It's as long as you allow it to be
Upon detoxing all substances/narcotics from your body and spending about 5-7 days experiencing withdrawal, a former addict will spend every single day in recovery until relapse or death. Once someone realizes and admits to themselves they cannot live day to day without drugs/alcohol as well as function successfully towards society, they officially enter recovery but will only stop completely when they decide to. There will never come a point in their future where anyone, either doctor or addict, will say with complete confidence and satisfaction that they are done recovering.
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