If a reader were to assume that this website is about curing addiction, that would be correct, but not exclusively so. Prepare for some disappointing news… In the context of substance abuse, recovery often means improvement, not achieving perfection.

A recovering addict can most certainly look forward to improved wellness, but not necessarily to eternal perfect health. True recovery implies a life lived on the basis of self-direction by the more sane brain cells; not blind obedience to the demands of a physical addiction, nor to regret over having lost the familiar comfort of that attachment. Recovery could even mean that the individual is now concerned with such lofty ambitions as fulfilling their own creative and productive potentials, as well as conducting their affairs in such a way as to not harm the people closest to them. 

And most of all, capital-R Recovery implies permanency. The nightmare is over: The beloved husband, wife, daughter, son, father, mother, or friend is okay and will remain so. But no. In the vocabulary of recovery, abstinence is not the only legitimate definition, nor is “cure” a word commonly found. Recovery is non-linear, personal, and particular, while the individual’s own goals and particular definition of “quality of life” are the essential parameters.

Unfortunately, for a bystander, one condition of a loved one’s recovery is the knowledge that your heart may still be broken over and over again.

Perhaps the most widely known example of doubtful scorn is expressed against Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), whose critics enjoy reciting numbers that are discouragingly low. But Clear Steps Recovery explains their provenance and meaning, and goes into some particulars in meticulous detail. The website also explains why statistics are so hard to track — does the word “anonymous” ring a bell? One facet of that anonymity wrinkle is that successful quitters may not be reachable afterward to contribute to the statistics. In this realm, too much attachment to the alleged numbers is really not helpful

Cynics love to cite the alleged failure rate of AA without granting appropriate respect and gratitude for the times it has worked — for people who would otherwise have been irretrievably lost.

Bottom line is, substance use disorder (SUD) is otherwise known as a chronic, relapsing brain disease, and often the recovery category, also known as “long-term management,” is the best that can be hoped for. And it sure beats the alternative!

One characteristic of serious addiction is the wide swings. A person might feel absolutely awful or transcendently euphoric, but rarely experience anything like a relatively stable middle ground. Consequently, with a recovery process, a pessimist might say the most you can look forward to is not being a total general mess like before, but graduating up to becoming a partial, particular, part-time mess.

But you know what? That’s enough to save your life and provide a platform, or at least a place in which to experience a little stability, while figuring out the rest of the trip and making preparations for it.

One form of success is biological stability. Also, psychological health can have many facets, including “the development of coping mechanisms, the resolution of underlying trauma or co-occurring mental health disorders (dual diagnosis), and the ability to manage triggers without returning to substance use.”

Under this model, success is not viewed as a destination but as the maintenance of stability. A relapse is often framed not as a total failure or a return to “square one,” but merely as a clinical indicator that the treatment plan needs adjustment.

Sometimes, success in this area means not banishment, but management. Cravings can be cut down to a bearable level with MAT, which is medication-assisted treatment, and don’t knock it, because it is all-around preferable to being a gutter-crawling junkie, any day of the week.

Written by Pat Hartman. First published October 15, 2026.

Sources:

“AA Success Rate Statistics: What Every Widely Cited Number Actually Shows,” ClearStepsRecovery.com, August 4, 2026.

“Social Integration in Recovery Living Environments: A Dynamic Network Approach,” NIH.gov, October 28, 2021.

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