The Addiction Recovery System Is Destroying Lives — Here's Why
- ETS Solutions
- Jul 1
- 3 min read
The modern addiction recovery system—rehabs, 12-step programs, court-mandated treatment—isn't saving lives. It's destroying them. Instead of empowering people to change, it traps them in a lifelong identity of weakness and disease. And it does this all while claiming to be their only hope.
The Freedom Model of Addiction - backed by dozens of REAL research studies - flips that narrative on its head. It argues that addiction is not a disease. It's not something you "recover" from. It's a set of choices—a pattern of behavior driven by beliefs, preferences, and perceived benefits. The model’s core idea? People can simply choose to stop when they no longer see substance use as their best option.
But the recovery industry doesn’t want you to know that. Here’s how the system keeps people sick—and how the Freedom Model exposes the damage.
1. Addiction Is Not a Disease—But the System Needs You to Think It Is
The disease model tells people they're powerless. It insists they must surrender to a higher power, attend endless meetings, and accept that they are addicts for life. This belief system isn’t just disempowering—it’s dangerous. According to the Freedom Model, it teaches people that relapse is inevitable, that cravings are uncontrollable, and that their identity is tied to their past behavior (Sobriety Anniversaries? “Once an addict, always an addict”?).
But these are just beliefs—not facts. And as long as people believe they have no control, they won't try to take control.
“People struggle with addiction not because they are diseased or broken, but because they believe using substances is still their best option.” — The Freedom Model for Addictions (2017)
2. Rehab Doesn’t Work—And It Knows It
The addiction treatment industry is a $42 billion machine (Market Research Future, 2023). And what are you paying for? A month of group meetings, a 12-step workbook, and a discharge plan that says “go to more meetings.”
The relapse rate for most addiction treatment programs is around 85% within the first year (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2018). No other field would accept this kind of failure rate. But instead of rethinking the approach, the system blames you. You didn’t work the steps hard enough. You didn’t “stay in recovery.”
The Freedom Model calls this what it is: psychological abuse. People are blamed for the failure of a model that was never based on science in the first place.
3. The Recovery Identity Is a Life Sentence
The system tells you that you are never fully recovered. That you're always in danger. That even after decades of abstinence, one drink will “wake the beast.” That fear keeps people tethered to recovery meetings like a lifeline—and it keeps the system profitable.
The Freedom Model dismantles this. You’re not broken. You're not fragile. You're not destined to “struggle forever.” You can outgrow an addiction. You can move on. Not in recovery—done.
4. You Don’t Need Treatment. You Need Permission to Choose Differently
Here’s what the Freedom Model offers:
No steps.
No labels.
No “powerlessness.”
No meetings.
No recovery identity.Just a shift in belief. A recognition that substances are not magic. They don’t do anything to you. You chose them once because they met a need. You can choose something else now.
The most radical truth? You don’t need to be in recovery to be free from addiction.
Final Thoughts
The system has lied to people for decades. It’s told them they were sick, broken, diseased. But addiction is not a monster that lives inside you. It's a behavior, not an identity.
And you can change it. Not by surrendering to a higher power. Not by declaring yourself an addict forever. But by seeing clearly that you don’t need alcohol or drugs to be okay—and you never did.
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References
Schaler, J. A. (2000). Addiction Is a Choice. Open Court Publishing.
Steven Slate, Mark Scheeren, & Michelle Dunbar. (2017). The Freedom Model for Addictions: Escape the Treatment and Recovery Trap. Baldwin Research Institute.
National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2018). Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment: A Research-Based Guide (3rd ed.).
Market Research Future. (2023). Addiction Treatment Market Size, Share & Forecast Report.