AUTHOR=Bjornestad Jone , Svendsen Thomas Solgaard , Slyngstad Tale Ekeroth , Erga Aleksander H. , McKay James R. , Nesvåg Sverre , Skaalevik Alexander Waagan , Veseth Marius , Moltu Christian 

TITLE=“A Life More Ordinary” Processes of 5-Year Recovery From Substance Abuse. Experiences of 30 Recovered Service Users

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychiatry

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2019

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00689

DOI=10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00689

ISSN=1664-0640

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Background:</bold> Studies investigating the subjective experiences of long-term recovery from substance use disorder are scarce. Particularly, functional and social factors have received little attention.</p><p><bold>Objectives:</bold> To investigate what long-term recovered service users found to build recovery from substance use disorder.</p><p><bold>Material and Methods:</bold> The study was designed as a phenomenological investigation subjected to thematic analysis. We interviewed 30 long-term recovered adult service users.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> Our thematic analysis resulted in five themes and several subthemes: 1) paranoia, ambivalence and drug cravings: extreme barriers to ending use; 2) submitting to treatment: a struggle to balance rigid treatment structures with a need for autonomy; 3) surrendering to trust and love: building a whole person; 4) a life more ordinary: surrendering to mainstream social responsibilities; and 5) taking on personal responsibility and gaining autonomy: <italic>it has to be me, it cannot be you</italic>.</p><p><bold>Conclusions:</bold> Our study sample described long-term recovery as a developmental process from dependency and reactivity to personal autonomy and self-agency. The flux of surrendering to and differentiating from authority appeared to be a driving force in recovery progression. Participants called for treatment to focus on early social readjustment.</p>