Is Addiction Progressive?

0:00Hello, this is Dr. Rodriguez from Healing Sky.

0:03I'm also the medical director of Adore Center for Healing, and today we're talking about

0:07is addiction a progressive disease?

0:11The short answer is yes.

0:14Addiction is extremely progressive, meaning that once it starts, it gets worse over time.

0:21So typically it starts out slow and then it picks up faster, and then you come to a point

0:27where it starts to escalate really quickly and things get really bad really quick.

0:32That's called the point of exponential worsening, this part here, when things get really, really,

0:37really bad.

0:38That's when it's really, really obvious to people that they have a problem because something

0:42really bad has happened.

0:43They've suffered a major consequence, things are falling apart, and it happened after just

0:48such a small period of time for only a small amount of drug or alcohol usage.

0:53That is a point of exponential worsening.

0:55That is when the condition is very much advanced, and that is a concept I want to kind of relay

1:00here is that there is a point in time when addiction or alcoholism becomes advanced,

1:07and this happens because of disease progression.

1:12There are a lot of factors that affect the disease progression.

1:16Some of them are psychological, some of them are behavioral.

1:20There's often a tendency to kind of get caught in different behavioral loops where people

1:25do things that make things worse for themselves.

1:28That is the kind of psychological and behavioral part, but physiologically is really the biggest

1:34progression.

1:35The brain is trying to adapt to recurrent drug and alcohol usage, which the body interprets

1:42as some kind of contamination or poisoning in the food and or water supply.

1:48The body is doing the best it can to survive.

1:52It's adapting, but these adaptations are maladaptive and they cause problems, and it leads to recurrent

1:58compulsive use of drugs and alcohol.

2:02Bodies will develop dependence where you start having withdrawal symptoms trying to come

2:06off.

2:07It's very difficult.

2:08It's dangerous.

2:09These are all things that happen with the progression of the disease of alcohol.

2:14Withdrawal syndromes become more intense and even more dangerous the more times you go

2:18through them.

2:19This is all also part of the progression of alcoholism or drug addiction.

2:25This is why it's so important once you've identified that addiction or a professional

2:29has identified that addiction is present, you must stop right then and there.

2:33You must stop there because if you don't, it will just get worse.

2:37It'll keep getting worse.

2:38It'll keep getting worse until you get to that point again of exponential worsening

2:42where it gets really bad really quickly and there are severe consequences.

2:46You prefer to not let it get to that point.

2:49It is better and much more efficient to stop as early as you can, not wait for the point

2:56of exponential worsening, and save yourself those severe consequences.

3:02A lot of people, the stubborn ones, won't hear it.

3:04They don't want it.

3:05They think they've got it under control.

3:06They will typically push it to that point when it's really obvious, but at that point

3:11they may be facing jail time, they may have hurt somebody, they may be dead, they may

3:16have suffered a major injury, they may have lost their marriage, they may have lost their

3:19job.

3:20I don't recommend waiting that far.

3:23Drugs and alcohol, addiction is a progressive disease.

3:27It gets worse.

3:28It gets much worse and the rate at which it gets worse picks up and it happens faster

3:35and worse.

3:36You want to avoid that exponential worsening.

3:38That exponential point of worsening is just the absolute worst thing in the world because

3:43that often involves consequences that are non-recoverable.

3:47So you don't ever want to get there.

3:50Now is the best time to intervene.

3:52However far you've gotten, now is a good time to stop.

3:56If you would like help, we can help you at the Delray Center for Healing.

3:59You can go to delraycenter.com.

4:02If you like my content, you can like, follow, and subscribe here on Healing Sky.

4:05Please look for my podcast launching in the fall of 2026.

4:09Thank you.