way. However, I greatly encourage those who get what I’m trying to express here to contribute to the expression of this point in any way they see fit.

And Yet Another Note:

This point is not meant to taken as “the way you recovered is wrong”, or any such thing. It’s meant to say that when all is said and done, for all people who make a lasting positive change in these habits – no matter what sort of program they did or did not go to or what medications they’ve taken etc – there is one commonality, one defining factor that must be present for a person to reduce their substance use to non-problematic levels – they must come to believe they’d be happier with lower levels of substance use.