• DOI:10.1037/e558832012-001
• Corpus ID: 150759296

Recovering from Addiction with a Continuum of Care: (558832012-001)

@inproceedings{Martin2008RecoveringFA,
  title={Recovering from Addiction with a Continuum of Care: (558832012-001)},
  author={Andrew T. Martin},
  year={2008}
}

• Andrew T. Martin
• Published 2008
• Medicine

I often interact with family members of addicts that feel disappointed and angry because the addict appears not to take their recovery effort seriously. Society at large also shares this form of opinion when it comes to understanding alcoholics and addicts. People are often confused as to why an addict/alcoholic is unable to go the doctor, get a medication and therapy through drug rehab, and be cured. After all, addicts simply have a problem that needs fixing, right? Unfortunately, addiction is not nearly as simple as an acute illness like a broken bone, or even another chronic disease such as diabetes. Chemical dependency (addiction and alcoholism) is defined as a ‘chronic and progressive’ disease. This means the disease can be halted but it cannot be cured. It also means that, left untreated, the disease worsens until eventual death. I know this sounds severe, and it is: addiction is something everyone needs to take very seriously as lives are at stake.