Addiction: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) by Keith Humphreys

Author:Keith Humphreys [Humphreys, Keith]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9780192568915
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Published: 2023-01-24T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 4

Recovery and treatment

Despite addiction’s life-destroying potential and fierce hold on those who experience it, recovery is not unusual. Millions of people around the world participate in peer-led mutual help fellowships that assist them to stop their destructive substance use, repair damaged relationships, improve their health and well-being, and succeed in role obligations. Millions of others walk the same path by accessing some form of professionally provided treatment. And even larger numbers recover without any specialty assistance at all. In recovery, much of what was lost in addiction is regained, and some recovering people maintain that their lives are richer and their functioning better after recovery than it was before their addiction began.

The term “recovery from addiction” is used in different ways in different contexts. For one person addicted to heroin, this may involve lifetime use of a substitution medication such as buprenorphine whereas for another it involves lifetime commitment to the “12-step” mutual help organization Narcotics Anonymous. For one person addicted to alcohol it could involve lifetime abstinence, for another it could involve a period of abstinence transitioning back to occasional but non-destructive social drinking.

Within 12-step mutual help organizations and the many professionally operated treatment programs they have influenced, recovery refers to lifetime abstinence from drugs coupled with greater compassion for and service to others, restitution to those one has harmed, and a spiritual state of serenity. People who define recovery in this way tend to think of it as a core part of their personal identity. Particularly in the early years, recovery becomes a central life goal and preoccupation, with many experiences and relationships being interpreted through that lens. For the rest of their lives, even after years or decades of recovery, such people tend to identify as and may also describe themselves as “a person in long-term recovery.”

Because recovery typically involves significant work to attain and maintain, it often brings increased feelings of worth to the individual, particularly in contrast to the years of active addiction. This is often reflected in others’ eyes as well, in that people in recovery are generally respected more than people who display signs of serious addiction.

In recovery from addiction, many people experience improvement in the central relationships of their lives (see Box: How recovery from addiction improves relationships). The box features the prototypic experience of recovery and one that many people will know because it has been portrayed in many movies, television shows, and biographies. But survey research shows that many people who resolve a serious addiction tread a less dramatic path. They do not use the term “recovery” nor do they see their addiction history as central to who they are. For them, it was “a difficult period,” “a misspent youth,” “a self-destructive phase,” and the like, without any important connection to their current life situation or sense of identity. Some of these individuals may abstain forever from drugs, but others may continue using at a lower level that does less harm to themselves and others.

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