Why Recovering Addicts Give Up on Their Treatment.
- Sep 8, 2018
- 10 min read
Updated: Aug 3
Addiction recovery is an incredibly challenging process, and it's understandable to feel overwhelmed. Many people struggle with the same thoughts and feelings you may be experiencing. We can help you understand the common reasons people get discouraged and how to navigate those challenges.
Why do recovering addicts give up on treatment?
Recovering addicts often give up on treatment because they expect fast results, lack self-belief, or feel their problems are unique. Other reasons include getting stuck in the past, feeling sorry for themselves, resisting change, and viewing failure as a reason to quit rather than a learning opportunity.
The journey to recovery is a marathon, not a sprint, and it's common to face internal battles that feel impossible to win. While these struggles might seem simple on the surface, they often hide deep, complex emotions and underlying trauma. These are some of the most common reasons people step away from their recovery process.
Let's explore each of these core issues in more detail to help you understand them and provide strategies for moving forward.
What makes the addiction recovery and treatment process so challenging?
The addiction recovery and treatment process is one of the toughest gauntlets that any affected human will ever face. Those who have not been through addiction cannot understand how tough it is to overcome the inner demons that plague the process of self-recovery.
Much of what is traumatizing a person going through addiction recovery is not only the addictive substance but also the reasons that led them to addiction in the first place. Understanding these underlying causes is a crucial step toward healing. However, for some, facing these reasons can shake their progress and cause them to lose direction. When recovering addicts give up treatment, those outside the process might see it as a sign of weakness or fear.
But anyone closely involved in addiction recovery knows that’s far from the truth. There are often deep, complex issues behind the decision to walk away from recovery. Even if someone doesn’t relapse, stepping away from treatment too soon can leave them unprepared for the challenges of everyday life.
Anyone who has gone through recovery understands how hard it is. The urge to give up may feel justified at times. But walking away means leaving behind all the progress made. You’ve put in the work, climbed the toughest part of the mountain, and the summit is in sight. Don’t stop now.
The actual reasons addicts give up.
At face value, these issues and struggles are quite simple but underneath are many underlying complex emotions and emotional damage that hinders the recovery process. Let us list some of the more popular or even less so reasons why recovering addicts might leave their recovery process
Recovering Addicts Give Up Treatment: Expects Fast Results
Considering the amount of work invested, in such a small amount of time, you might expect that results would start coming immediately. The results will come in slowly, and only after a lot of hard work. When results do come, you can feel your life turning around but getting through the difficult early stages makes everyone queasy.
Performing the actual work makes many recovering addicts very uneasy and can even bring them to the verge of collapse. It is almost like a joke about newcomers at the Gym. They go in, work for an hour, and expect results by the end of the day.
Of course, they are not going to get the results they are seeking unless they work long term, eat a nutritious diet, and maintain that healthy lifestyle for as long as they wish to maintain that level of health.
Even if they do temporarily discontinue their work out, their bodies will continue to reap the benefits of their healthy lifestyle. You have to get through all the steps and processes involved to unravel the long trail of problems behind you… the ones that brought you to addiction in the first place.
Addiction Recovery Patients Stop Believing in Themselves
Recovery is a long and hard process, and it is easy to find yourself overcome with emotion. One of the biggest emotions recovering addicts usually encounter is a loss in self-belief.
Though the recovering addicts, and to a larger extent the average population, may not realize it, addiction recovery is mostly an internal battle with oneself rather than the addictive substance they want to avoid.
Many addicts claim that it’s not the substance but rather the emotional trauma behind all of their pain that drives them to the substance. Breaking down this trauma is one hard journey. You are literally at war with yourself and your mind.
Your mind has become complacent and allowed these emotions to seep into your very personality. Many people, even after tough work and difficult circumstances, still cannot drop all of those emotional walls that they set up as a result of years of imbalance. Because of this emotional imbalance, they may lose faith in their quest for recovery.
The most important self-recovery aspect taught in treatment is that you are a new person from the point you start bettering yourself. The past self, whatever you may have done, is part of you and in some way has led you to strive to become a better person.
