Addiction Masterclass: The Stages of Recovery

Often the term addiction recovery is used as this all encompassing concept. However, that couldn't be further from the truth, because recovery happens in distinct stages. I'm Evan. I'm your resident addiction and mental health therapist, and this is my addiction masterclass. And today I'm going to break down each stage of recovery. And what you could expect, whether you or a loved one, is going through the stages. Now, there's no perfect or official way to break down the stages of recovery. However, through.

Through my personal and professional experience, I found there to be about four distinct stages that people go through on the recovery journey. So let's break them down. The first stage of recovery I like to refer to as acute recovery, and that could be anywhere from about one to three weeks, and that's when you're essentially in withdrawal. Now, even if you're not in severe withdrawal from an addiction like alcohol or benzodiazepine, even opioid, something like cannabis, can have a lot of impact when you first come off of it.

Your body is used to having that substance every day, or almost every day that serves many different bodily and psychological functions. So that first day getting off is extremely difficult. And as your body continues to go through withdrawal, it can get even more difficult. Now, typically, that does peak around a handful of days, up to two or three weeks. Now, since this stage is the hardest on the mind and body, it's extremely important to have the proper resources, and that is both mental health as well as medical.

So for some people, it requires them being in an acute detox facility, maybe one, two, three, or five days, just to make sure they're safe, that they're getting the medications they need. Now, the other thing about this stage of recovery is this is where you're probably gonna have the most intense cravings. Your body's in withdrawal. It feels like it needs those substances to fulfill certain bodily functions. And this is why, at this stage, it's so important to have the proper services. For example, people really benefit from inpatient treatment, or also known as residential treatment, where they are staying at the facility.

That way, they don't have that same type of temptation, or at least it's not too easy to just go pick up and use at your first whim. Now, once you're able to get through this most difficult stage of recovery, where you're having the most extreme cravings and withdrawal, we move into the next stage, which I call early recovery. Now, the concept of early recovery is pretty common and usually a pretty blanket term. And I typically put that anywhere from around a month up until six months. Now, there could be quite a big difference between a month and six months.

However, by that time, your body is starting to adjust. You're not having that same level of cravings all the time. Your body's able to get through. Now, you may have some post acute withdrawal symptoms which could last up to a year, but those tend to be a little bit more mild and easier to manage. Now, in many ways, this stage is bittersweet, because on one end, you're still dealing with a lot of the consequences from your use. Maybe you are still in treatment or you're getting out of treatment.

You're not sure what you want to do with your life. If you want to go back to the career you once had, or maybe you'd never had a career in the first place, and you're trying to figure out what you want to do. You're also trying to mend your relationships and really try to learn who you are in recovery. Now, on the other end, this phase could be quite exciting. Some people may call it the pink cloud effect, because everything is new, it's novel, you're starting to feel better, and life is taking on a different form.

You're not having those same consequences, you're meeting new people and things just tend to be exciting. And we addicts kind of like that. Now, even though life is tending to get better, it's still a very high risk stage. Your body is still adjusting, you're still a bit raw, you're still dealing with consequences. You're trying to figure out who you are mentally and emotionally, developing new coping skills, and that's difficult. It's like continuing to learn a new skill. You're not always going to be great at it off the bat, and it takes practice.

This is also why it's so important to build a strong, solid recovery support network. When you get out of treatment or you're just getting into recovery, it's crucial to have those connections, to be surrounded by other people going through the same thing or other supportive people in your life to get you through those tough times when you want to relapse. The next phase, let's go ahead and call mid recovery and we can put this anywhere at six, nine months, up to two years. Now, at this phase, you become more established, you're more confident in your recovery.

It's become more of a way of life, it's second nature. And in many ways you may have taken on leadership roles. People are starting to look up to you, and recovery becomes a big part of your purpose. Now of course, it's different for everyone, and not everyone does a twelve step program or gets involved in a recovery community. And for those individuals, it's still getting easier, it's still second nature for them, and they're starting to enjoy the benefits of what recovery is bringing, just like everyone else.

I find that when people in mid recovery are continuing to stay connected using those coping skills, being involved, they tend to do much better. They're in a much safer place. They're enjoying some of the benefits of recovery, but it doesn't come without its risks. As we talked about in early recovery, sometimes there's this pink cloud effect where everything is new, novel and exciting, and at this point it's starting to wear off. You're just kind of settling into normal life, of having a career, family, whatever that may mean for you.

And sometimes that can get a little boring. Often we use to avoid those things because they weren't enough for us, they weren't exciting or they were too stressful. While not only can they get bored, sometimes folks can get disillusioned with recovery thinking. Is this it? Is this what I worked for? However, I find that when people really get involved in the recovery community, when they really build a life worth living, when they have coping skills to get through those hard times, they do a lot better and they're much less likely to relapse at this phase.

Now, this last phase of recovery, let's go ahead and call the maintenance phase, just like the stages of change. And this is where you're in a place that is much more protected. This is anywhere from two years and beyond, and it just continues to get better the longer you are in recovery and the more you stay connected. Now, this phase is truly the light at the end of the tunnel. And the question is, what does a life in recovery look like? Or in fact the rest of your life or many people? That's quite a lot of years.

So in this next video, I'm going to break down in deeper detail this maintenance phase of recovery and really often a vision for you. This is going to be the last video, and I want to share my last pieces of parting advice as you or a loved one gets into that maintenance or late phase of recovery.