Addiction treatment should focus on attaining craving control. Cravings are like signs on the road to successful addiction treatment. By learning what substances an individual is craving, doctors can determine what kind of neurochemical imbalance the patient has. The substance they crave momentarily alleviates the symptoms of their neurochemical imbalance.
Often times, the neurochemical imbalance(s) of a chemically dependent individual starts off as something he or she is born with. Prolonged drug use then aggravates the imbalance to a further, often dangerous, degree. Detoxifying individuals using medications that make the process safe and less painful gets patients’ neurochemicals back to their innate levels. Then by observing patients and finding out if they are still having cravings and what they are craving, doctors can determine whether their neurochemical imbalance was genetic and something they were born with, or whether the neurochemical imbalance was something that arose simply because of drug use. Whatever the case, adjusting treatment plans to each individual’s cravings helps them attain craving control.
In order to prevent relapse and maintain successful craving control, individuals with genetic neurochemical imbalances can be prescribed non-addictive medications that correct the imbalances and help to improve patients’ quality of life. Evading relapse and maintaining craving control is possible, with the right tools and the right knowledge.