Can someone who is addicted to opioids or heroin simply stop taking drugs or “go cold turkey”?
Some people do succeed in stopping cold turkey—that is, quit on their own without treatment or help. But many others don’t. According to NIDA, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, nearly all opioid-dependent people believe at first that they can stop using drugs on their own. The reasons so many find they can’t—and end up engaging in risky behavior to continue their drug use, jeopardizing their personal goals and chancing an overdose—have to do with the powerful physical, biological, and psychological forces underpinning this chronic disease. Very simply, long-term addiction can result in changes in the brain that may remain long after a person stops using drugs. Addiction also affects the way you feel and the way you act, which is why counseling can help people who are recovering from addiction learn to deal with their feelings and change their behavior. While a decision to commit to treatment can be hard to make and harder to live up to, engaging actively in drug rehabilitation can
