If we understand addiction as a prototypical psychobiological illness, with critical biological, behavioral, and social context components, our treatment strategies must include biological, behavioral, and social context elements. Not only must the underlying brain disease be treated, but the behavioral and social cue components must also be addressed, just as they are with many other brain diseases, including stroke, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer's disease. A chronic, relapsing disorder Addiction is rarely an acute illness. For most people, it is a chronic, relapsing disorder. Total abstinence for the rest of one's life is a relatively rare outcome from a single treatment episode.
Relapses are more the norm.
This has tremendous implications for how we evaluate treatment effectiveness and treatment outcomes. Thus, a reasonable standard for treatment success is not curing the illness but managing it, as is the case for other chronic illnesses. Prison alone won't work Addiction as a chronic, relapsing disease of the brain is a totally new concept for much of the general public, for many policymakers, and, sadly, for many health care professionals. Many of the implications have been discussed above. But there are others.