If you’re having a hard time quitting drugs or alcohol, you may be wondering, is addiction a choice? The short answer is no, but it is more complicated than it sounds. While it’s true that substance use begins as a voluntary action, it evolves over time into something much more powerful. Substance use that has developed into a full-blown addiction is, in fact, a disease.
Is Addiction a Choice?
The answer to, “is addiction a choice,” is simple once you understand how addiction works.
By definition, addiction is a progressive disease that causes users to feel overwhelming and recurring urges to seek and abuse a particular mind-altering substance. Users get caught in a pattern of chasing the high that their substance of choice produces. Many people will continue to abuse drugs and alcohol, even when their actions put themselves and others in the direct path of harm.
Sadly, there are many people who want to quit, but don’t know how. Withdrawal and relapse can keep users entwined in the cycle of addiction for months, or even years. Some people suffer from addiction for a decade or longer before finally reaching out for help.
Fortunately, there are rehab centers in the Portland area that can help you stop using and get back on the right track. Quality treatment can help you recover your sobriety, overall health, and independence. You can learn helpful relapse prevention tools and other methods for managing long-term results.
What you need from treatment will depend on your past experiences with addiction, any possible mental illnesses or past traumas, family genetics, and other factors. Ideally, you should find treatment that can be personalized to best suit your recovery needs. Treatment should also target each of your physical, emotional, and spiritual imbalances. Otherwise, you will remain at high risk for relapse in the future.
Regardless of what your history with addiction looks like, addiction counseling can be beneficial. There is usually an underlying cause for abusive behaviors. Therapy can help you identify why you abuse drugs or alcohol and what your addiction triggers are. From there, you can start working through your problems and building healthy coping skills. You’ll also relearn some simple but relevant life skills that can be used once you return to your real life after treatment.
Crestview Recovery Offers the Programs You Need
Now that you know the answer to, is addiction a choice, it’s time to start looking for help you can trust. Crestview Recovery in Portland, OR, is a drug and alcohol treatment center where you can find quality and compassionate care. Our programs and therapies can help you get sober and headed towards a happier future.
We offer:
- Detox referrals – not performed on-site
- Partial hospitalization program
- Intensive outpatient program
- Aftercare
- Addiction counseling
- Dual diagnosis treatment
Recovery from drugs and alcohol doesn’t have to be a complicated or stressful experience. At Crestview Recovery in Portland, OR, we can personalize a treatment plan just for you. To learn more about what we offer and how we can help you, call our office today at 8662620531.
Since 2016, Dr. Merle Williamson, a graduate of Oregon Health Sciences University, has been the Medical Director at Crestview Recovery, bringing a rich background in addiction medicine from his time at Hazelden Treatment Center. He oversees outpatient drug and alcohol treatments, providing medical care, setting policies, detox protocols, and quality assurance measures. Before specializing in addiction medicine, he spent 25 years in anesthesiology, serving as Chair of Hospital Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee and Chief of Anesthesia at Kaiser Permanente. This experience gives him a unique perspective on treating prescription drug addiction.
