Expertise

The Truth About Addiction

Imagine a person who wants to stop doing something and they can’t, despite catastrophic consequences. Though they feel tremendous guilt and remorse, people suffering from addiction will give up lucrative careers, loving families or even their lives for drugs or alcohol. This is the nature of drug and alcohol addiction.

People who are addicted live in denial that they have a serious problem. So they may go untreated for years. They’ll hide the problem until it’s impossible to do so. They cannot control their need, even in the face of negative health, social or legal consequences. One of the reasons this happens is that drug and alcohol abuse literally alters the chemistry of the brain.

It’s important to know that addiction is a chronic disorder. It’s treatable, but in order to bring about a sustainable recovery, we have to work to change the addict’s mind about their need and addiction by providing long-term support. This is absolutely necessary to remain drug and alcohol free.

The first and most important step toward recovery from drug and alcohol dependence is to replace denial with acceptance and truth. The journey away from addiction must begin from within. And there is no better place to facilitate this journey through drug or alcohol rehab than the Florida Recovery Center. Many of the nation’s top experts live and work in Gainesville at the University of Florida including Mark Gold, M.D., Scott Teitelbaum, M.D., F.A.S.A.M., M.R.O. and Sara Jo Nixon, Ph.D.