Addiction
When substance use or a behavior starts to feel out of control, knowing what to do next can be difficult. Understanding the signs and care options can help you take a first step for yourself or someone you love.
Battling addiction & ready for help?
What Is Addiction?
Need Emergency Help?Call 911 for a suspected overdose.
Call 911 if you think someone is overdosing. For a suspected opioid overdose, give naloxone or nalmefene if available and try to keep the person awake and breathing while emergency help is coming.[1]
If you have been drinking heavily for a prolonged period, seek medical help before suddenly stopping. Withdrawal can be painful and potentially life-threatening.[2]
Call or text 988 if you’re in emotional crisis or thinking about suicide.[3]
Addiction is a treatable condition in which a person has difficulty controlling substance use or a rewarding behavior and continues despite harm. It can affect health, relationships, work, and everyday responsibilities. Treatment helps people regain control and address the effects on their lives.[4][5][6]
You may be worried about your own use or changes in someone you love. You can ask for help before you know which diagnosis fits. An assessment looks at what has changed, the support you need, and what you want to work toward.[5][7]
- Addiction treatment can combine medication, therapy, and practical support for health, relationships, and daily life.[6]
- Physical dependence can develop without addiction. Withdrawal means symptoms appear when a substance is reduced or stopped after the body has become used to it.[1]
- Substance use disorders affected an estimated 44.6 million Americans ages 12 and older in 2025.[8] A substance use disorder is a medical diagnosis for a pattern of substance use that causes significant problems or distress.[5]
Recognizing the Signs of Addiction
Look for changes in control, responsibilities, safety, and health. The American Psychiatric Association groups substance use disorder symptoms into these areas. They are reasons to seek an assessment. A clinician can help you understand what the pattern means.[5]
- Difficulty controlling use: strong cravings, wanting to cut down, or repeated attempts that do not last.
- Problems in daily life: responsibilities at work, school, or home go unmet, or valued social and leisure activities fall away.
- Use despite danger or harm: taking a substance in unsafe situations or continuing after recognizing health or relationship problems.
- Tolerance or withdrawal: needing more for the same effect or having symptoms when use is reduced. These need clinical context and do not prove addiction by themselves.[5][4]
For concerns about a behavior such as gambling or gaming, an assessment looks at the particular behavior and its effects on daily life. Describe what has changed, what you have tried, and what you want help with.[4][5]
What Happens During an Addiction Assessment?
An assessment considers the substance and pattern of use, current symptoms, physical and mental health, and effects on everyday life. The clinician also asks about your goals, treatment history, environment, strengths, and available support. This information helps match care to your needs.[5][7]
Tell the clinician about all medicines and substances you use, previous withdrawal, and practical concerns such as transportation or a safe place to stay. An assessment should lead to a plan you understand, with follow-up to check whether the level of support still fits.[7]
To prepare for a conversation, consider these practical questions:
- What has changed about my use?
- Am I having difficulty controlling it?
- How is it affecting my health, relationships, or responsibilities?
- Have I experienced withdrawal?
Bring your examples to the appointment. They help start a conversation about your needs.[5][7]
How Symptoms and Daily-Life Consequences Affect Care
For alcohol use disorder, clinicians consider symptoms over the previous 12 months and classify severity as mild, moderate, or severe. Your care plan also needs to reflect the health problems, daily-life consequences, and support needs you are experiencing.[9][7]
Problems can involve sleep, health, relationships, or responsibilities. Treatment should address physical and mental health, relationships, work, family responsibilities, and legal needs where relevant. Improving substance use is one part of that work.[6]
Other Health Conditions Matter Too
Co-occurring mental health conditions are conditions present at the same time as a substance use disorder. Assessment and treatment should address both, including whether substance use triggers or worsens other symptoms.[5][6]
Pregnancy, physical illness, and barriers to care can also change what support is needed. Tell the treatment team about these concerns so the plan can reflect your health and circumstances.[1][7]
How Do Addiction, Dependence, and Substance Use Differ?
