Thanks to the Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew reality television series, many Americans have learned about the lives of patients who wish to leave their substance abuse issues behind, and they’ve also learned about the various interpretations of what it means to be "in recovery." Some people feel overcoming addictions is a lifelong process, while others believe substance abuse can be effectively treated at the medical level and with sufficient attention given to behavior modification. Both opinions are valid, but they don’t fully describe recovery as it applies to addiction.
Recovery as a Journey
Defining recovery from substance abuse isn’t a clear-cut matter because the experience itself can vary greatly from one individual to another. Recovery may not be the same for someone who has reached rock bottom as it is for someone who wants to stop binging every weekend. While both situations require recovery treatment, the process will be different.
Quite a few addiction counselors feel calling recovery a journey is the most accurate way to describe it because it’s different for everyone. For example, in the world of Alcoholics Anonymous, the journey never ends because sobriety is achieved one day at a time, but not everyone continues to attend meetings for the rest of their lives.
Recovery as a Lifestyle
The late Betty Ford, former First Lady of the United States, envisioned recovery as a conscious intention to adopt a sober and responsible lifestyle. This definition of recovery was widely accepted in the 1970s, and it’s valid in many mental health treatment circles. According to Mrs. Ford, recovering from substance abuse involves sobriety along with personal responsibility and staying healthy on a holistic level.
Recovery as a Four-Dimensional Process
In the U.S., the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration describes recovery as both a journey and a process of change. This definition is accurate insofar as the behavior modification component of substance abuse treatment goes.
There are four dimensions in which the process of change unfolds: purpose, health, family, and community. When these four dimensions converge to support recovering addicts, the process of change is smoother and more effective. Let's say a young woman undergoes ibogaine therapy to quit taking opioid painkillers. If she is able to return to a caring household where she can get follow-up support from community resources, there’s a good chance she won’t relapse.
Recovery as Part of Human Development
This definition has been generally accepted by mental health professionals over the last two decades. The journey analogy is still there, but there are clearly defined stages of transition, stabilization, and maintenance. Patients are expected to learn and put into practice certain life skills from the moment they start transitioning. These skills include making a firm commitment to adopt a new lifestyle, putting honesty first, asking for help when needed, and trying to live as healthy as possible. The goal is to develop into a better and stronger person.
Recovering from drug addiction is neither quick nor easy, and long-term continuing therapy is often essential for a complete and lasting recovery. For example, ibogaine treatment may serve as a useful detoxification tool by interrupting the substance abuse and addiction cycle, but people who go to ibogaine clinics will continue to need behavioral therapy and other forms of addiction treatment to maintain long-lasting sobriety. For individuals who choose to be treated at Ibogaine Clinics, Tijuana, Mexico is one option where this type of treatment is offered legally.