Become a member of Allies in Recovery and we’ll teach you how to intervene, communicate and guide your loved one toward treatment.Become a member of Allies in Recovery today.

What Happens In Recovery: A Young Man’s Journey in 2 ¼ Minutes

Photo credit: Bing.com

In the process of recovery (as in most things), no two people walk just the same path. Still, there are recurring trends. This short video sketches one young man’s journey in Charleston, West Virginia. What his life so far reveals is something most of us have witnessed: that our Loved Ones’ recovery is anything but a straight line.

Nash can’t remember a time when substance use disorder (SUD) wasn’t affecting his life. His mother had suffered from it since his infancy. By middle school, Nash himself was using pot and selling drugs to classmates. But Nash, now in his twenties, has also experienced immense successes with his own SUD. Today he’s no longer using, has a job and a supportive relationship—and may soon be leaving the recovery house that’s been so essential to his progress.

As this video sketches, there were deep pitfalls along the way— including at least one near-death experience. Have a look for yourself, and remember that Nash’s up-and-down-and-up-again struggle is not unusual at all. It can’t be said enough: recovery is almost never a stroll. Usually, it’s a stubborn, hazard-strewn, hope-and-knowledge driven effort toward a better future. But with our support and understanding, our Loved Ones can find their way.

 

P.S. Nash’s story is just one from this video series, exploring the journeys of ten men in his sober house in Charleston. Here’s another video introducing those men. In the months ahead, they will have profile videos of their own.

Loading

Related Posts from "What's News"

Fentanyl Deaths In Communities of Color: A Crisis “Decades In the Making”

A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveals the unequal effects of the opioid crisis on Black, Native American, Hispanic, and white populations in the United States. Fentanyl deaths in particular have skyrocketed for all groups—but far more so in Black communities. Understanding the lasting effects of discrimination is essential, both for grasping the problem and seeking solutions.

Borderline Personality Disorder: A Family Takes Its Caring to the Next Level

Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) affects nearly 6% of Americans at some point in their lives, but research, treatment, and support for the condition lags far behind other serious mental illnesses. Paula Tusiani-Eng and her parents know first-hand what it’s like to live with, and eventually lose, a loved one suffering from BPD. Their story is remarkable not just because of those challenges, but because of what they decided to do next.

Debunked in 3 ½ Minutes: Harmful Myths About Family and Recovery

It can’t be said too often: substance use disorder is a disease. Yet unlike nearly all other diseases, it’s still often treated as a moral failure, or even a lifestyle choice. This short video illustrates this double standard in the starkest terms. It reminds us that showing care, commitment, and understanding to a Loved One with SUD is not just natural, but also the foundation for helping them at all.

Mental Health: Just How Much Have We Got Wrong?

Everyone knows that great ideas can spread. But bad ones can also “hang around so long that you can forget you have the option of questioning them.” In this arresting Ted Talk, the entrepreneur and mental health leader Khaliya takes on some ideas that certainly merit questioning, and make a passionate case for trying to “remove our mental health blinders.”

Material Rewards Can Make Recovery Fun — and Lead To Dramatically Better Outcomes

The research is clear: tangible rewards can greatly improve recovery efforts. Such programs are at last being given a chance. It’s called contingency management: the use of modest but far from trivial rewards for progress toward recovery. And for many suffering from SUD, it works. Now, after decades of resistance in the U.S., the approach is being adopted in states and cities across the country.

The Meaning of Recovery: Five People Share Their Stories

As Allies members know quite well, substance use disorder often throws not just the user, but the entire family unit into turmoil. The documentary “Our American Family” takes an intimate look at one such family in Philadelphia, diving deep into intergenerational addiction and recovery. This review from Psychology Today reflects on the film and the troubled but resilient family it follows. 

Three Common Thinking Traps, and How to Avoid Them 

Our minds have various kinds of natural bias. Fortunately they can be recognized and resisted. Bias affects everyone’s thinking. While it isn’t always a disaster, it can cause serious problems, including misunderstandings and conflict between Loved Ones. In this NPR interview, Yale Professor Woo-kyoung Ahn discusses three of the most common sorts of bias, and how we can train ourselves to counteract them. 

This Documentary That Shows the Whole Family’s Experience with Substance Use

As Allies members know quite well, substance use disorder often throws not just the user, but the entire family unit into turmoil. The documentary “Our American Family” takes an intimate look at one such family in Philadelphia, diving deep into intergenerational addiction and recovery. This review from Psychology Today reflects on the film and the troubled but resilient family it follows.