“Use,” “dependence,” and “addiction” describe different things. Taking a substance, becoming physically used to it, and having difficulty controlling use despite harm are different experiences. These terms help you describe which concern needs attention.[1][4]
| Term | What It Means | Why the Difference Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Substance use | Taking alcohol, nicotine, a medication, or another drug | The amount, pattern, and consequences help determine whether there is a problem. |
| Risky use | Use in a situation where it could cause physical harm, such as drinking before driving | A hazardous situation deserves attention. Alcohol assessment also considers the broader pattern of symptoms.[9] |
| Tolerance | A reduced response after repeated exposure, so more may be needed to produce the same effect | Tolerance describes a change in response to a drug.[1] |
| Physical dependence | The body has adapted to repeated exposure and withdrawal can occur when use decreases or stops | Withdrawal symptoms may need medical care, including when a medicine was taken as prescribed.[1] |
| Substance use disorder | A pattern of substance use that causes significant problems or distress and is assessed by a healthcare professional | The diagnosis helps clinicians plan treatment and assess severity.[5] |
| Addiction | A term used in healthcare and everyday discussion for difficulty controlling use despite harm | The concern is difficulty stopping or cutting back even as use causes problems.[4] |
Examples of Physical Dependence and Addiction
Physical dependence and addiction can occur separately or together. The difference is easier to understand through the pattern of use and its consequences.[1][4]
Physical Dependence
A person takes a prescribed opioid as directed over time, then has withdrawal symptoms when it is stopped abruptly. Their body has adapted to the medicine. That alone does not establish addiction.[1]
Free printable: Dependence, Tolerance and Addiction Explained (PDF, 196 KB).
If a prescribed medicine is causing withdrawal, ask your prescriber about the symptoms and a plan for changing treatment. Understanding addiction and physical dependence helps you describe the problem without assuming a diagnosis.[1][7]
Which Substances and Behaviors Can Be Involved in Addiction?
Substance use disorders can involve alcohol, nicotine, prescription medicines, or other drugs. The substance matters because risks and treatment options differ.[10][8][6] Examples include:
- Alcohol and nicotine
- Opioids, including prescription medicines used in problematic ways
- Cannabis
- Cocaine, methamphetamine, and other stimulants
- Hallucinogens and inhalants
- Sedatives and tranquilizers.[10][8][6]
Using more than one substance is called polysubstance use. Tell the treatment team about every medicine and substance you use so care can account for the full pattern.[7]
Illegally made fentanyl poses a particular overdose risk. It is highly potent and may be present in counterfeit pills or other drugs without the person knowing it.[1]
Which Behavioral Addictions Are Recognized Diagnoses?
Gambling disorder and gaming disorder have recognized diagnoses, but they appear in different diagnostic guides. DSM-5-TR is the American Psychiatric Association’s manual for diagnosing mental disorders. ICD-11 is the World Health Organization’s system for classifying health conditions. The two guides do not classify every behavior in the same way.[11]
When a Behavior Deserves Attention
Look at what the behavior is doing to your life. Trouble controlling it, mounting harm, or lost responsibilities are worth discussing with a clinician. You can seek help even when you are unsure what to call the problem.
- Gambling disorder: It is the only recognized behavioral addiction in DSM-5-TR, the American Psychiatric Association’s diagnostic manual.[11]
- Gaming disorder: ICD-11, the World Health Organization’s classification system, recognizes impaired control, gaming taking priority over other activities, and continued gaming despite negative consequences.[11]
- Internet gaming disorder in DSM-5-TR: It remains a condition for further research. Its proposed criteria concern gaming specifically.[11]
Help is available for concerns people describe as porn addiction or sex addiction. An assessment can help you understand difficulty controlling the behavior and its effects on health and everyday life. These concerns have different diagnostic classifications from gambling disorder.[4]
Time spent or a strong interest alone does not establish a disorder. A clinician can help distinguish a distressing or harmful pattern from an activity you enjoy, and consider other health conditions that might explain a change in behavior. More information about behavioral addictions can help put these differences in context.[4][11]
How Does Addiction Develop and Persist?
Addiction can develop through changes in reward, stress, learning, and self-control. Biology, experiences, and social conditions also influence risk. Understanding these influences helps explain why stopping can be hard and why treatment needs to fit the person.[12][13][14]
How Reward and Learning Reinforce Substance Use
Positive reinforcement occurs when a rewarding effect makes a behavior more likely to happen again. Early substance use may be reinforced by pleasure, stimulation, or another valued effect. Reminders of that experience, called cues, can also prompt an urge to use. These might be a place where you used a substance, people you used with, objects, or a particular mood.[13][6]
With repetition, a deliberate choice can become more automatic. A habit is a learned response that can be triggered with less deliberate consideration of the result. Research models suggest that later addiction may involve a shift toward habit systems, but people differ substantially and this progression is not inevitable.[13]
How Stress Relief Can Reinforce Substance Use
What Positive and Negative Mean Here
Think about what use adds or takes away. The terms describe why a behavior gets repeated, not whether a person is good or bad.
