What Are the 6 Stages of Addiction Recovery?

If you’re feeling discouraged in the first 30 days because you haven’t yet experienced the benefits of life without or with less alcohol, we understand. It can be frustrating, but it’s an incredibly common and necessary chapter in this journey towards alcohol recovery. You can and will get through it, and some relief is right around the corner.

• It may feel strange and even empty to be living life without your addiction.
• We should keep in mind that there is also a medication-assisted treatment for alcoholism.
• In brief, we understand that feeling good after the first few months might seem like an appropriate time to pull back from your sobriety or moderation toolkit, but we encourage you to instead lean in.
• Peer pressure, family environment, and accessibility to substances play crucial roles in shaping drug experimentation and addictive behaviors.
• Let’s examine these 12-step programs more closely, including the individual steps and the traditions that help guide them.

Termination or transcendence beyond active addiction.

• The journey to recovery is not a straight path, but rather a process with distinct stages.
• But the truth is that you are making progress on your recovery journey.
• Alcohol recovery is of utmost importance for individuals struggling with alcohol addiction.
• The concept of recovery varies individually, with not everyone considering full abstinence as indicative of recovery.
• So, giving up alcohol can help you to avoid these potentially deadly diseases.

Further research on neuromodulation (TMS), ketamine, psychedelics, and GLP-1 receptor agonists may increase patient and physician interest in AUD treatment. Sometimes, individuals must reach their lowest point before acknowledging their addiction. This phase often involves experiencing severe consequences, such as loss of relationships stages of alcoholic recovery or employment. Recognizing this rock-bottom moment can be crucial to seeking help and beginning recovery. Continued drug use leads to a plethora of negative effects, encompassing physical, mental, and social ramifications. These consequences can range from deteriorating health to strained relationships and jeopardized livelihoods.

You May Feel Happier

In fact, 40 to 60 percent of people recovering from substance addiction relapse at some point according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse — but this doesn’t mean their treatment has failed. Engaging in subtle and sympathetic conversations and getting alcoholics to explore the pros and cons of their own behavior, for example, can help to lay https://ecosoberhouse.com/ the groundwork for the second stage of recovery. Recovery from AUD is marked by stages of abstinence, withdrawal, repair, and growth. While the process may take several years, the outcome is a happier, healthier life where you have the freedom to fulfill your full potential. This stage typically starts 3–5 years after you’ve stopped drinking.

Stage 3: Detoxification and Withdrawal

When you stop drinking, you’re left without any natural or substance-induced moderation, which causes heightened anxiety, restlessness, and racing thoughts. This can be a significant challenge in the first month, but with time, your brain will restore your natural moderation system and your anxiety will lessen. To learn more about the relationship between alcohol and anxiety, read why you feel anxious when you quit drinking. You might experience more anxiety than usual when you stop drinking alcohol for two key reasons.

The 12 Steps

Whatever form of treatment you choose, I recommend that you also see your doctor for medical management and that you also go for therapy. Fortunately, doctor visits and therapy sessions are now available online. Whatever path you decide to take, you are currently doing something about your problem. In addition to addressing a person’s drinking habits, thoughts, and behaviors, professionals promote exercise, proper nutrition, and healthy relationships.

You may choose a 28- or 30-day, 60-day or 90-day inpatient drug rehab stay or an outpatient rehab program, and you might like to opt for specialized treatment options. Behavioral therapy and counseling are integral components of the rehabilitation stage of alcohol recovery. These therapies help individuals develop new coping skills, modify harmful behaviors, and establish healthier thought patterns. The goal of behavioral therapy is to identify triggers and develop strategies to manage cravings and prevent relapse. From acute alcohol withdrawal, to the ‘honeymoon phase,’ to post-acute withdrawal and beyond, individuals experience a range of physical and psychological changes throughout year one of sobriety. While everyone’s experience is different, this chart shares common phases of the alcohol treatment timeline.

Addiction Treatment Programs

Simply put, withdrawal from drugs or alcohol is unpleasant and, in some cases, as with alcohol or opioids, can even be dangerous. Withdrawal symptoms and their severity vary depending on factors, including the substance involved, the length of use, and the severity of addiction. For many people with SUD, the fear of withdrawal symptoms and the desire to avoid them are barriers to treatment, contributing to a cycle of chronic relapse. Depending on the goals you set in the contemplation stage, and the plans you made in the preparation stage, the action stage can occur in small, gradual steps, or it can be a complete life change.

Here is how you can thrive with the stages of change.

Embracing a sober lifestyle involves making conscious choices to abstain from alcohol and adopting healthy habits that support recovery. It’s important to develop new routines and activities that promote physical and emotional well-being. Acceptance also means acknowledging the potential consequences of continued alcohol abuse, such as worsening health, damaged relationships, and legal or financial troubles. It involves embracing the fact that seeking help and embarking on the journey to sobriety is the best course of action. While some alcoholics progress through the first five stages of recovery in a linear fashion, many do not. It’s more common for people to move back and forth through the stages of change as they tackle addiction.

Addiction Resource aims to provide only the most current, accurate information in regards to addiction and addiction treatment, which means we only reference the most credible sources available. Twelve-Step meetings are considered the “fellowship” part of the AA mutual support groups, where people come together and share their experiences. The Twelve Steps themselves are the essence of Alcoholics Anonymous. They are the directions meant to provide members a path to lasting sobriety and a substance-free lifestyle. By Buddy TBuddy T is a writer and founding member of the Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee with decades of experience writing about alcoholism.