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Recovery in the News
Path to recovery arduous but hopeful
Colleen C. Flanagan
TheSouthern.com
September 9, 2008
September is National Recovery Month. It is 30 days in which we highlight faces of individuals in our communities who have established a recovery lifestyle through diligence, support and treatment. It is a time of advocacy for funding for the services. It is a time for recognition of those who provide knowledge and support for individuals impacted by addiction.
During the past five years, Southern Illinois has seen the billboards and television ads of individuals before and after methamphetamine addiction. The images graphically tell the story of how addiction can ravage an individual's life, body and soul; however, we cannot end the story at this tragic point. We need to keep the camera running to capture the wondrous journey to recovery that happens each and every day.
I have worked in the field of substance abuse treatment and case management for the past 25 years. I have experienced firsthand the pain of the disease of addiction and the joys of recovery. We have come to understand that addiction is a chronic relapsing disease of the brain and that, like many other chronic diseases, there will be periods of remission and relapse.
It is with this aspect of addiction that many of us continue to struggle. We want ourselves or our loved ones to "be fixed." Some of us still hang on to the belief that it is a matter of willpower, which often leads to the amputation of that family member from family and community.
Recovery is not a destination but is a life path that is built one day at a time. It is a path that is not easy. It is a path in which the builder and those who love and support him or her will find serenity and hope. Recovery happens in family, in community, in church, in treatment centers and most importantly, in local 12-step meetings. National Recovery Month provides an opportunity to place a light on the face of recovery and to reverse the faces on the billboards from addiction to sobriety.
COLLEEN C. FLANAGAN has a master of science degree in rehabilitation counseling; she also is a TASC area administrator and a member of the Jackson County Methamphetamine and Substance Abuse Action Team.