Negative reinforcement means a behavior becomes more likely because it removes or reduces something unpleasant, such as distress. It does not mean punishment.
Alcohol illustrates the distinction. Someone may initially drink for pleasure. With repeated excessive use, the brain’s response to reward can weaken while stress systems become more active. Drinking may then become a way to relieve withdrawal-related distress or unpleasant emotions.[12]
How Craving, Substance Use, and Withdrawal Can Reinforce Each Other
Researchers often describe a three-stage cycle:
- Using for the immediate effects, called the binge or intoxication stage. Pleasure and acting without thinking through the consequences may play a large role.
- Feeling unwell or distressed without the substance, called the withdrawal or negative affect stage. Irritability, trouble sleeping, pain, or other unpleasant feelings may encourage renewed use.
- Thinking about and planning the next use, called the preoccupation or anticipation stage. Strong urges, reminders of use, and plans to obtain the substance take up more attention.[12][13]
This cycle helps explain why a person may want to stop yet repeatedly return to use. The balance differs: pleasure, relief from distress, craving, and habits can play different roles for different people.[13]
How Addiction Can Affect Self-Control and Decision-Making
Executive functions are mental abilities used to plan, focus attention, weigh consequences, pause before acting on an urge, and change course. Chronic heavy alcohol use can affect regions involved in decision-making, memory, impulse control, attention, motivation, and sleep, making change harder for some people.[12]
The brain’s ability to adapt, called brain plasticity, contributes both to addiction and to improvement during treatment and recovery. Some alcohol-related changes in thinking, feeling, behavior, and brain structure may improve over months without drinking, although the extent of recovery after long-term use is not fully understood.[12]
Why Addiction Risk and Treatment Responses Differ
Inherited traits, surroundings, mental health, and other differences in the body can affect a person’s risk, what drives their use, and which treatments help. Some people may be especially responsive to reward or cues. Others may be more affected by stress, pain, acting on urges without considering the consequences, hard-to-control habits, or emotional distress that was present before substance use.[12][13]
A risk factor is not a prediction of your future. Anxiety, depression, trauma, and impulsivity may affect treatment needs. Exploring what drives your use helps the treatment team choose useful support.[13]
How Social Conditions Affect Risk and Recovery
Stable housing, supportive relationships, and accessible healthcare can make it easier to begin and continue treatment. Stigma, insecure housing, and justice-system involvement can create barriers. These circumstances influence opportunities for care.[14]
Tell your treatment team about practical concerns such as work, family support needs, or legal problems. A plan should include help with the parts of daily life that could make treatment difficult to follow.[6][14]
How Common Are Substance Use Disorders in the United States?
In 2025, an estimated 44.6 million people aged 12 or older had a past-year substance use disorder, representing 15.3% of that population.[8] This included 42.7 million adults and 1.9 million adolescents aged 12 to 17.[8]
These figures come from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. It asks people about symptoms and experiences during the previous 12 months. The estimates describe a population, not whether a particular reader has a disorder.[8]
The survey covers civilians living in households and some group settings, such as shelters and college dormitories. It excludes active-duty military personnel, people in institutions such as jails or hospitals, and people without a fixed address who are not in shelters.[15]
The estimated percentage differed by age:
These 2025 U.S. survey estimates describe people with substance use disorders. The broader addiction statistics include substance-specific figures and more detail about who is affected.[8]
What Addiction Treatments and Supports Can Help?
