The number of adults in America who are in recovery from addiction to alcohol and drugs is startling. According to Faces and Voices of Recovery, 23.5 million adults in the U.S., or one in ten, is in recovery.
Faces and Voices of Recovery conducted the first nationwide survey of former alcohol and drug abusers. The results were prepared by Aexandre Laudet, Ph.D, for the report “Life in Recovery.” Key findings of the report include:
On average, participants had been in active addiction for 18 years and entered recovery at age 36. Over half had been in recovery for 10 years or longer at the time of the survey.
Survey findings document the many heavy costs of addiction to the individual and to the nation in terms of finances, physical and mental health, family functioning, employment, and legal involvement. For example, two thirds of respondents reported having experienced untreated mental health problems, half had been fired or suspended once or more from jobs, half had been arrested at least once, and a third had been incarcerated at least once.
Recovery from alcohol and drug problems is associated with dramatic improvements in all areas of life: healthier/better financial and family life, higher civic engagement, dramatic decreases in public health and safety risks, and significant increases in employment and work. Following are specific findings comparing recovery experiences with active addiction:
– Paying bills on time and paying back personal debt doubled
– Fifty percent more people pay taxes in recovery than when they are in active addiction
– Planning for the future (e.g., saving for retirement) increases nearly threefold
– Involvement in domestic violence (as victim or perpetrator) decreases dramatically
– Participation in family activities increases by 50%
– Volunteering in the community increases nearly threefold
– Voting increases significantly
– Frequent utilization of costly emergency room departments decreases tenfold
– The percentage of uninsured decreases by half
– Reports of untreated emotional/mental health problems decrease over fourfold
– Involvement in illegal acts and involvement with the criminal justice system (e.g., arrests, incarceration, DWIs) decreases about tenfold
“Life in Recovery” offers several recommendations to legislators, service providers and others concerned with promoting recovery.
Address and remove discriminatory policy and regulatory barriers in the areas of jobs, housing, health care, education, civic participation, and transportation at the state and federal levels. Many people in recovery who have been formerly incarcerated face legal barriers and discrimination when seeking services and employment. Employers are increasingly dependent on conducting criminal background checks and exclude from consideration individuals who have been arrested and/or convicted of misdemeanor and felony crimes.
Ensure access to and financing for a full range of health care and other services to support individuals in managing their recovery under the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid, the Substance Abuse and Prevention Treatment Block Grant, and other financing streams. Total health care costs are actually reduced, in the near and long term, when appropriate physical and addiction recovery support services are available.
Incorporate the principles of recovery-oriented care into the missions and activities of local, state, and federal addiction-related departments and agencies.
Implement a national public health awareness campaign on addiction recovery, including the ways that people are getting well, and encourage people to enroll in, participate in, and stay connected to the health system, thereby staying out of the criminal justice system.
Invest in a robust recovery research portfolio at the National Institutes of Health. As National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) director Dr. Nora Volkow recently noted, “Most of the research that has been done up to now has focused on that immediate intervention that would allow a person to stop taking drugs. Much less is known about recovery.” NIDA and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) should set aside funds specifically for this underserved area of research to signal to researchers and reviewers the importance of understanding the whole person, addressing the full range of peer and other services and supports that allow people to get their lives back on track, and determining outcomes and measurements for long-term recovery.
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