You must either forget or accept. Temporarily losing belief is normal. You will surely encounter a lot of roadblocks. You might feel that you are not the type of person who is equipped to deal with problems like this but you would be in for a surprise if you continuously apply yourself.
Addicts get Stuck in the Past
Addicts tend to get stuck in the past and especially dwell on traumatic experiences that got them into trouble. While it is understandable, this type of thinking is of no use. Recovering addicts feel as if the things they have done and the experiences they have been through cannot be forgiven. The only acceptance or even forgiveness that they have to look for is from themselves.
Getting stuck in the past is something that can and will hold you back constantly. It is living in the past. Reliving those past events again and again and invoking those feelings constantly puts recovering addicts in that same negative headspace all the time. They find it harder and harder to let those memories or events go since they feel that the past defines who they are as a person right now.
But those experiences from the past can be overwritten with new events and new happenings, better choices that define you as a person from now on. Who you are as a person is a conglomerate of all your past events. Recovering addicts find it hard to forget their past. The usual advice given to them is to build new experiences on top and make them your defining experiences.
Recovering Addicts Feel Their Problems Are Unique
A harsh way to put it would say “You ain’t special, snowflake” And it is the truth.
So many recovering addicts feel as though their problems are unique and no one has gone through what they have. That is not true at all. While individual experiences might differ, the story and the result are the same. Anyone who is involved with the recovery process, like doctors and therapists, can tell you that they have heard the same story over and over again and the only things that change are the faces and names.
This is an important thing for recovering addicts to realize. They think that because their problem is so unique and different, the recovery process will be difficult and that doctors and therapists will be stunned by listening to their unique problems. The truth is that this is the job of these doctors and therapists, Listening and helping addicts every day, and there is little that has not already heard.
Once a recovering addict realizes that their problems are not unique, that awareness can serve as some validation. Other people have been through this and have succeeded. Seeing people with the same problems can be validating, and you may finally realize that you are not alone.
Recovering Addicts Feel Sorry for Themselves
Continual self-pity is nothing but an echo chamber where the addict is the only one present. You announce your woes to yourself, and they reinforce themselves within your mind continuously.
Doing this over and over again during the recovery process not only puts you two steps back in the process but also pulls down all the work you did to bring yourself to a respectable point.
Feeling sorry for yourself also makes everyone around you feel disgusted or just annoyed with you. No one wants to hear your sob story, and certainly, no one who is helping you wants to hear one.
A person helping you feels as if though the work they are doing in helping you recover is falling on deaf ears.
Resisting Change
Change arrives when you work towards bettering yourself. Accepting that change and allowing it to change your life is an important step in the recovery process. It is surprising how many people do not want to let that change infiltrate their lives.
It is, as they say, old habits die hard, and that holds true for recovering addicts. They have built themselves a cave of comfort where they have spent a lot of time, and when the time comes to emerge from this shelter, recovering addicts find themselves at a loss. They never thought that “change” would physically affect them. They thought it was just a thing that therapists or doctors said, a buzzword of sorts.
In a recovering addict's mind, it is always other people and other circumstances that have to rectify themselves. Accepting responsibility can be difficult. This is a horrible attitude towards life in general. Fortunately, not all recovering addicts have this mindset, but the ones who give up on recovery are the ones that do.
Failure and Turning Back
Failure is an excellent opportunity to learn what you did wrong and avoid it in the future. Many recovering addicts, when they fail, take it as defeat and immediately relapse into old habits and sometimes relapse into abusing their addictive substances again. Failure is a chance to learn. You may fail 100 times or even a 1000 times. But now you have 1000 new learning experiences and know how to avoid mistakes.
Unfortunately, recovering addicts who fail and drop out of recovery see failure as validation for their doubts and let themselves drop.
Are you thinking about giving up on your recovery program?
Watch for these negative triggers that could cause you to make that disastrous decision:
Expecting Fast results. Don’t rush it… recovery takes time.
Lack of Self-belief. Learn to trust and believe in yourself.
Living in the past. Look forward… think about what’s ahead.
Unique. You are not alone, and your problem is not unique.
