Every day the team at Hired Power assists and supports early recovery. Recently, I have been reflecting about how important recovery is for those of us who struggle with addiction since I lost a cousin to an overdose. I found the article below defining recovery in detail and thought I should share. Recovery really does bring out the beauty in life.
SAMHSA Announces A Working Definition Of "Recovery" From Mental Disorders And Substance Use Disorders
Main Category: Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs
Also Included In: Mental Health
Article Date: 27 Dec 2011 - 0:00 PST
A new working definition of recovery from mental disorders and substance use disorders is being announced by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The definition is the product of a year-long effort by SAMHSA and a wide range of partners in the behavioral health care community and other fields to develop a working definition of recovery that captures the essential, common experiences of those recovering from mental disorders and substance use disorders, along with major guiding principles that support the recovery definition. SAMHSA led this effort as part of its Recovery Support Strategic Initiative.
The new working definition of Recovery from Mental Disorders and Substance Use Disorders is as follows:
A process of change through which individuals improve their health and wellness, live a self-directed life, and strive to reach their full potential.
"Over the years it has become increasingly apparent that a practical, comprehensive working definition of recovery would enable policy makers, providers, and others to better design, deliver, and measure integrated and holistic services to those in need," said SAMHSA Administrator, Pamela S. Hyde. "By working with all elements of the behavioral health community and others to develop this definition, I believe SAMHSA has achieved a significant milestone in promoting greater public awareness and appreciation for the importance of recovery, and widespread support for the services that can make it a reality for millions of Americans."
A major step in addressing this need occurred in August 2010 when SAMHSA convened a meeting of behavioral health leaders, consisting of mental health consumers and individuals in addiction recovery. Together these members of the behavioral health care community developed a draft definition and principles of recovery to reflect common elements of the recovery experience for those with mental disorders and/or substance use disorders.
In the months that have followed, SAMHSA worked with the behavioral health care community and other interested parties in reviewing drafts of the working recovery definition and principles with stakeholders at meetings, conferences, and other venues. In August 2011, SAMHSA posted the working definition and principles that resulted from this process on the SAMHSA blog and invited comments from the public via SAMHSA Feedback Forums. The blog post received 259 comments, and the forums had over 1000 participants, nearly 500 ideas, and over 1,200 comments on the ideas. Many of the comments received have been incorporated into the current working definition and principles.
Through the Recovery Support Strategic Initiative, SAMHSA has also delineated four major dimensions that support a life in recovery:
-- Health: overcoming or managing one's disease(s) as well as living in a physically and emotionally healthy way;
-- Home: a stable and safe place to live;
-- Purpose: meaningful daily activities, such as a job, school, volunteerism, family caretaking, or creative endeavors, and the independence, income and resources to participate in society; and
-- Community: relationships and social networks that provide support, friendship, love, and hope.
Guiding Principles of Recovery
Recovery emerges from hope: The belief that recovery is real provides the essential and motivating message of a better future that people can and do overcome the internal and external challenges, barriers, and obstacles that confront them.
Recovery is person-driven: Self-determination and self-direction are the foundations for recovery as individuals define their own life goals and design their unique path(s).
Recovery occurs via many pathways: Individuals are unique with distinct needs, strengths, preferences, goals, culture, and backgrounds, including trauma experiences that affect and determine their pathway(s) to recovery. Abstinence is the safest approach for those with substance use disorders.
Recovery is holistic: Recovery encompasses an individual's whole life, including mind, body, spirit, and community. The array of services and supports available should be integrated and coordinated.
Recovery is supported by peers and allies: Mutual support and mutual aid groups, including the sharing of experiential knowledge and skills, as well as social learning, play an invaluable role in recovery.
Recovery is supported through relationship and social networks: An important factor in the recovery process is the presence and involvement of people who believe in the person's ability to recover; who offer hope, support, and encouragement; and who also suggest strategies and resources for change.
Recovery is culturally-based and influenced: Culture and cultural background in all of its diverse representations, including values, traditions, and beliefs, are keys in determining a person's journey and unique pathway to recovery.
Recovery is supported by addressing trauma: Services and supports should be trauma-informed to foster safety (physical and emotional) and trust, as well as promote choice, empowerment, and collaboration.
