It is important to note the close similarity in the nature of elements that underlie recovery from serious substance use problems and recovery from mental health problems.
An excellent 2007 paper published by the Scottish Recovery Network by Wendy Brown and Niki Kandirikirira, entitled Recovering Mental Health in Scotland: Report on Narrative Investigation of Mental Health Recovery, provides important insights into the latter. This research involved the recovery narratives of 64 individuals in Scotland who identified themselves as being in recovery or recovered from a long-term mental health problems. Here is what the authors write in the Executive Summary of the Report (NB. That I have broken up one long paragraph for ease of reading online]:
‘Across the stories consistent internal and external elements could be found. For a recovery journey to begin and continue to prosper, narrators accounts of their experiences suggest that six basic internal (individual and self controlled) elements were required (though not necessarily in this order and not necessarily seen in every case):
People with serious substance use problems lose a lot of the roles or personal characteristics that help define their normal identity (e.g. loving son, athlete, generosity, intelligence) as their dependence on their substance(s) increases, relationships wither and isolation increases. Eventually, their identity as viewed by others may become ‘a useless, dirty addict’. They will also have personal views of what they have become and these views can lead to lowered self-esteem or even intense hatred of oneself.
I continue with my series of blog posts relating to the factors that facilitate recovery from addiction, which I have detailed in the second last chapter of my eBook 