Feel sorry. (self-pity) Get out of yourself and into your program.
Resist change. Don’t fight it… go with the changes.
Failure. Everyone fails at one time or another. It’s part of learning.
Watch this interesting and perhaps controversial Video about Why Addicts Quit Treatment Programs.
“The biggest problem I see with drug addiction treatment & support group programs”
In this video a former addict shares some of the biggest problems he sees with drug addiction treatment and support group programs.
Do you need help with staying with your Addiction Recovery program or treatment?
If you want to understand your doubts and discuss staying with your recovery program, you can get in touch with the Hotline at our Recovery Center where trained and experienced professionals are available to assist you in every way.
Frequently Ask Questions:
• Why do recovering addicts tend to get stuck in the past?
Recovering addicts get stuck in the past because they dwell on traumatic experiences and feel that they cannot be forgiven. They constantly relive these events, which keeps them in a negative headspace and makes it harder to move forward.
• Is it normal to feel a lack of self-belief during the recovery process?
Yes, it is normal to temporarily lose belief in yourself during recovery. It's a long and hard process, and encountering emotional roadblocks is common. The key is to continuously apply yourself and remember that you are capable of dealing with these problems.
• Why do some recovering addicts resist change?
Some recovering addicts resist change because they are comfortable with old habits and find it difficult to leave their "cave of comfort." They may also struggle with taking responsibility and mistakenly believe that only other people or circumstances need to change.
• What should a recovering addict do when they fail or relapse?
When a recovering addict fails or relapses, they should see it as a chance to learn from their mistakes rather than a reason to give up. Failure provides an opportunity to understand what went wrong and how to avoid similar mistakes in the future.
• How can a recovering addict overcome the feeling that their problems are unique?
A recovering addict can overcome this feeling by realizing that while their individual experiences may differ, the struggles and emotions are common. This awareness can be validating and help them understand that they are not alone and that others have successfully navigated similar challenges.
You don't have to face the toughest gauntlet of addiction recovery alone. At Chateau Health and Wellness Treatment Center, we understand the deep, complex issues that can cause someone to give up on treatment. We believe in a shared responsibility on the journey to healing, and our team is committed to helping you overcome the inner demons that may be holding you back. We’ll work with you to understand the reasons you might be struggling and provide the compassionate support you need to push forward. If you or a loved one is ready to take the next step, please call us at (435) 222-5225 so we can begin this journey together.
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About The Author
Ben Pearson, LCSW - Clinical Director
With 19 years of experience, Ben Pearson specializes in adolescent and family therapy, de-escalation, and high-risk interventions. As a former Clinical Director of an intensive outpatient program, he played a key role in clinical interventions and group therapy. With 15+ years in wilderness treatment and over a decade as a clinician, Ben has helped countless individuals and families navigate mental health and recovery challenges.
Danny Warner, CEO of Chateau Health and Wellness
Brings a wealth of experience in business operations, strategic alliances, and turnaround management, with prior leadership roles at Mediconnect Global, Klever Marketing, and WO Investing, Inc. A graduate of Brigham Young University in Economics and History, Danny has a proven track record of delivering results across diverse industries. His most transformative role, however, was as a trail walker and counselor for troubled teens at the Anasazi Foundation, where he directly impacted young lives, a personal commitment to transformation that now drives his leadership at Chateau.
Austin Pederson, Executive Director of Chateau Health and Wellness
Brings over eight years of experience revolutionizing mental health and substance abuse treatment through compassionate care and innovative business strategies. Inspired by his own recovery journey, Austin has developed impactful programs tailored to individuals facing trauma and stress while fostering comprehensive support systems that prioritize holistic wellness. His empathetic leadership extends to educating and assisting families, ensuring lasting recovery for clients and their loved ones.
Zachary Wise is a Recovery Specialist at Chateau Health and Wellness
Where he helps individuals navigate the challenges of mental health and addiction recovery. With firsthand experience overcoming trauma, depression, anxiety, and PTSD, Zach combines over 8 years of professional expertise with personal insight to support lasting healing.
Since 2017, Zach has played a pivotal role at Chateau, working in case management, staff training, and program development.
