Recovery: The road to a better life
A new report entitled 'The Role of Social Supports, Spirituality and Affiliation with 12 Step Fellowships in Quality of Life Among Individuals in Recovery from Substance Abuse,' by Dr. Alexandre Laudet, (Principal Investigator), K. Morgen & W. White has been prepared. The researchers found that many recovering substance users report that they stopped using drugs because they were “sick and tired of being sick and tired” and wanted a better life. Entering recovery is the path to a better life but it is a challenging and stressful path for most. There has been little research conducted in the recovering community in spite of the numbers involved. Results from a large NIDA-funded study (1 R01 DA 014409) in New York City looking at stress and quality of life satisfaction among people in recovery from one month to over 10 years showed that stress levels decrease over time and that life satisfaction goes up significantly. In addition, having social support, spiritual/religious beliefs, finding meaning in one’s life and participating in 12-step fellowships like Narcotics Anonymous acted as protective factors that buffer stress and enhance quality of life satisfaction. These results suggest that the hope for a better life that sets many people on the path to recovery can become a reality, and emphasizes the importance of building a ‘capital’ of recovery resources that can provide support, hope and encouragement along the way. Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, forthcoming 2005.
Stress and Life Satisfaction as a Function of Length of Recovery
September, 2004