In context, we consider “recovery” to be a way of living brought about by a decision to abstain from the use of mood and mind altering substances coupled with a personal search of past attitudes and behaviours and a decision to make changes in actions and thinking to find a more balanced way to live.
The abstinence based 12 Step model has been adapted to many other problematic ways of living which are frequently referred to as “addictions”. We support this framing of issues and believe that good ideas and practices should always be transferrable, and recognise that complete abstinence is not the goal in many of these (issues with food, technology, sex, exercise etc).
Whilst there are many definitions of Recovery The Online Recovery Academy (ORA) content frequently works from an abstinence based approach for substance addiction. This may vary however, dependent on the individuals view, Recovery from a specific Substance Dependence may not seem to depend on abstinence from others. We feel that this is a matter of individual choice but encourage a committed period of abstinence and further professional guidance in these cases.
We also recognise that “recovery” is also applied to many other mental and physical conditions, and from experience of many friends we have come to understand that many types of recovery share some key concepts, these are often reflected in our blog posts, videos we share and other courses and resources we offer links to.
‘Recovery is being able to live a meaningful and satisfying life, as defined by each person, in the presence or absence of symptoms. It is about having control over and input into your own life. Each individual’s recovery, like his or her experience of the mental health problems or illness, is a unique and deeply personal process.’
The Scottish Recovery Consortium.
There is a widely used concept to explain Recovery which ;
RECOVERY = ABSTINENCE + CHANGE
ORA sees this as the “formula” which worked for many of our contributors. We hope to offer through regular articles, video clips, book recommendations and other relatable media a curated resource which will add value to the individual’s subjective experience and support and encourage the change they wish to make.