If you are someone who struggles with addiction issues and find yourself mystified by how cunning and baffling your own situation is with your own ‘drug of choice,’ I am presenting my own condensed version of my latest book on the topic:  The 5 Pillars of Addiction Recovery.  This month’s pillar or installment is understanding your addiction, in particular the recovery process.

Why Recovery is Such a Difficult Process

It’s been said people who have addictions are complicated, but the recovery process itself isn’t.  That is at least partially true because of how much people with addictions have become tied up in their addictions, primarily because of how they try to use addictive substances and behaviors to medicate problems that are inherently complex.  For example, people who have histories of childhood abuse and neglect often turn to addictions to help treat the effects of the abuse and neglect.  What winds up happening is that the addiction often winds up masking the true problem, which can be the devastating trauma that goes with the abuse and neglect.  Sometimes it's a loss issue that an addiction develops in reaction to.  Whatever gives rise to addictions, treating that is a necessary requirement of long-term recovery.  That’s not how it most often starts, though.

Relationships and Recovery

Much of the time people’s relationships with friends and family wind up being devastated by addictions, and much work is needed in recovery to repair these.  People wind up being terribly isolated because of their addictions, sometimes despite appearances to the contrary.  I give the example in my book of someone who might have multiple relationship partners associated with substance use disorder or sex addition issues, and no matter how much alcohol, drugs, or sex that person may have they don’t have any of the real intimacy that is critically important for having long-lasting and fulfilling relationships.  

Understanding Recovery

There are 3 things critical to understanding in terms of addiction recovery:  how “cunning, baffling, and powerful” they tend to be if left unchecked, how they negatively affect one’s brain and body, and how the stages of the change process relate to addictions.  Suffice it to say that addictions are spiritual diseases that manifest in the brain and individual biochemistry, and that your thinking process will tell you that you don’t have a problem even if you do.  Secondly, they have many negative impacts to your health, both mental and physical.  It can depend a lot on what type of addiction issue you have:  nicotine addiction is the most preventable cause of death in the US, for example.  Others can be less severe physically, but cause much more havoc in terms of interpersonal relationships (such as sex addiction or problematic sexual behavior).  Lastly, people are in all different stages of change depending on where they are at with regard to their relationship to their ‘drug of choice’ and whether they are just thinking about doing something about it or are actually taking action to eliminate their dependency on the substance or behavior.  Knowing where you are at in the process helps you see whether you are ready to change your relationship to the addictive substance or behavior or not.  For example, if you deny you have a problem while friends and family take the opposite stance means you aren’t ready to make any changes yet (in case you didn’t know it yet!)

If You Want to Get More Into Recovery But Can’t Just Yet…

That is one of the reasons I am here and wrote the book.  I would be happy to talk to you about whether I can help you or not so you can get a better idea about whether you could benefit from seeing me or not.  Whether you reach out to me or not, please talk to somebody you feel you can trust to get some kind of help.  There are many, many support groups for people who suffer from addiction issues, so there is no lack of support out there.  I’ve been helping people with addiction issues through the recovery process for my entire career in social work, so I feel like I do have some experience and skill in navigating the process.  I do specialize in helping men with problematic sexual behavior, but can at least point you in the right direction for getting help with your particular addiction.  If you want to buy my book, click on this link to get a copy either online or a hardcopy from me.  In any case, I do hope you reach out and get the help you need.  

Visit our page on sex addiction therapy to find out how Scott can help you with addiction recovery.  

About the author:  Scott Kampschaefer, LCSW is a private practice therapist in Frederick, Maryland.  He has an extensive background in working with depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder at a clinic for older adults with these disorders in Austin.  He now works with adults and adolescents 12 and up in private practice. His most recent book is titled The 5 Pillars of Addiction Recovery and is available for purchase on Amazon and in paperback on this website.