How Narcotics Anonymous Helps Addicted People

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported a 9.6% rise in overdose deaths from 2016 to 2017, with opiates being one of the major narcotics responsible for the fatalities. Orange County rehab and recovery programs like Experience Recovery are essential for treating local communities by providing on-site care and long-term support. However, many local rehabs rely on the support and structure created through national programs, such as Narcotics Anonymous (NA). NA offers practical guidelines for recovery success, a supportive care network, and most of all the publicity to raise awareness about the importance of rehab and recovery. As we step in to quell the growth of the narcotics epidemic in the US, we feel it’s important to understand how NA and other programs are paving the way for more local success.

How Narcotics Anonymous Helps Addicts

Narcotics Anonymous is an international community for addiction support. They’ve been helping communities by offering information, guidance, and sponsoring meetings since 1953, and are now holding weekly meetings in over 130 countries. Following similar principles to Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and other programs, NA focuses on healing through community and simple, straightforward principles.

Is Narcotics Anonymous right for me?

NA is a great place to get the conversation started. What NA can offer is a chance to meet people on a similar recovery journey, who share similar pains and struggles, and to be able to support one another, and learn from successful patients in recovery. Ultimately, every person’s journey will be different.

Rehab is the most difficult part of the recovery journey, and where most people relapse without professional help. As such, NA is generally suited as an entry-point for recovery, or to supplement a more direct rehab program like Experience Recovery. If you’d like to learn more about the recovery process, and how to get started, we encourage you to contact us directly at (714)782-3973.

Does Narcotics Anonymous Work?

The simplest answer is that it can improve the odds of recovery, but this requires a little more nuanced understanding. Addiction is a potentially fatal disease that is known for its challenging healing process, so it’s natural to be searching for the most effective and proven strategies to recover. Harry Anslinger’s Federal Narcotics Bureau escalated a massive drug war in the US which has stunted decades of research and understanding, leaving decades of research and knowledge underfunded, ignored, or wrongfully refused. Because of backward policies, addiction care and subsequent research was often left to smaller-scale or private, anecdotal studies. As such, programs like NA rely on community-gathered information to monitor success rates and improve techniques.

As we understand more about addiction, we come to realize it’s a complex disease fueled by biological and environmental factors. If factors in your life, such as stress, depression, exhaustion, family, or friends encouraged your addiction, then entering rehab and going back to that same lifestyle can leave you susceptible to relapse. What NA offers is a chance to either change your surroundings, by providing you with supportive friends and sponsors who are invested in your recovery, or to develop the skills, knowledge, and practice to better overcome the life stressors that could have originally fueled your addiction.