Addiction is treatable, but addiction treatment is not one standardized program. The appropriate combination depends on the substance, current risks, severity, physical dependence, previous treatment experiences, mental and physical health, practical barriers, goals, and readiness for change.[6]
How Addiction Treatment Differs by Substance
A medicine that helps treat one substance use disorder may not treat another. The options below are specific to each substance or condition.
| Substance or Condition | Supported Approaches | What to Know |
|---|---|---|
| Opioid use disorder | Methadone, buprenorphine, or extended-release naltrexone, generally with access to behavioral support | Withdrawal management alone is not ongoing treatment.[6][1] |
| Alcohol use disorder | Acamprosate, naltrexone, or disulfiram, along with behavioral care | Medication choice depends on clinical circumstances and goals.[12][9] |
| Nicotine or tobacco addiction | For U.S. adults who smoke, FDA-approved nicotine replacement therapy, varenicline, or bupropion, with behavioral counseling | Medication and counseling can be used together to support quitting.[16][17] |
| Stimulant use disorder | Behavioral treatment, especially contingency management, which uses rewards for treatment-related behaviors | Contingency management is a central part of treatment and may be combined with other behavioral approaches.[6][18] |
| Cannabis use disorder | Behavioral therapies | There is no currently available approved medication for cannabis use disorder.[6] |
| Gambling disorder | Gambling-focused cognitive behavioral therapy, with individual or group options | Care can also address gambling-related debt, relationships, and practical barriers.[19] |
| Other concerns about repetitive behaviors | Assessment should address the particular behavior and the problems it causes in daily life | Assessment looks at control, harm, and other possible explanations for the behavior.[4] |
For opioid use disorder, federal guidance recommends medication as the starting treatment approach, usually combined with behavioral therapy or counseling. Methadone, buprenorphine, and extended-release naltrexone are used for treatment. Lofexidine is used for withdrawal symptoms rather than as ongoing treatment for the disorder.[6][1]
For alcohol use disorder, acamprosate, naltrexone, and disulfiram are non-addicting medications approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Behavioral healthcare is also evidence-based. A clinician can help choose a medicine that fits your health needs and goals.[12]
For adults who smoke in the United States, the Food and Drug Administration recommends approved nicotine replacement therapy, bupropion, or varenicline together with behavioral counseling as the recommended starting approach for quitting smoking.[16]
Which Level of Addiction Care Might You Need?
Addiction treatment does not always mean moving into a facility. Different levels of care provide different amounts of support. An assessment considers your medical needs, symptoms, living situation, and available support.[20][7]
- Outpatient care: You attend appointments and return home the same day.
- Intensive outpatient care: You receive more coordinated care, often in sessions lasting several hours, while living outside the program.
- Residential care: You live at the treatment program while receiving care.
- Inpatient care: You stay overnight for 24-hour care, usually in a hospital-connected setting.[20]
Your team should reassess your needs as treatment progresses. The level of support can change as your health, symptoms, and circumstances change.[7]
Free printable: What Different Levels of Addiction Care Involve (PDF, 202 KB).
How Behavioral Therapies Help with Addiction
Behavioral therapies address different needs:
- Cognitive behavioral therapy helps people identify and cope with situations in which use is likely.
- Motivational enhancement works with a person’s current readiness to change rather than demanding a predetermined goal.
- Family therapy addresses family influences and functioning, particularly for younger people.[6]
Contingency management provides tangible rewards for treatment-related behaviors such as attendance, taking medication as prescribed, or not using a substance. Clinical guidance reports strong evidence that it helps people participate in treatment and reduces stimulant use, and research also supports its use across several other substance use disorders.[18]
Twelve-step facilitation is a structured therapy intended to help a person engage with a 12-step mutual-support group. Mutual-support programs provide connection and support alongside care but are not themselves medical treatment. A person may prefer a different peer-support model or no group involvement.[6]
Treatment for Gambling Disorder
Gambling-focused cognitive behavioral therapy can help reduce gambling and related harm. Treatment may also involve support with debt, relationships, or access to gambling, with specialist options considered when problems continue despite therapy.[19]
In the United States, call or text 1-800-MY-RESET (1-800-697-3738) for gambling support and local referrals, available 24 hours a day. Family members can contact the helpline too.[21]
Why Detox Alone Is Not Complete Addiction Treatment
Detox manages withdrawal. Continuing treatment helps address the addiction. Medically supported withdrawal can relieve symptoms and manage immediate risks, but people commonly return to use when detox is not followed by ongoing care.[6]
Alcohol withdrawal can be dangerous. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism explains that some symptoms can be managed in outpatient care, while people at risk of life-threatening withdrawal need intensive inpatient care. If you are concerned about alcohol withdrawal, ask a healthcare professional to assess that risk and discuss an appropriate setting for care.[9]
Do not suddenly stop a benzodiazepine or rapidly reduce its dose without medical guidance. Withdrawal can cause life-threatening seizures, including in people taking the medicine as prescribed. Ask your prescriber for an individualized stopping plan. Call 911 for a seizure or trouble breathing.[22]
How Harm Reduction Addresses Substance-Use Risks
Harm reduction means taking practical steps to reduce the risks of substance use. For opioid-related risks, this can include carrying naloxone and using fentanyl test strips.[1]
- Carry naloxone: This opioid-overdose reversal medicine is available over the counter in the United States. People who may encounter opioids can learn how to use it.[1]
- Know what test strips can tell you: They can detect fentanyl in a drug supply, but a negative result cannot guarantee safety.[1]
- Ask about ongoing treatment: Medication and behavioral care can address opioid use disorder alongside steps to reduce immediate risk.[6]
What Does Addiction Recovery Look Like?
