Addiction recovery is a lifelong process

From abc3340.com:

Experts: Recovery from addiction is possible, but a lifelong process

By: Alexander Derencz
Monday, March 25th 2019

Experts say recovering from addiction is possible, but it is not a quick fix.

Richard Fallin is the Executive Director of Chilton-Shelby Mental Health, a community health center in Calera. One of the items the center works on is substance abuse. Fallin says recovery from substance abuse and addiction is possible, but calls the recovery process a marathon, as opposed to a sprint.

"The recovery process is a lifelong process," Fallin says. "It is not something where you can go to a one-time treatment facility for 90 days and think you are going to come out at the end of it with a cure. The recovery process is something that is going to be with you for the rest of your life. It is going to impact your family. It is going to affect those that are around you. It is going to affect your job. It is going to impact your financial resources."

Fallin says they focus on a two-pronged approach: prevention and treatment. Fallin says prevention is key. If they can stop someone from taking the first step down a wrong path then that is the best case scenario. He also adds that treatment needs to happen in the early stages of recovery.

The financial newspaper, Barrons, recently published an article detailing how addiction is the new threat to retirement. Fallin says that families do go to measures like that to see their loved one get better.

Director of Compact 2020, Clay Hammac, says recovery is possible. However, sobriety has to be the choice of the person dealing with addiction. He says if the person addicted chooses the path of sobriety, then loved ones can walk alongside them in the journey to recovery, but echoes that recovery is not a quick phase.

"There is no one stop shop when it comes to recovery," Capt. Hammac says. "Tragically, we live in a time where we want everything done at ease and convenience,and we want a quick response and a quick answer. That is not the case with recovery. Recovery is going to be a long, drawn out process. It is going to be a costly process, not so much financially but emotionally. I think when families just come down to the realization that this is going to be worth it- this is going to be worth the fight, it is going to be worth the cost, but only if your loved one has committed to a life of sobriety. Otherwise, tragically, those attempts would be futile."