Every September, the nation comes together to recognize National Recovery Month. While the leaves are turning and the crispness of autumn is in the air, Recovery Month beckons us to bring awareness to the ever-growing recovery community. More than just an annual observance, National Recovery Month represents a powerful opportunity for lowering stigma and increasing recovery options through cooperation and collaboration.
Started in 1989, Recovery Month educates Americans that substance use help and mental health services can facilitate someone living with a substance use disorder to lead a full, healthy, and rewarding life. Recovery Month is a celebration of recovery. It’s a chance to raise our voices and recover out loud so that those who are struggling don’t have to suffer in silence. Moreover, it’s an opportunity to unite through a shared commitment to recovery.
Recovery Month recognizes that there are millions of Americans whose lives have been transformed through recovery. Unfortunately, these successes often go unnoticed by the broader population. Recovery Month brings attention to recovery by accenting the positive. Recovery month provides a vehicle for people in recovery to share their recovery stories and thereby increase awareness and understanding about mental health and substance use disorders.
Recovery Month celebrates the gains made by those in recovery, just as we celebrate health improvements made by those who are managing other health conditions such as cancer, hypertension, diabetes, asthma, and heart disease. This observance reinforces the positive message that behavioral health is essential to community health. Recovery Month reminds us that prevention works, treatment is effective, and people can and do recover.
Recovery Month also promotes and illuminates evidence-based treatment and recovery practices. Additionally, Recovery Month highlights the dedication of service providers and community members across the nation who make recovery in all its forms possible.
During Recovery Month there will be a plethora of recovery lectures, workshops, and awareness walks. Avail yourself of one or several of these opportunities. If you are an ally of recovery, demonstrate your support by “showing up”. If you are in recovery, recover out loud so others don’t have to suffer silently. Celebrate recovery and demonstrate to others that living in recovery is possible and “Recovery is for Everyone.”