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What is Recovery?

March 12, 2015 by

The term ‘recovery’ is widely used in the research literature.  Recovery is a goal of alcohol treatment, and recovery-oriented systems of care are being developed to support that goal.  Alcoholics who no longer drink and are trying to pursue an improved way of living/being say that they are ‘in recovery.’  Yet for all its use, and seeming centrality, there is no agreed upon definition of the term within the alcohol literature.  Lacking a definition, recovery usually is equated with abstinence or symptom remission in research even though it is not so narrowly circumscribed by those who say they are in recovery.  This alcohol methods development study, lead by Senior Scientist Lee Ann Kaskutas, aimed to develop a recovery definition that is based on how people who have been through the experience of recovery define the term. 

To develop potential items for the definition, ARG conducted surveys and qualitative interviews (200+) with members of alumni groups from sober living and treatment programs, recovering staff, members of recovery organizations (many of whom will not have attended Alcoholics Anonymous/AA or treatment), and individuals in AA (many of whom will not have attended treatment). The resulting items were administered in a second online survey, which was completed by 9,341 individuals with different pathways to recovery.

Based on these results, we now have a very specific definition of recovery—and it is one that clearly demonstrates the many positive “ways of being” that define recovery. We made sure that different views were included in the final recovery definition. This left us with 39 items to represent the elements of recovery:

Elements of Recovery % belongs
“Abstinence in recovery”
No use of alcohol 94
  No abuse of prescribed medication 92
  No use of non-prescribed drugs 88
“Essentials of Recovery”
  Being honest with myself 99
  Being able to enjoy life without drinking or using drugs like I used to 99
  Handling negative feelings without using drugs or drinking like I used to 99
  Changing the way I think through things 99
  Not replacing one destructive dependency with another 99
  Taking care of my mental health more than I did before 99
  A realistic appraisal of my abilities & my limitations 99
  Being able to deal with situations that used to stump me 99
  Freedom from feeling physically sick because of my drinking or using 98
  Dealing with mistakes 98
  Striving to be consistent with my beliefs & values in activities that take up the major part of my time & energy 98
  Being able to have relationships where I am not using people or being used 98
  Having people around me who know how to get thru life without using alcohol or other drugs like they used to 98
  Getting along with family or friends better than I did before 98
  Trying to live in a place that is not overrun with alcohol or drugs 96
“Enriched recovery”
  A process of growth & development 99
  Taking responsibility for the things I can change 99
  Reacting to life’s ups & downs in a more balanced way than I used to 99
  Living a life that contributes to society, to your family, or to your betterment 99
  Having tools to try to feel inner peace when I need to 99
  Developing inner strength 99
  Improved self-esteem 99
  Taking care of my physical health more than I did before 99
  Learning how to get the kind of support from others that I need 99
  Being the kind of person that people can count on 98
“Spirituality of Recovery”
  Being grateful 99
  About giving back 98
  About helping other people to not drink or use drugs like they used to 98
  Appreciating that I am part of the universe, something bigger than myself 97
  Becoming more open-minded about spirituality than before 96
  Feeling connected to a spiritual being or force that helps me deal with difficulties in life 95  
  Spiritual in nature & has nothing to do with religion 95
“Uncommon elements of recovery”
  Physical & mental in nature & has nothing to do with spirituality or religion 65
  No use of tobacco 64
  Religious in nature 63
  Non-problematic alcohol or drug use 43

The information provided here was originally published in the journal article listed below. Recommended citation is as follows:

Kaskutas, L. A., Borkman, T. J., Laudet, A., Ritter, L. A., Witbrodt, J., Subbaraman, M., Stunz, A., & Bond, J. (November 2014). Elements that define recovery: The experiential perspective. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 75(6), 999-1010.  Full Text or Abstract.

Reprinted with permission from Alcohol Research Documentation, Inc., publisher of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

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