Research has shown that long-term drug use results in significant changes in brain function that persist long after the individual stops using drugs. These drug-induced changes in brain function may have many behavioral consequences, including the compulsion to use drugs despite adverse consequences the defining characteristic of addiction. Understanding that addiction has such an important biological component may help explain an individual's difficulty in achieving and maintaining abstinence without treatment. Overall, the treatment of addiction via a treatment program can be as successful as treatment of other chronic diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension, and asthma. Successful outcomes may require more than one treatment experience.
Many addicted individuals have multiple episodes of treatment, often with a cumulative impact.
In addition to stopping drug use, the goal of treatment is to return the individual to productive functioning in the family, workplace, and community. Good outcomes are contingent on adequate lengths of treatment. Unfortunately, many people who enter treatment drop out before receiving all the benefits that treatment can provide. There is funding at the local, state and federal levels for substance abuse treatment programs. Many would argue that this financial support is inadequate.