Experience Recovery Blog

When we talk about addiction triggers, it is a common misconception that quitting drugs or drinking is just a matter of stopping. People think: “What’s the big deal? Just don’t put drugs or alcohol in your body, and move on with your life!”

Continuous, ongoing recovery happens one day at a time – sometimes one hour or one minute at a time. There is no doubt that navigating the early days of sobriety can be challenging. Managing cravings, overcoming triggers, establishing a new routine, and making new sober friends can feel overwhelming. But, in the long run, it’s all worth it.

The number one goal of sobriety is to stay drug and alcohol-free no matter what. This means executing a successful relapse prevention plan in your daily life.

Unfortunately, for many people suffering with alcoholism, there is no middle-ground between a single drink and a night of binge-drinking. Because of alcoholism, even a quiet night out can quickly lead to excessive binge drinking, and eventually overdose.

While society is becoming more progressive in considering the medicinal aspects of some drugs, it’s still important to understand that any drug can be abused, and there’s often a fine line between drug use and abuse. In some cases, like nicotine, cocaine, and methamphetamines, any use would imply an abuse because they offer little or no benefits at the risk of potentially dire health consequences. For other drugs, such as THC, alcohol, opiates, among others, there is a threshold where some people may actively need or benefit from limited, measured use. What determines substance abuse in these cases is the way it affects your daily life.

American addiction centers have been fighting an uphill battle to retain patients for the treatment of meth addiction. Crystal meth and other methamphetamines are potent chemicals that were first synthesized as a treatment to a variety of disorders. Because of the addictive nature of methamphetamines, and the severe side-effects, these drugs are strictly regulated. According to drugpolicy.org they are mostly outlawed in the US except for a few prescriptions for targeted disorders, such as Adderall for ADHD and Narcolepsy.