Many people will go through life never knowing what it's like to have a family member who is addicted to drugs or alcohol. If you're one of these people, consider yourself lucky. Given that the "war on drugs" of decades past was never declared a "mission accomplished," everyday there are millions of families who face the horrors of drug addiction via someone they love. Substance abuse does not affect just one individual, but everyone around them...everyone who loves them, cares about them, or encounters them daily. Drug and alcohol addiction, if left unchecked, can have a major domino effect, resulting in consequences that are faced from the moment it starts to much later down the road. For drug and alcohol users who are still in the early phases of addiction and still have a little discretion left to make the decision to get help, this is the best possible scenario to avoid a great deal of agony for themselves and their families later on. Once it gets past the point that the abuser is willing to make that decision, the problem then becomes the burden of loved ones. Addiction treatment, no matter under which circumstances it is sought, must be followed through from start to finish for it to be effective. Even after alcohol or drug rehab is complete, the addict must continue to make decisions that are conducive to a sober lifestyle for the rest of their lives. Drug rehab will supply them with the coping skills necessary to do this. You can pretty much bet that severe substance abuse will never be completely eradicated without proper addiction treatment. There have been very few cases in which addicts have battled the problem on their own and come out on top in the end. The road to recovery can be terribly lonely and even impassable without help along the way. Addiction treatment centers have specialists that are skilled in the techniques of healing--physical, emotional, and psychological--that are indispensable weapons to battling the problem. Drug rehab facilities also have something that can't be found on the streets: a support system of people who are going through the exact same thing. Many prior addicts will tell you that they wouldn't have made it without support from their peers. Very few will tell you that they recovered by going it alone.
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