Despite having been classified as a mental disorder, substance addiction still isn’t considered as such by most of the people. That’s because they don’t know the functioning mechanism behind opioids, as well as any other substance with the potential of inflicting an addictive behavior. America’s Rehab Campuses is among the few rehabilitation centers where we value education more than anything else. People who are informed and educated can make better decisions for themselves.

All programs of drug addiction rehab in California consider educating people on the top of the list of priorities. So, what is an addiction and how does it work? Contrary to popular belief, addicts can no longer control their behaviors. In a sense, they are responsible, in general, for the situation they are in but are not responsible for continuing the drug intake. They have no choice in the matter.

Opioids, like any other substance of similar nature (alcohol included), affect the brain’s chemical map and rewire it completely. By attacking the opioid receptors in the nervous system, drugs signal the brain to release massive amounts of dopamine, inducing deep muscle relaxation, pain numbness, euphoria, olfactory hallucinations and so on. In reality, there is little difference between narcotics and any other addiction-inducing substance, outside the intensity and some slightly varying side-effects.

Caffeine and chocolate can cause addiction, albeit at significantly lower levels compared to cocaine or methamphetamine. But coffee drinkers know it’s true. There are pretty much the same withdrawal symptoms when being addicted to coffee as those related to any high-potency opioid.

Can we cure drug addiction?

Every program of drug addiction rehab in California, or anywhere else on the planet, really, is confronted with two vital problems: determining the underlying factors that have caused the addiction and rewiring the patient’s nervous system to a point where relapse will never be an issue. The twist? Neither of these problems has definitive answers.

Concerning the first one, we already know the functioning mechanism behind narcotics. What we don’t know and find it hard to determine is why people begin consuming drugs in the first place. We also don’t know what will make them relapse and how to prevent that from happening with 100% accuracy in each case. According to the data collected over several years from multiple rehabilitation institutions, close to 90% of the drug and alcohol addicts will relapse within the first year following any rehab program.

This is the estimation, but the figure is probably close to 100%. Despite these aspects, however, rehabilitation programs remain the addict’s best chance of returning to a healthy life. There are no shortcuts with drug addiction; it is either the long and hard way or the death way. For this reason, drug addiction rehab in California uses multiple clinical and psychiatric procedures to not only tame addiction and lower the risk of relapse.

America’s Rehab Campuses is not only among the top rehabilitation institutions in the country but one of the most developed ones as well. Addiction is a cruel disease which can advance fast if left untreated. Don’t take that risk and sign in our rehab program now!