September is National Recovery Month. It is a national celebration coordinated by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Agency (SAMHSA). The objective of this annual celebration is to increase awareness and understanding of mental disorders and substance use disorders and celebrate the individuals living in recovery.

National Recovery Month – A Critically Important Objective

“Only about 10 percent of people with a substance use disorder receive any type of specialty treatment. Further, over 40 percent of people with a substance use disorder also have a mental health condition, yet fewer than half (48.0 percent) receive treatment for either disorder,” according to the Surgeon General’s 2016 Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health. “Many factors contribute to this “treatment gap,” including the inability to access or afford care, fear of shame and discrimination, and lack of screening for substance misuse and substance use disorders in general health care settings.”

It is for these reasons and more that SAMHSA organizes National Recovery Month. This year, they have created PSAs, printed materials, a television and radio Road to Recovery Series and other items to help further the Recovery Month objective.

Information About Substance Use Disorders, Treatment, and Recovery

About Substance Use Disorders

• National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Drugs,Brains, and Behaviors, The Science of Addiction (Rev. 2014)
• Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health

About Mental Disorders

• National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Mental Health Conditions
• SAMHSA Mental Health Disorders

About Effective Treatment

• NIDA Principles of [Effective] Drug Addiction Treatment

About Recovery

• Search for SAMHSA’s > “Working Definition of Recovery”

To Find Help

• SAMHSA’s Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator for Substance Abuse/Addiction and/or Mental Health Problems

Recovery Works

Over 23 million Americans are living their lives in recovery from addiction to alcohol and other drugs. 23 million!

Faces and Voices of Recovery shares some of these recovery stories. Check them out, and if you’re a person in recovery, consider sharing your story, as well.

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Lisa Frederiksen

Author | Speaker | Consultant | Founder at BreakingTheCycles.com

Lisa Frederiksen is the author of hundreds of articles and 12 books, including her latest, "10th Anniversary Edition If You Loved Me, You'd Stop! What you really need to know when your loved one drinks too much,” and "Loved One In Treatment? Now What!” She is a national keynote speaker with over 30 years speaking experience, consultant and founder of BreakingTheCycles.com. Lisa has spent the last 19+ years studying and simplifying breakthrough research on the brain, substance use and other mental health disorders, secondhand drinking, toxic stress, trauma/ACEs and related topics.

Latest posts by Lisa Frederiksen (see all)

• Does a Loved One Have to Hit Bottom? - November 20, 2022
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