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Recovery Topics

Tag cloud of recovery keywords

Defining Recovery

There are many ways to define "recovery" from alcohol and other drug use. Among the many definitions of recovery that researchers have proposed,1,2 common themes include: recovery is a process, related to stopping or reducing use of an addictive substance while making other positive changes to improve health and wellbeing. This may look like a process of "natural recovery" where people recover from alcohol or drug problems with little support from others.3 However, recovery often involves working with others who can provide feedback and suppport based on their shared experiences.

Recovery Identities

Recovery identities are self-ascribed - meaning that people are "in recovery" if they say that they are. A recovery identity can take many forms. For example, some people identify as an "alcoholic" or "addict" in recovery. Others find these identities challenging for a number of reasons.4 Other people might identify generally as "a person in recovery" and this offers a shared identity with other people who are also in recovery. Still others do not identify as "in recovery" at all, while still resolving an alcohol or drug problem.5

Our identities are shaped by the people around us and our recovery identities are shaped by others who are in recovery.6 Individuals may share their recovery identities with others publicly, or with a smaller group of friends and family, or only with others who are in recovery. Online social networking has created new ways for people to explore and share their recovery identities. Through continued research, we hope to understand how these social bonds pave the way for recovery.
Road signs

Roads to Recovery

Recovery from addiction is a personal journey. Everyone's journey is unique, but there are common roads that many people take. These may include evidence-based treatment (e.g., detoxification, medication, therapy), which are not used enough.7 Beyond treatment settings, 12-step support programs like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA) are effective in supporting recovery,8 and there is research evidence for other support programs like SMART Recovery.9 Researchers are also beginning to understand the importance of online support forums (e.g., chat rooms, social media forums). Online recovery support has been growing in popularity but more research is needed to understand the risks and benefits. A guiding purpose of our research is to find ways to navigate online support that offer clear roads to recovery, so that people can make this journey with greater ease.

Online Support in Recovery

Online forums and social networks offer convenient access to real-time support for addiction recovery. People with less-severe addiction have been found to prefer online over in-person support.10 Online support can also serve as a road to in-person support and clinical care.11 Online forums and similar digital recovery resources (e.g., mobile apps) are also likely to be used by younger adults.12 This is important because young adults are less likely to seek in-person recovery support.13 Recovery forums can provide added features like sobriety trackers, community events (e.g., Dry January), and connection to recovery programs (e.g., 12-step, SMART). Researchers are only beginning to learn how people choose and use online forums for addiction recovery. This is an important topic so that we can make informed choices around the risks, benefits, and effective strategies for online recovery forum use.
Highway winding into distance

The Road Ahead

The purpose of the Networks Enhancing Addiction Recovery (NEAR) project is to conduct research and develop evidence-based resources to support and enhance recovery journeys. These resources are for people who plan to use online forums or networks in recovery, clinical providers who work with people in recovery, and researchers who are dedicated to the study of recovery science.

The Forum Activity Roadmap (FAR) is currently in development and will seek continued feedback from a number of partners. These include recovery scientists, clinical providers, forum leaders and moderators, and - most importantly - people whose recovery roadmaps include online forums. Currently, NEAR-FAR provides a basic framework for choosing and using online forums in addiction recovery.

 

References

1. Ashford RD, Brown A, Brown T, et al. (2019). Defining and operationalizing the phenomena of recovery: a working definition from the recovery science research collaborative. Addiction Research & Theory, 27(3), 179–188.

2. Witkiewitz K, Montes KS, Schwebel FJ, Tucker JA. (2020). What Is recovery? Alcohol Research: Current Reviews, 40(3).

3. Sobell LC, Ellingstad TP, Sobell MB. (2000). Natural recovery from alcohol and drug problems: methodological review of the research with suggestions for future directions. Addiction, 95(5), 749-64.

4. Hill JV, Leeming D. (2014). Reconstructing ‘the alcoholic’: Recovering from alcohol addiction and the stigma this entails. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 12(6), 759-771.

5. Kelly JF, Abry AW, Milligan CM, Bergman BG, Hoeppner BB. (2018). On being “in recovery”: A national study of prevalence and correlates of adopting or not adopting a recovery identity among individuals resolving drug and alcohol problems. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 32(6), 595-604.

6. Best D, Beckwith M, Haslam C, et al. Overcoming alcohol and other drug addiction as a process of social identity transition: the social identity model of recovery (SIMOR). Addiction Research & Theory. 2016;24(2):111-123.

7. Saitz R, Svikis D, D’Onofrio G, Kraemer KL, Perl H. (2006). Challenges applying alcohol brief intervention in diverse practice settings: populations, outcomes, and costs. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 30(2), 332-338.

8. Kelly JF, Humphreys K, Ferri M. (2020). Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12‐step programs for alcohol use disorder. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 3.

9. Zemore SE, Lui C, Mericle A, Hemberg J, Kaskutas LA. (2018). A longitudinal study of the comparative efficacy of Women for Sobriety, LifeRing, SMART Recovery, and 12-step groups for those with AUD. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 88, 18-26.

10. Davies EL, Maier LJ, Winstock AR, Ferris JA. (2019). Intention to reduce drinking alcohol and preferred sources of support: An international cross-sectional study. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 99, 80-87.

11. Bergman BG, Kelly NW, Hoeppner BB, Vilsaint CL, Kelly JF. (2017). Digital recovery management: characterizing recovery-specific social network site participation and perceived benefit. Psychology of Addictive Behavior, 31(4), 506-512.

12. Bergman BG, Claire Greene M, Hoeppner BB, Kelly JF. (2018). Expanding the reach of alcohol and other drug services: prevalence and correlates of US adult engagement with online technology to address substance problems. Addictive Behaviors, 87, 74-81.

13. Kelly JF, Bergman BG, Fallah-Sohy N. (2018). Mechanisms of behavior change in 12-step approaches to recovery in young adults. Current Addiction Reports, 5(2), 134-145.