Understanding the process of drug addiction recovery through learning from lived experience

Background

Understandings of drug addiction recovery are still being debated. The voices of those with first-hand experiences with recovery are rarerily heared. Available accounts often concern short-term experiences in the context of a treatment setting and real-word, long-term experiences are lacking. We aimed to gain further understanding of recovery by analyzing autobiographical data from persons in different stages of drug addiction recovery who are not linked to any specific treatment service.

Method

We conducted 30 in-depth qualitative interviews with participants from various parts of the Netherlands. Participants self-identified as being “in recovery” or “recovered” from drug addiction for at least 3 months. Men and women are equally represented, and the sample consists of an equal number of participants in early (<1 year, n = 10), sustained (1–5 years, n = 10), and stable (>5 years, n = 10) recovery. We undertook a data-driven thematic analysis.

Results

Participants described that recovery is a broad process of change because addiction is interwoven with everything (theme 1); that recovery includes reconsidering your identity and seeing things in a new light (theme 2); that recovery is a staged long-term process (theme 3); and that universal life processes are part of recovery (theme 4).

Conclusions

Drug addiction recovery is experienced as an interwoven long-term process, including identity change and common or universal life processes. Policy and clinical practice should therefore be aimed at supporting long-term tailored recovery goals and disseminating first-hand recovery experiences to enhance long-term outcomes and reduce stigmatization.