I just read a very interesting article on the Time.com website, it includes new studies involving addiction and how it affects different parts of the brain.
Some of the most interesting information is why the addicted brain is different ... and how decision making is hampered yet can start to improve after 90 days of abstinence and recovery. It can take up to a year or more for optimal improvement. It turns out research is finding AA had a lot of things right regarding recovery and treatment.
It is reassuring knowing there are real reasons why early recovery is so challenging.
One important discovery: evidence is building to support the 90-day rehabilitation model, which was stumbled upon by AA (new members are advised to attend a meeting a day for the first 90 days) and is the duration of a typical stint in a drug-treatment program. It turns out that this is just about how long it takes for the brain to reset itself and shake off the immediate influence of a drug. Researchers at Yale University have documented what they call the sleeper effect--a gradual re-engaging of proper decision making and analytical functions in the brain's prefrontal cortex--after an addict has abstained for at least 90 days.
Read more:
How We Get Addicted - TIME