Recovery involves individual, family, and community strengths and responsibility: Individuals, families, and communities have strengths and resources that serve as a foundation for recovery.
Recovery is based on respect: Community, systems, and societal acceptance and appreciation for people affected by mental health and substance use problems including protecting their rights and eliminating discrimination are crucial in achieving recovery.
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A report last week that the University of Maryland Medical Center is one of 10 hospitals across the country this year that will begin offering new residency programs in addiction medicine is welcome news for Baltimore, which for decades has suffered from epidemic levels of drug and alcohol abuse and a violent drug trade that claims hundreds of lives every year. Estimates of the size of Baltimore's substance abuse problem range anywhere from one in 10 to one in six city residents. No city can make progress when such a substantial portion of its residents are mentally and physically disabled by substance abuse problems.
The program at UMMC reflects a sea change of attitudes in the medical community toward the problem of drug and alcohol addiction, which was long considered mostly a problem for psychiatrists and the criminal justice system. But over the last decade medical advances and increased access to treatment have produced an array of new therapies that treat addiction as a chronic illness, not as a moral failing or purely psychological problem. The UMMC program will train physicians from other medical specialties how to diagnose and treat patients with drug and alcohol addictions using the same kind of long-term approach employed to manage diabetes, asthma, hypertension and other chronic disorders.
New pharmaceuticals such as buprenorphine have proven extremely effective in blocking addicts' craving for heroin, cocaine and other opiates. Other recently developed drugs, such as naltrexone, produce similar blocking effects in alcoholics. Combined with individual and group counseling, and with social support services such as housing and employment assistance, addicts can reclaim their lives and become productive members of the community. Even if they relapse — nearly 40 percent of hospital admissions for substance abuse are people who have gone through treatment at least once — they can still turn their lives around with proper support and post-recovery supervision.
Over the last five years the number of people being treated for substance abuse problems in Baltimore has increased significantly. The city now has about 5,000 residential and outpatient drug treatment slots, and though some methadone programs still have waiting lists, people generally are being served far more quickly than just a few years ago. Buprenorphine, which is an alternative to methadone, can be administered in physicians' offices, and health officials are working to expand the number of doctors who can prescribe the drug. The cost of in-patient care ranges from a few thousand dollars a month for a basic, no-frills inner-city residential program, to $20,000 a month or more for a Cadillac private treatment center like the Betty Ford Clinic.
Yet even the best treatment programs only address those patients who have already sought help for an addiction. Far less progress has been made in keeping people from becoming addicted in the first place, largely because the risk factors and behaviors most likely to lead to addiction are beyond the control of public and mental health professionals. While experts agree that a certain percentage of people may be genetically predisposed to addiction, they are also virtually unanimous in the view that environmental and social factors play an enormous role in determining who will ultimately become an addict.
Environmental contributors to addiction range from the density of liquor stores and open-air drug markets in a community to public policies such as alcohol tax rates. Many studies have shown that alcoholism rates and incidents of drunk-driving accidents decline when taxes on alcohol sales go up. Social factors that contribute to addiction include poverty, lack of education and economic opportunity, joblessness and homelessness, all of which contribute to a sense of despair and hopelessness that leads people to attempt escape through drugs or alcohol. The persistence of addiction as a medical problem can be partly attributed to the fact that these underlying environmental and social conditions remain largely unchanged over generations of city residents.
Given that the problem of addiction is unlikely to go away despite medical advances in treatment and increased access to care, how can public health officials and elected leaders reduce the toll it exacts on families and neighborhoods, or at least mitigate its effects? What is needed is a comprehensive approach to prevention and treatment that also includes early identification of symptoms and rapid intervention, followed by long-term recovery services to keep people from relapsing. Like other chronic illnesses, the earlier the problem is detected the greater the likelihood of a successful outcome.
The increase in the availability of drug treatment in Baltimore, and the advances in the understanding of addiction being made at places like UMMC, have been tremendously important. Each additional life saved from addiction is a tremendous victory, both for the individual and the community. But it is not enough. Just as we have made great strides in moving from seeing drug addiction as a criminal problem to treating it as a medical one, we need now to tackle the sociology of addiction. The best intervention of all is one that keeps people from becoming addicted in the first place.
