At any given time, I am leading 10-20 men through my 90-day recovery program. Why 90 days? Because the science says so.
For alcohol abusers, the cravings peak at about 60 days. For meth users, it is 90 days. While there is no available data on sexual addiction, most behavioral addictions mirror substance addictions, so we set the number at 60-90 days.
The good news is that your brain can be rewired.
It’s called neuroplasticity.
The brain adjusts its wiring in response to new inputs, new patterns of thinking, feeling and behaviors. Studies show that once the use stops, and once people explore new interests or resume interrupted ones, there is a gradual restoration of thickness to key areas of the cortex and renewal of circuitry paving pathways for responding to other sources of reward and pleasure. The capacity to respond to cues doesn’t necessarily vanish entirely, but it is deactivated; it is overridden, no longer the only goal capable of firing up the brain.
Recovery Step: We can overcome in 90 days. This promise can be yours: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are becoming new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
