Even with a the rudimentary understanding of addiction that medical literature holds now there is nothing to support the idea that 'full recovery' is impossible. I'm not sure what your syllabus for recovery includes but it is important not to confuse recovery with purity. Full recovery is not a state of being in which addiction has never grasped the life of an individual, it's the acclamation into a social condition that is considered the norm and is achieved through willful abstinence from compulsive activities. Full recovery is not a state of being void of all temptations to engage in that activity and it does not require the dissolution of the brains reward system or the evaporation of personal experiences that in 20/20 hindsight appear regrettable. The recollection of personal experiences regarding addiction elicit undesirable emotions because they harbor connotations of being an outcast among peers and they carry the power to at the very least entice the fear of being ostracized if made public. There is no need to continue to segregate and categorize yourself because of experiences that no longer hold the power to influence conscious and unconscious decisions. Claiming that addicts are irreparably damaged and must be assigned to an immutable subgroup of people gives their emotional and psychological motivation for dependency, the disconnection from a social perspective, a place to grow, be nurtured, and even legitimized. The idea that addicts cannot fully recover is a very dangerous idea to instill in the minds of anyone and an even more dangerous assertion to force onto a recovering addict, it's a very simple phrase to ensure the survival of self fulfilling prophecies.