Two men go to a party; each has his first drink. One man decides drinking is not for him, and never takes another drink again, or if he does, drinks very moderately.

The other man, however, may decide that that beer or mixed drink was the best thing he ever had, and determines that he will continue to drink. He does so, and eventually finds himself with a full-blown addiction to alcohol.

The same goes for drugs. One woman may experiment with drug use, and it is just that: an experiment and one she does not wish to try again, ever. Another may experiment with drug use, and find herself, possibly from the first moment of experimentation, addicted. Two different people. One becomes addicted and one does not. Why that happens is still not clear. What is clear is that there is definitely a problem.

The man who became addicted to alcohol (and, remember, alcohol is a drug, too) will, hopefully, realize before it is too late that help is needed to overcome the addiction. The same goes for the drug-addicted female. Once that realization occurs, it is hoped that both will seek the help needed and begin a program of addiction recovery.

The first thing that both will need to remember is that addiction recovery will not occur within a set amount of time, and if either of them has been told otherwise, they have been told wrong. Granted, they may be the fortunate ones who do experience a quick recovery, although each will still have to face up to the fact that it is an on-going process; or each may find that they are in for a long battle. Whatever the situation, each will need to know that they are not alone, and that they can recover.

A search of web sources turned up this site that advocates “self-recovery”. In other words, addiction recovery can be accomplished on one’s own, with no need to seek treatment, attend sessions or meetings of any form, or to do anything but resolve in one’s mind that he or she is going to stop doing whatever it is he or she has been doing that is addictive. It does make sense. And, there are people out there who have woke up one morning (or afternoon, or evening, or whenever), taken a good hard look at them, and decided right then to put down the bottle or the pipe or the joint or the needle or the pill or whatever. And, they do just that, and they never relapse. So, it can happen, and has happened. But, that doesn’t mean that one is weaker (or stronger for that matter) if he or she decides that it CANNOT be done alone, that help of some form is required.

The only one who can decide what is right for an individual is that person, and no one else. For this reason, organizations like AA and NA, as well as other addiction recovery programs, can and do serve a purpose. So do rehabilitation clinics and centers. If one feels that the help and encouragement provided by the group meeting provided by organizations such as AA and NA is needed, then that is the avenue that should be explored. On the other hand, if it is felt that the faith, stamina, strength, courage, and whatever else it takes to accomplish self-recovery is present in a person, then more power to that person. That is his or her preferred method.Whatever gets a person off drugs, and keeps a person off drugs, is what should be done.