The Cause of Relapse

Why Addicts Cannot Stop Using Drugs or Alcohol

Read This Page. This is vital information explaining how drug and alcohol addiction works. It also tells you how the Vista Bay drug rehabilitation program helps its students to completely defeat their addictions for you.

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The two major causes for drug and alcohol addiction have been identified. They are:

• Mental and physical cravings caused by drug residues which remain in the body long after a person quits using the drug; and.
• The "Biochemical Personality" -- the "way of thinking" that is caused by drug addiction and the lifestyle an addict adopts to get drugs and live with a drug habit.

These two situations are intricately linked. Both must be identified and dealt with in order to free oneself of any addictive behavior.

Drug Residues: What they are and how they work

Some of you may be old enough to remember the 1980s. Drug abuse was then (as it is now) a growing concern in the United States. First Lady Nancy Reagan decided to get on the anti-drug bandwagon, as you might expect from the wife of the President. She announced what she thought was an amazing idea for an anti drug campaign: “Just Say No.”

If only it were that easy. An addict can "just say no" a thousand times, but it only takes saying "yes" one time to start the cycle of addiction again.

Several decades ago, the biochemical aspects of drug addiction were discovered. This led to the most successful approach to rehabilitation in existence; that is the program used daily and confidently at Vista Bay.

When a person uses drugs over a period of time, the body becomes unable to completely eliminate all traces of those substances. These traces are called “drug metabolites” and are stored in the fatty tissues. As the cells in these tissues slowly replace themselves over time, the stored drug metabolites are released into the blood stream. This reactivates the same brain centers as if the person recently took the drug. These traces trigger the cravings for the drug. They also re-trigger the”Biochemical Personality" traits that tempt a person into relapse.

Left unattended, these manifestations can haunt a person for years, even if they have sobered up. Without treatment they can trigger a serious relapse.

These unresolved symptoms and manifestations, create an underlying low-level type of stress that the addict cannot ignore. Usually, saying “no” is not enough. Other methods for treating the symptoms must be applied.

The Cycle of Quitting, Withdrawal, Craving And Relapse

When the addict quits, brain cells that are used to large amounts of these metabolites are now forced to deal with much decreased amounts. Even as the withdrawal symptoms subside, the brain "demands" more drugs. This is what the addict recognizes as a craving.

Cravings are extremely powerful. They can cause a person to create all kinds of "reasons" to start using drugs again. This creates an endless cycle of trying to quit, craving, relapse and fear of withdrawal.

Eventually, the brain cells again become used to having lowered drug metabolites. But, stored drug metabolites eventually rerelease back into the bloodstream. This can go on for years. So craving and relapse remain a cause for concern.

Left unhandled, even microscopic amounts of metabolites cause the brain to react as if the addict taken the drug again. This can lead to relapse even after years of sobriety.

Handling the Drug Metabolites

Vista Bay utilizes a combination of exercise, induced sweating in a sauna, and nutritional supplements to eliminate metabolites from the body of the addict.

No drugs of any kind are ever used at Vista Bay. This type of treatment is redundant, as it gives the addict something else to rehabilitate from.

The results of this phase of the Vista Bay program are:

• Reduction or elimination of drug and alcohol cravings.
• Reduction or elimination of many symptoms associated with drug addiction and alcoholism. These can include depression, irritability, and fatigue.
• Ability to think more clearly.
• Improved memory and attention span.
• Increased energy.
• Increased sense of well being.
• Enthusiasm toward Life.

Handling the "Biochemical Personality"

Once the physical setbacks of addiction are handled, we are ready to tackle the psychological aspects of the problem.

Every student at Vista Bay takes a series of specialized study courses that aid the addict in recognizing and defeating the self destructive thought processes of addiction. .

These unique cognitive and objective therapies are followed by life skills training. This training is taught in easily understood phases that build on each other.

The recovery program is complete when the former addict recognizes and accepts responsibility for old habit patterns. He understands the "reasons why". His relationships with himself, his family, friends and environment are fully examined and rehabilitated.

The person's own self-determination to be free of physical or mental "hooks" into past cravings and behavior allows him to regain his own true nature. He is truly free and no longer an addict.

As so many program graduates say, "The future is once again accessible, and anything is possible."