Can I just use willpower to stop using drugs?

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What is drug addiction?


Drug addiction is when you can’t stop taking the drug even if you want to. The urge is too strong to control, even if you know the drug is causing harm. The addiction can become more important than the need to eat or sleep. The urge to get and use the drug can fill every moment of your life. The addiction replaces all the things you used to enjoy. A person who is addicted might do almost anything—lie, steal, or hurt people—to keep taking the drug. This can lead to problems with your family and friends, and can even lead to arrest and jail. You can get addicted to illegal drugs as well as prescription drugs if you misuse them.


Drug addiction is a chronic disease. That means it stays with you for a long time, even if you stop using for a while. It doesn't go away like a cold. A person with an addiction can get treatment, but quitting for good can be very hard.






Can I just use willpower to stop using drugs?


At first, taking drugs is usually your choice. But as you continue to take them, using self-control can become harder and harder; this is the biggest sign of addiction. Brain studies of people with addiction show physical changes in parts of the brain that are very important for judgment, making decisions, learning and memory, and controlling behavior. Scientists have shown that when this happens to the brain, it changes how the brain works and it explains the harmful behaviors of addiction that are so hard to control.




If I stay off drugs for a while (e.g., in the criminal justice system or in residential treatment), will it be easy to remain drug-free?

Sometimes people quit their drug use for a while because they’re away from triggers that remind them about their drug use. Away from home, drugs might be less available. Once you go back to normal life, you’re likely to start using again unless you take action to avoid your triggers. This return to drug use is called a relapse. People recovering from addiction often have one or more relapses along the way if they don’t take steps to avoid their triggers.

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