A person who is said to have recovered from an illness can be understood to have successfully fought of the bacteria or virus causing the illness and to have regained the level of health which he or she enjoyed prior to that illness. This is the common understanding of the word “recovery,” and based on this most of the general public impute this definition to the word when used in the context of addiction.
A person might refer to himself or herself as a “recovering addict,” but the friends and associates of that person might not actually understand exactly what is meant by the statement. They would, understandably, assume that the person meant that he or she had been “cured” of addiction, and was no longer liable to the cravings and compulsions to drink or use drugs which had characterized his or her life for years before.
This is not likely what the person who refers to himself or herself as a “recovering addict” actually means. As a result, the person may end up lacking much of the emotional, moral and practical support which he or she could sorely use in the effort to stay sober. Friends and family assuming that the person is totally out of the woods might not be as careful or considerate as they could in dealing with the person, and they might not actually be providing the help that they would like to.
The difference between the common definition of “recovery” and the definition being used by a “recovering addict” is essentially one of degree. For many schools of addiction treatment, the 12-step programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous being a major example of this, recovery is a process rather than an absolute state or condition. These groups consider that someone who has been addicted to drugs or alcohol will never actually be fully recovered from that dependence, and will instead be left struggling to stay sober and live life one day at a time. Life as a recovering addict means a daily battle to resist the temptation to use, and to reinforce the decision to get and stay sober. In this context, it would be wise for anyone with a family member or friend who is a recovering addict to go out of his or her way to avoid saying or doing anything that might trigger memories of using drugs or alcohol or which would put the person in a situation where he or she might feel tempted or pressured to use. Life as a recovering addict is, to some degree, a matter of walking on eggshells, for the recovering addict and his or her loved ones.
How does Narconon define recovery?
Recovery in the context of Narconon is different from other drug rehab programs. While it would not be accurate to say that Narconon achieves a 100% cure to addiction, it is true that Narconon graduates are not “recovering addicts.” They are not taught to think of themselves that way, and indeed they do not behave that way. Instead, they finish the program and walk back out into the world as normal people, and indeed they usually find that life is now far better in many respects than it was prior to becoming an addict. The Narconon program does not merely teach a person to cope with his or her addiction, but instead it boosts him to a newfound level of stability and happiness where he no longer feels the compulsion to use drugs. In addition to this, the program includes a powerful detoxification system that cleanses the body of the residues left behind by past drug use, residues which have been found to be to blame to a large degree for the cravings experienced by those who have previously been addicts.
To better understand the difference between Narconon and other programs, we can refer to the words of L. Ron Hubbard, the researcher whose works formed the foundation for the program: “As soon as an addict can feel healthier and more competent mentally and physically without drugs than he does on drugs, he ceases to require drugs.” A Narconon graduate has recovered from addiction and is able to fully put that period of his or her life in the past. It is not recovery in the same sense as other addiction treatment programs use the word — it is an entirely different state altogether.
