The Ways We Define Recovery Can Skew Statistics

“Recovery” is not a term reserved only for those who choose and maintain the path of complete abstinence. Inside a theatre, a stark visual appears: “Each year, only 1% of addicts are able to kick heroin and stay clean.” This quickly cuts to images of my former self deliberately counting syringes at the needle exchange site. I see a shadow I recognize as myself in active addiction. I can barely discern my gender, my clothing keenly styled to blend into the streets that I called home. As the lights in the theatre go on, I shift uncomfortably in my seat. “Is that true?” my friend asks, offering me the last bit of whatever candy has melted to the bottom of the box. “Is what true?” My mind starts spinning with whatever embarrassing section of the film I will now have to explain in great detail. He points at the screen where the credits are finally reaching an end point. “That statistic that only one percent of heroin users get and stay clean. Is that true?” He looks genuinely concerned for me. I shrug. I accept his hand up from my seat now that the crowd has dissipated. “I don’t actually know. I mean, I don’t think so.” I didn’t have the answer. That “statistic” stuck with me. What does that say about my chances? Many times in my 20 years of recovery, I have heard “facts” that were later revealed to be fallacies. It was extremely disheartening; with only a little over a year under my belt, what were the actual chances that I wo...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Addiction Publishers Recovery Research The Fix facts Myths sober Statistics Source Type: blogs