What Percentage of Addicts Stay Clean?

Unfortunately, not even the best treatment programs can prevent addicts from relapsing.

Medically, addiction is known to be a “chronic, relapsing disease” according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). What this definition means is that relapse has a high expected occurrence rate due to the nature of the disease. So, what percentage of addicts stay clean?

According to a study published in 2000, relapse rates for addiction in the first year after stopping are between 40 and 60 percent; similar to other chronic diseases such as asthma, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes mellitus.

If you or a loved one is in need of help with addiction, call 949.569.7517 today to speak with a treatment specialist.

What Percentage of Addicts Stay Clean After a Year in Recovery?

The first year of recovery is often considered to be the hardest time because the recovering person is still adjusting to many of the changes that have occurred in their life. Thankfully, the longer a person stays clean, the lower their relapse risk becomes.

The first years are also a time when a recovering person might stop with their aftercare programs and thus increase their risk of relapse by not actively taking part in their addiction prevention maintenance.

According to one study from 2006, the relapse rates for people based on a 16-year analysis can be as low as 20 percent, suggesting that relapse rates tend to reduce the more time has passed, but it is still reliant on actively managing an addiction through relapse prevention plans and aftercare programs such as the 12-step program.

Does Relapse Mean That Treatment is Not Effective?

A common misconception about high relapse rates after receiving treatment is that relapse means that treatment has failed or that treatment was ineffective. However, what percentage of addicts stay clean doesn’t have a real bearing on the effectiveness of treatment.

To better understand why treatment is not considered a failure if relapse occurs, we must examine why relapse usually happens. One of the reasons why a person may relapse is due to their belief that they no longer needed to actively maintain their sobriety. A recovering person may deem it unnecessary to continue to go to support group meetings and follow their relapse prevention plan after being clean for months. This may ultimately lead them to relapse.

To understand why this is the case with addiction recovery, we must look at other chronic, relapsing diseases with similar relapse rates, such as hypertension. If during treatment for hypertension, the symptoms become manageable, and treatment is deemed effective if the person then decides to stop their maintenance of the disease, then symptoms will likely return, but that doesn’t mean that treatment isn’t effective, it just means that the effective treatment was abandoned.

Addiction works in the same way; by not following through on the long-term relapse prevention and addiction management strategies, one opens up to the possibility of their symptoms returning.

Effective Short- and Long-Term Treatment Solutions

We have established why what percentage of addicts stay clean does not have a bearing on the effectiveness of treatment, but rather stresses the importance and the need for continued maintenance of the disease. With this in mind, we will explore the effective solutions that we provide for long-term recovery from addiction.

Through our inpatient and outpatient programs, you can receive the positive effects of the best-known treatment methods for addiction. After rehab, you will discuss the aftercare programs available to you with your caseworker and the ways to receive extra help in times of crisis. We stress the importance of long-term maintenance of addiction recovery to ensure that our clients are educated on the truths of long-term recovery.

To find help in Orange County, contact us at Dana Point Rehab Campus by dialing 949.569.7517 today to take advantage of the thorough assessment that helps our healthcare professionals to personalize a treatment program to suit your exact treatment needs.