Drug and alcohol dependency is a multidimensional biomedical/psychological/social and spiritual problem. There are different levels of severity, and recovery success is dependent on a lot of things: type of substance, how much is used, how often, and for what overall length of time. There are other factors involved including health issues, mental health issues, quality of family and social support, presence or absence of the structure and goal orientation of work, willingness and openness to participate in a growth and change process and so on.

Each substance has a withdrawal syndrome. There is acute withdrawal and post acute withdrawal or PAWS. PAWS involves stress insensitivity, mood dysregulation, anxiety and irritability, cognitive difficulties including short term memory loss and problems with comprehension, physical incoordination, and problems with sleep and overall fatigue. PAWS can last up to 2 years.

So - stopping on your own without professional help and an appropriate accountability structure usually doesn't work. Many can attain short term sobriety, but without ongoing support end up relapsing and are back to using at the same level or worse off than before.

I strongly encourage anyone who is struggling with a chemical dependency to get a professional assessment and follow all recommendations.

Recovery is for the courageous!