Staying sober is one of the toughest battles anyone can fight. Recovering from addiction requires constant vigilance and unwavering commitment. However, that level of effort isn’t always easy to maintain day in and day out. That’s why relapse is such a threat. Rather than some dramatic fall, relapse is far too often an insidious decline. It sneaks up on you subtly and seemingly out of the blue.

 

Thankfully, though, you don’t have to keep your vigil alone. Now more than ever, the power of technology is being harnessed in the fight against addiction.

 

Understanding Addiction

Addiction has been a little-understood affliction for far too long, and when knowledge is power, the lack of knowledge is, inevitably, a form of powerlessness. Nowadays, however, technology is being used to better understand the mechanisms of addiction. Data mining is, for example, invaluable, defining how dependency arises and what triggers relapse.

 

Patient data from those under treatment for substance abuse disorders can be mined to both understand the disorders and to formulate effective treatments tailored specifically to the target patient populations. This can even speed the process of developing new, specialized pharmaceuticals to meet the unique physiological needs of patients in recovery.  Through patient data mining, for example, researchers can more effectively differentiate between the mechanisms of opioid and alcohol addiction and develop clinical interventions and pharmaceutical treatments tailored to each specific disease.

 

Keeping Track

One of the hardest parts of addiction is how easily relapse can sneak up on you. Old habits can quietly begin to reemerge and specific psychological or physiological triggers can ignite unexpectedly. Traditionally, that has required those in recovery to maintain a state of hypervigilance, but that’s just not sustainable. People get tired and complacent. They are, after all, just human.

 

This is where the remarkable benefits of wearable technology come in. With wearables, people in recovery can easily keep track of their physical and emotional health. Wearables enable you, for instance, to track the quality of your sleep or monitor your blood pressure as well as help remind and guide you through meditation and relaxation techniques. Above all, wearables can alert you to signs of physical or emotional distress that you might not have otherwise even been aware of until a relapse happens.

 

Perhaps most exciting of all, wearables can help care providers support you in your recovery through remote monitoring. Wearable technologies, for example, can alert your care providers to indications of drugs in your body. That means, if you begin using again, you’re not going to have the option of hiding it. You’re going to be accountable, whether you want to be or not.

 

Wearables can also be incredibly important in the detox process. Depending on the substance and the length and intensity of use, withdrawal can be a dangerous process. Wearables can help your doctors track your vital signs to ensure that it is safe for you to detox outside of a hospital or rehabilitation setting and to immediately dispatch medical attention should you need it.

 

Possible Downsides?

For all the immense benefits of technology in supporting patient recovery, there are also a number of potential challenges. The concept of patient data mining, the idea that one’s most sensitive data is available out there on the web somewhere, can be disconcerting. This is especially true in the face of the many high-profile data breaches that have affected some of the world’s most powerful companies such as Target, Equifax, and Yahoo! in recent years.

 

And it’s not just data breaches that are scaring people. There is also concern about who might legally purchase or gather patient data and for what purposes. The revelation that Google, for instance, recently made a deal to access the health records of millions of Americans has only added to the public’s concern.

 

The Takeaway

Substance abuse disorder, whatever one’s drug of choice, is a relentless battle. It overtakes the patient’s body, mind, and spirit and requires full commitment and constant vigilance. But the addict does not have to fight their battles alone. In fact, technology is turning out to be one of the most potent weapons in the fight for sobriety. Through patient data mining, for example, researchers and care providers can gain rich insight into the processes of the disease, and that knowledge can then be turned to evidence-based treatment and pharmaceuticals.

 

Likewise, the use of wearable technologies can prove invaluable in helping the patient protect their own sobriety. With wearables, patients can monitor their physical and mental health, ensuring they are practicing the self-care needed to stay sober. Despite the obvious advantages, however, there are concerns, particularly over the use of patient data and the protection of sensitive health information. Because of this, the full benefits of technology as a recovery tool will only be realized when the protection and responsible use of patient data is assured.

 

Guest post by Luke Smith