RELAPSE IS A HABIT SOME DRUG ADDICTS CAN'T KICK

Addiction is defined by the National Institute on Drug Abuse as a ''chronic
relapsing disease.''

''Relapses are a regular part of drug addiction,'' says Chris Canter of San
Francisco's Walden House drug treatment center. With the arrest of the
center's most famous client, Robert Downey Jr., that lesson has once again
come into focus.

Years ago, when researchers started documenting drug treatment rates,
''they were astounded to find 75% to 80% relapse after one year,'' says
psychologist Alan Marlatt of the University of Washington in Seattle.

And while experts disagree on whether such a thing as an ''addictive
personality'' exists, most agree that some people possess a tendency toward
thrill-seeking that makes them more likely to try drugs in the first place.

''Primarily, it's an issue of exposure,'' says George Bigelow of Johns
Hopkins University Medical Center in Baltimore. ''Virtually everybody
exposed to cocaine is vulnerable to addiction.''

The Office of National Drug Control Policy estimates that 3.6 million
people are chronic cocaine users. Studies show that regular co-caine use
can alter brain chemistry over time, leaving a person physically dependent
on the drug to avoid feeling depressed or anxious.

Treatment programs can keep a person off cocaine for the duration of the
treatment, but they may not last long enough to undo such brain changes. In
the first three months after their release, particularly, addicts face a
much higher risk of returning to their drug use.

''We look at relapses as an opportunity to focus on the very clear issue
that caused it,'' Canter says. His center focuses on behaviors that trigger
relapsing and tries to correct them, he says.

The good news: Most addicts who continue to seek treatment eventually
succeed after repeated tries.

But for difficult cases, ''intensive psychotherapy'' may be needed, says
psychologist John Bachman of Menlo Park, Calif. People suffering from
depression or other psychiatric ailments may ''self-medicate'' with
recreational drugs instead of seeking out psychiatric drugs.

''Ignoring underlying ailments leaves treatment doomed to failure,''
Bachman says.