From Treatment to Sustained Recovery

by William L. White, M.A.

1. Most people completing addiction treatment are fragilely balanced between sustained recovery and resumption of alcohol and drug use: more than half will consume alcohol or other drugs in the year following discharge from treatment.
2. The window of greatest vulnerability for relapse after treatment is the first 30-90 days following discharge.
3. Between 25-35% of people who complete addiction treatment will be readmitted to treatment within one year, and 50% will be readmitted within five years.
4. Recovery is not fully stabilized (point at which future risk of future lifetime relapse drops below 15%) until four to five years of sustained recovery.
5. Sustained addiction can be lethal: relapses following addiction treatment produce high death rates from accidental poisoning/overdose, liver disease, cancer, cardiovascular disease, AIDS, suicide and homicide.