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Every year, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) celebrates Recovery Month. September 2019 is the 30th annual Recovery Month, and this year’s theme is Join the Voices for Recovery: Together We Are Stronger. This year’s theme is about recognizing the way mental health and substance abuse disorders touch all our lives, promoting the growth of networks to help and sustain recovery across the United States.
Mental health problems happen. Substance abuse disorders happen. But recovery happens too. That’s why InterCoast Colleges are proud to take part in Recovery Month this year and every year. We are hosting our Recovery Happens events at our campuses this month, inviting the public to learn about mental health problems, substance abuse disorders, and the all-important fact that recovery happens.
Substance abuse is a problem that touches all our lives. Even if we’re lucky enough never to have a substance abuse disorder touch our own life or those of our families, we’ve all known someone in our community who has struggled. Recovery Month is about building awareness about this problem, reaching out to the community, and letting those who suffer from this disorder know, and feel, that recovery really does happen and that it can happen for them.
Recovery Month first started back in 1989, when it was known as Treatment Works! At that time, it was about recognizing the work of substance use treatment professionals, who do so much to help prevent the causes and alleviate the effects of substance use disorders.
By 1998, the celebration expanded to include the efforts of those who suffer from substance use disorders. Even with professional help, recovery is not an easy process, and those who work every day to overcome their past dependencies deserve recognition too. That’s why in 1998, Treatment Works! A month became National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month (Recovery Month).
A few years later, in 2011, Recovery Month expanded its scope once again. Substance use disorders aren’t easy to deal with, and those who are in recovery deserve recognition for their efforts. But at the same time, no mental health disorder is simple to deal with. That’s why in 2011, Recovery Month expanded in scope to recognize everyone who is in recovery from mental health disorders, becoming officially known as National Recovery Month (Recovery Month). Since then, September has been celebrated as National Recovery Month, recognizing the efforts of treatment professionals, those in recovery from substance use disorders, and those in recovery from all mental illnesses.
Every year, the celebration of recovery month has a new theme. In 2018, the theme was Join the Voices for Recovery: Invest in health, home, purpose, and community. The goal was to show how treatment, community support, purpose, and good leadership contribute to the ability to deal with the problem of substance use on the individual, community, and national levels.
For this year’s 30th annual Recovery Month, the theme is Join the Voices for Recovery: Together We Are Stronger. This year, Recovery Month is focusing on the need for all those touched by substance use disorders to combine their resources and form networks to support the recovery process. Substance use disorders affect us all and hurt the very fabric of the community, so this year’s Recovery Month is about recognizing the need for the whole community to come together to make recovery possible for all those who suffer from mental and substance use disorders.
This year, Recovery Month is focusing on the networks that help to make recovery possible. This means celebrating the efforts of medical professionals, community activists, first responders, and everyone else who is committed to helping recovery and ending the corrosive effects of substance use disorders on the community.
For the 30th annual Recovery Month, SAMHSA has introduced a new logo, known as r is for Recovery. The new logo features a lowercase “r,” which stands for recovery, but also for the need for the community to support those who are going through the recovery process and their families.
For the 30th annual Recovery Month, communities all over the country are gathering to show that people in recovery can move on and live full, vibrant, and productive lives. Countless people in the United States struggle with substance use every day, and so many of them believe there’s no way out of their situation. At its heart, Recovery Month is about showing these people, and the whole of the community, that there is every reason to believe they can recover from their addiction and live the kind of life they never thought they could. These people are suffering every day, in every city across America. Recovery Month is about letting them know that recovery is possible.
Every year for Recovery Month, InterCoast Colleges hosts events at its various campuses called Recovery Happens. Recovery Happens is open to the public, as well as to treatment professionals, those in recovery from substance use disorders, those who are still in the thick of substance use disorders and hoping to recover, and anyone else in the community with an interest in helping the cause of mental health and recovery.
Recovery Happens is an opportunity for treatment professionals and those in recovery to share their stories and inspire others to make a positive change. It’s an opportunity for the local community to learn about the serious substance use problem in our country today and how it touches all of our lives. But above all, it’s an opportunity for the people who are currently struggling with substance use disorders to get the hope that they can be free of their addictions and the knowledge that, yes, recovery happens.
Everyone is invited to take part in Recovery Happens at InterCoast Colleges for Recovery Month throughout September 2019. There’s no cost for visitors, and we welcome anyone who wants to learn more about substance use disorders, their effects on the community, and the hope for recovery in the future. If you would like to participate in a Recovery Happens event at InterCoast Colleges, call 1-877-227-3377 to get more information, or visit our website www.intercoast.edu.