The Stages of Addiction: A Complete Guide

The cycle of addiction can be life destroying.

Everyone’s experience of addiction is different: From how they got there to how they get out of it.

There are numerous theoretical models which give an explanation as to how someone gets caught up in the madness of addiction those these tend to be centred around alcohol.

Here we examine modelling around addiction and the science behind it. We will also look at treatment options.

Humans are individuals. Not everyone’s addiction will follow the cycle in same way. Some will repeat some of the stages of the cycle, others move across it without encountering all the stages: That’s life!

If you understand the cycle of addiction you are in a better position to get help.

Initial Use/Casual usage

Having a few pints after work on a Friday or a line of coke on payday: Not unusual. You have it under control.

You don’t spend your week craving and you can take it or leave it.

Regular Involvement and Dependency

A pattern is starting to evolve.

Being late for work because of a hangover, using the money for the electricity bill to pay for drugs: The problems are starting.

At this stage the person is actively seeking to use. It may be because they are struggling to cope with a personal problem, stress or a work problem.

This continued use will lead to dependency. Using drugs and alcohol to achieve a feeling of euphoria or to ease pain or dull reality: This is addiction.

Many people begin opioid addiction through valid prescriptions of pain medication.

The brain will become accustomed to the presence of the medication on receptors. In time, your brain develops a tolerance. This means that you will need more and more to have the same effect as the original dose.

The feeling you got when you first took it you no longer get. Your doctor won’t increase your script and may, actively, be trying to reduce your reliance on it.

Lie about losing your script, making a false police report that you got mugged and your pills were in your backpack: Our clinicians have heard all of these excuses. The next step is the internet but you could be buying anything. Then comes street dealers.

Harmful Involvement

Taking drugs and alcohol is now causing significant problems in one or more areas of their life, potentially affecting family members , friends and colleagues.

Dependent Involvement, Addiction and Tolerance

You know that drugs and alcohol is causing you serious problems, There may have been times when you tried to reduce or stop.

A lot of your time is spent pondering and worrying about your drug and alcohol use but your mind won’t allow you to stop using.

Despite the carnage it may be causing, you can not stop.

Not everyone will realise that the problem is as bad as it is. This merely perpetuates the situation.

Some people will try and stop and will experience the physical symptoms that come with sudden cessation.

Due to the tolerance created through continued use, you need ever increasing amounts to have the same effect as the amount you started with. This is due to neurological changes in the brain.

Addictive drugs initiate enhanced responses when they cross receptors in the brain. They flood the brain with feelings of reward and pleasure ten times more than for someone who is not addicted.

The brain will associate this surge with drugs/alcohol. However, the brain will become far less sensitive to dopamine (feel good chemicals). This means that the craving for the pleasure you get from drugs and alcohol increases but, due to tolerance, you need ever increasing amounts to get relief.

Changes in the Brain

In time, the brain will not produce the amount of dopamine it used to. This is because addictive drugs go around the normal processes of dopamine production but continue to directly increase dopamine levels as a reward for drug taking.

When you get into this state, non drug taking activity simply doesn’t motivate you: Taking drugs and drinking alcohol does. This is due to dopamine production.

Eventually, drug and alcohol consumption triggers reduced amounts of dopamine when using drugs/alcohol. When this happens the brains reward system becomes very de-sensitised to the use of alcohol and drugs as well as normal life events.

This simply leads to a vicious circle which simply increases the addiction. Your brain has developed tolerance, you need more and more of the drug/alcohol to feel the same effect. If you can’t use you feel unrelenting cravings and your mood crashes: fast.

At this point the user knows that there use is out of control. Using becomes all encompassing. This is the cycle of addiction.

Temporary abstinence

People, when they realise that they have a serious problem, will sometimes try and stop by themselves. This can be extremely dangerous. Some drugs, and especially alcohol, can not simply be withdrawn from without medical intervention. It can be fatal.

There are a few substances that you might be able to recover from without specialist help. The problem is that the cravings will be so intense that, when you succumb, you run the risk of accidental overdose.

This happens because you will take an amount you think you need to settle yourself. Your tolerance to the substance will have reduced, substantially. This means that your brain will not be able to cope and incorrect chemical messages are fired off. This can result in an overdose. Sometimes a fatal one.

Recovery

After detox/rehab the user feels positive and is able to abstain from further use.

By attending support groups and using their rehab centres aftercare provision the person can continue to live a life of abstinence for a good period of time.

Relapse

Relapse is part of the cycle of addiction. It is not failure.

It can take the brain over six months to re-wire after detox. The cravings can persist, even after rehab. This is not a lack of willpower but science.

For some, it can taken several attempts to achieve long term abstinence.

Treatment

Detox, therapy, relapse prevention skills training and aftercare: This is how you recover.

While some people can be treated at home, the best outcomes are always in residential treatment.

Without detox your brain won’t respond to therapy. Without relapse prevention you won’t be able to deal with challenges when you go home.

Aftercare means continued support from your rehab centre. This is always included in the cost of rehab and is given for, at least, 12 months post treatment.

Find Me a Rehab Provides Free Clinician Advice and Referrals

We are experienced addictions clinicians who work in this sector.

Our advice (and if required, a referral) is free. We can advise on what you need: and what you don’t need.

Keeping costs down is important: We understand.

We are registered with the Information Commissioners Office and only signpost to services that are registered with the appropriate regulatory body such as the CQC for services in England.

If you know about the cycle of addiction, you are in a position to do something about breaking it.

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