The faces of recovery are as diverse as you can imagine. Decades ago, there were common stereotypes of addicts as people who looked a certain way and likely came from a shady side of the tracks.

Today, we now understand that addiction has impacted nearly every family and community across the country. It has crept into mainstream life to such a large extent that the old stereotypes have faded away, and in their place are pictures of everyday people like the ones we know and love.

Opioid addiction is an illness that can be successfully treated. This new reality provides hope and assurance that nearly any person, with proper support and treatment, can successfully manage this illness and regain their life.

However, the odds are not good for individuals who stay in active addiction and who postpone their entry into professional care. With the widespread proliferation of fentanyl and other adulterated street opiates, the risks have never been greater.

In the United States, there are a significant number of methadone clinics, buprenorphine clinics, and qualified physicians who specialize in the treatment of opioid addition using medication-assisted approaches. For the vast majority of opioid addicted people, medication is key in helping them to prevent extremely diffcult opioid withdrawal.

Once withdrawal sickness is effectively eliminated, then counseling & support can help restore a person’s life and open up new paths to the future.

The science of treating opioid addiction has become increasingly popular in both medical circles and in the addiction treatment community.

For decades, medical professionals and even popular recovery organizations did not quite understand how giving an opioid addict a replacement medication could actually facilitate recovery.

Part of the dilemma was that those who defined “recovery” did so using an old school philosophical approach originally crafted for alcoholism. But science has taught us that not all addictions are exactly the same. While there are certainly commonalities between the various substance use disorders, there are very important distinctions and differences which affect the recovery process.

You cannot prescribe a medication that is effective with depression, and expect that same medication to resolve schizophrenia or an anxiety disorder. While they are all mental health disorders that can debilitate a patient, there are critical differences between these disorders and in the overall treatment plan for addressing each one.

Similarly with addiction, science is teaching us that a one-size-fits-all approach to addiction recovery is detrimental and often unproductive.

With opioid addiction in particular, the disease progression is quite unlike most other addictive illnesses. While the medical profession has evolved that understanding, the recovery community and general society has at times struggled to comprehend the necessity of medication-assisted treatment for the opioid addicted.

Physicians, Nurse Practitioners, PA’s, Nurses, and Counselors all play a part in educating patients, their families, the community, and government on the key role that medication plays in the successful management of an opioid use disorder. Methadone, subutex, suboxone, vivitrol, and other medication choices make the difference between recovery success and repeated recovery failures.