Recovery involves regaining control and improving daily life, such as health, relationships, and responsibilities. The National Institute on Drug Abuse explains that treatment can help people counter addiction’s disruptive effects and resume productive lives. Alcohol guidance also notes that individual paths vary widely and that the majority of people with alcohol use disorder reduce or resolve their drinking problems over time.[6][9]
An estimated 22.3 million U.S. adults ages 18 and older considered themselves recovered or in recovery from a drug or alcohol problem in 2025.[23] This is a count of people reporting recovery, not a treatment success rate.
A return to use after a period of change does not mean treatment was pointless. Federal guidance describes it as a reason to resume, modify, or replace treatment. Recovery can involve setbacks and changes in support.[6]
A return to opioid use can be especially dangerous after a period without opioids has lowered a person’s tolerance. The body is no longer used to the previous amount. Using the former amount can cause overdose. After any return to use, immediate priorities are safety, overdose prevention, and prompt reconnection with care, not blame.[6]
Different Paths Still Need Appropriate Support
Treatment can protect health as well as support recovery. People with opioid use disorder who are treated with methadone or buprenorphine are less likely to die or to have an overdose than those who do not receive treatment.[24]
If earlier attempts did not last, treatment can be resumed or adjusted. A clinician can review what helped, what was difficult, and what needs to change.[6]
In an interview hosted by the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers, recovery researcher John Kelly describes a gap that can open after the first weeks or months of treatment: connecting people with continuing support in the communities where they live. He argues that formal treatment and community services need stronger links in both directions.[25]
Before a program ends, ask your team to make the next steps specific: who you will contact, when you will see them, and whom to call if the plan becomes difficult to follow. Those details make “ongoing support” something you can use.
How Can You Recognize Progress in Recovery?
Progress can include fewer symptoms, more control over substance use, and improvements in daily life. A period without use is one measure, but your treatment plan can also address health, relationships, and responsibilities. Discuss which changes matter to you and how to track them.[6][14][7]
What Can Make Addiction Treatment Harder to Access?
Stigma, unstable housing, and lack of social support can make treatment harder to enter or sustain. A treatment plan should account for these barriers and the resources you can draw on. Difficulty attending care can signal a need for practical support.[14][7]
A treatment plan that ignores these conditions may be difficult to follow even when a person strongly wants change. Useful care can include help with medical and mental health needs, housing, employment, family concerns, safety, or legal problems alongside substance-focused treatment.[6]
How Can You Find Addiction Help for Yourself or Someone Else?
The next step can be information, treatment referral, or urgent help. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration offers an online Find Support guide for people beginning to explore behavioral health concerns, along with confidential treatment-referral and crisis resources.[3]
What to Do If You Are Concerned About Your Substance Use
A healthcare professional can discuss assessment and substance-specific treatment options. Alcohol use disorder care can include primary care.[9] In the United States, FindTreatment.gov helps people find mental health and substance use treatment. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357), offers free, confidential referral and information around the clock.[1][3]
Free printable: Check a Treatment Program’s Claims (PDF, 203 KB).
If you are not ready to stop, useful questions include: “What can help reduce my immediate risk? Should I carry naloxone or use fentanyl test strips?” These tools address opioid-related risks. Motivational enhancement therapy works with readiness to change and enter treatment, so you can also ask whether that approach is offered.[1][6]
How to Find Addiction Counseling Near You
Look for a provider who can assess your needs and explain the care they offer. Ask your primary care clinician for a referral or use FindTreatment.gov to begin a local search. Check insurance, current openings, appointment times and qualities that matter to you. A listing does not confirm that a provider is accepting patients.[26]
Before booking, ask these questions about the treatment options available:
- Do you treat problems involving the substance I use, and how will you assess what care I need?
