The Drug Experience: Heroin (Part 5)

During this Background Briefing we start to look at the process of recovery from dependent drug use, as described in seminal research by James McIntosh and Neil McKeganey.

“… the theme that dominated their interviewees’ accounts “is their concern to recapture a sense of value and self-respect; in other words, a desire to regain a positive self. Whereas earlier attempts to abstain tend to be utilitarian in nature and geared to achieving a particular practical outcome – such as getting one’s partner to return or avoiding losing one’s children – what characterises the successful attempt is a fundamental questioning and rejection of what one has become, together with a desire and resolution to change.”