RWJBarnabas Health Institute for Prevention and Recovery’s Peer Recovery Program shares insights into addiction and recovery from its peer recovery specialists.
- Addiction is a treatable medical disease, not a moral failure. A person struggling with addiction does not lack willpower.
- Addiction changes how the brain functions and affects decision-making, impulse control, and behavior.
- While addiction does not discriminate, women often face unique barriers in recovery, including greater stigma, caregiving responsibilities, and higher rates of trauma, which can make accessing and staying in treatment more challenging than it is for men.
- Addiction doesn’t always look the way people expect it to. Someone can be struggling for a while before the people around them notice.
- You don't have to have everything figured out before asking for help. Just like you wouldn't expect to know your own treatment plan before seeing a doctor, you don't need all the answers before reaching out about addiction.
- Recovery is not just a destination; it is a journey of healing, rebuilding, and learning.
- Recovery demands honesty, accountability, patience, and hope, even on days when those things feel impossible to find.
- You likely know someone in recovery and don’t realize it. People working their recovery hold jobs, attend meetings, care for their family, and show up every day.
- Recovery is for everyone. More than 23 million Americans are living in recovery today. Recovery isn't rare; it's real and happening every day.
- Sometimes the strongest part of recovery is simply choosing to keep going.
For more information about the Peer Recovery Program, visit rwjbh.org/peerrecovery.