Methamphetamine Addiction

Question: Please help me understand the statistics regarding methamphetamine addiction to help my own recovery.?

(Posted by: on 2010-10-21 14:57:14)

I used meth for 10 years. 6 months ago I sought a behavioral therapist and started recovery. About a month ago I became severely depressed and discouraged with my progress. Today I decided to look up statistics regarding addiction recovery and discovered a very low success rate (10 %). I found this information to be a relief because i was starting to think my recovery was slow and difficult just for me. I would like to know if there have been any studies or statistics done on the rate of recovery on those who are successful. Now that I know that its going to be a lot more hard work for a munch longer time I feel relived but would still like to have an idea of how long it took those successful to be successful ie: a contributing member of society or lack of a better word normal?

Posted by: A Person on 2010-10-21, 15:39:38

I want to say that I really admire your strength and commitment to staying sober. You are correct, recovery is an extremely difficult process, and considering you are coming off a stimulant, makes it all the more difficult- What goes up must come down before it balances out. There is a very low success rate, and in fact, Relapse is included in the definition of addiction/ dependency. In fact, it is suggested that those who are more committed to recovery and abstinence have a more difficult time with recovery (Thombs?). I don't have any stats on hand now, but try to remember that there are usually three stages to recovery from stimulants: 1. the Crash, 2. the withdrawal, and 3. Extinction- during which deep depression can come and go along with cravings before it subsides. It's a long and extremely difficult process. More broadly, it sounds like you are entering the "Maintenance stage " of recovery. Look up DiClemente's 6 stages of change. Know that it is not only you, this is a difficult and long process for many, if not most. As for length of time it takes to recover, it's different for everyone. Take it at your own pace. It sounds like you are determined, although you may have doubts at times. Keep working at at. I wish you the best.

Posted by: meditator2 on 2010-10-24, 03:57:00

It sounds like you have made good progress and there always will be temptations. You might also benefit by having group support by going to na or even just a group psychotherapy situation where issues can be discussed and you can hear others' struggles. Stopping patterns from the past such as seeing friends that still use or thinking about someone who broke your heart etc are helpful so that things don't pull you down. Also, try to increase the things in your life that give you natural joy like walking near a lake or seeing something beautiful. Yoga and certain forms of exercise are also helpful to stimulate the pituatary and pineal glands . Meditator