- Can you provide or coordinate medication treatment and care for another mental health condition?
- What will I pay for the assessment, ongoing visits and any additional services?
- Are appointments available when I can attend, and can you accommodate my language or accessibility needs?
These questions help compare the program’s services with your circumstances. For alcohol treatment, NIAAA specifically recommends asking about evidence-based options, medication access, co-occurring mental health care, individualized treatment and cost.[2]
Can Online Addiction Counseling Help?
Telehealth lets you receive care remotely, such as by phone or video.[27] It can connect you with substance use treatment, including individual or group counseling and, through some services, medication care. Ask what the particular provider offers. An online counseling appointment does not automatically include prescribing or medical withdrawal management.[28][20]
Before starting, confirm the provider can treat you where you will attend visits, what insurance covers, and any out-of-pocket cost. Ask about experience with your symptoms, a secure platform and the plan if you need more intensive care. You will also need suitable technology and a place where you can speak privately.[29][28]
If you may need medical support for withdrawal, arrange an assessment before relying on online counseling alone. The appropriate level of care depends on your medical risks and support needs.[7][9]
How to Talk with Someone You Are Concerned About
A supportive conversation can begin with concern and an invitation to talk.
Starting a Conversation About Substance Use
“I’m worried about how things have been going. What has this been like for you, and would you like help looking at options?”
If the person wants information, you could look at FindTreatment.gov together or offer the confidential National Helpline number, 1-800-662-HELP (4357). If opioids may be involved, obtaining naloxone is another concrete option to discuss.[3][1]
If someone is unsure about treatment, ask what would make seeking help more manageable. Motivational approaches work with readiness to change, and care should be tailored to the person’s needs.[6]
For information about a planned group meeting, read about formal addiction interventions.
For questions about cultural fit, language and community-specific care, explore addiction treatment in BIPOC communities.
Next Steps for Addiction Help and Recovery
You can start with one step that fits what is happening now. An assessment, a treatment conversation, or help with an immediate risk can give you a clearer way forward.[5][6]
- If you are worried but unsure about change, request an assessment or discuss one immediate risk-reduction step. If opioids may be involved, obtain naloxone and learn how to use it.[1]
- If problems are disrupting daily life, ask about substance-specific medication and behavioral options, co-occurring mental and physical health care, and practical needs such as housing or employment. Treatment should fit the whole person.[6][14]
- If use returns after improvement, treat it as new information. Reassess overdose risk, reconnect with care, and consider whether the treatment intensity, medication, behavioral approach, environment, or recovery support needs to change.[6]
If you are in crisis or thinking about suicide, call or text 988.[3]
Free printable guides: Addiction glossary (PDF, 205 KB) · Dependence, tolerance and addiction (PDF, 196 KB) · Levels of addiction care (PDF, 202 KB) · Check a treatment program (PDF, 203 KB).
You can take the next step at your own pace. Compare treatment centers for substance use and recovery.
For emotional support alongside care, explore online therapy options. A prescribing or medical clinician should manage medication and withdrawal questions.
Frequently Asked Questions About Addiction
Is Addiction a Disease?
Yes. Addiction is a treatable condition that can last a long time and affect the brain and behavior. Treatment helps people manage it and regain control of their lives, much as care helps manage other long-lasting illnesses.[6]
Can Someone Have Addiction Without Daily Use?
Does Withdrawal Prove Addiction?
Does Tolerance Mean a Substance Is Safe for Someone?
Is Medication Just Replacing One Addiction with Another?
Not when medications are appropriately used to treat opioid use disorder. Methadone and buprenorphine do not produce the same intense pleasurable effects as illegal opioids when taken as prescribed for the disorder, and naltrexone is not addictive. These medications have different roles and limitations.[1]
Can the Brain Recover from Addiction?
Improvement is possible. The brain can adapt, an ability called plasticity that supports new learning and changes in behavior. Some alcohol-related changes in the brain and in thinking may improve or possibly reverse over months without drinking. The degree and timing vary, and complete recovery of every change has not been established.[12]
How Long Does Addiction Treatment Take?
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