Work in Progress 1

In the Philippines, all that could be seen and heard for the past year were news like these:

Drug War: 96 killed in the last 3 days; War on drugs: Death toll hits 59; In Philippine Drug

War, Little Help for Those Who Surrender (The Philippine Star, 2016; Ramirez, 2016; Paddock,

2016).

The war on drugs is an initiative of the present administration, which was declared in order

to solve the longstanding drug problem in the country. Many supported the campaign while there

were also those who resisted and protested against the methodology that was being used to tackle

the drug issue. Perhaps, the great unrest that ensued among those who do not agree with the chosen

solution stemmed from the sheer number of lives that were claimed by the war. On the other hand,

it could also be that the reason behind the unwavering support of some is their desire for change

since so many years have already passed from when the era of drugs and other harmful substances

began. Despite that however, it still remained rampant and while it is true that the substances

themselves do not pose much of a threat, the way they are used decides whether they could or

could not be considered as such.

Today, a number of crimes were attributed to those who undergo substance abuse, which

only contributed to the pre-existing stigma on addiction. Furthermore, it appears that blatant

shunning of those called adiks and lasenggeros, to name a few, has become the norm and that

these people are now seen as the dregs of society, those that we should pay no mind. They are

showcased as the epitome of the worst of the worst and of those who are hopeless in life. This

particular assumption appeared to be what usually guides people in their search for the answer to

the substance abuse problem.

By working under the premise that these individuals have no hope in turning their lives

back around, it somewhat gave rise to the idea that the only option people have is to eliminate the
Work in Progress 2

problem all together. Exterminate those that they see as pests, in other words, kill. This kind of

thinking also brought about a culture of rampant disregard for life itself. It now seemed quite easy

to pull the trigger or use any other weapon to end someones life. Some would even justify their

actions as an act of service to the general populace since they were getting rid of those that they

deemed to be threats. Nonetheless, there is the irony that is enclosed in that thinking: while they

are trying to remove the said threat, they themselves become threats of their own. One might

actually begin to wonder what happened along the way.

Also, nowadays, a number of people seem to treat these substance abusers as mere animals:

easily slaughtered. Maybe the reason behind the apparent disinterest in human life would be the

crimes as well as victims that are associated with substance abusers. It makes one wonder though,

if this is the only path that the adiks or lasenggeros could take. A path that chains them to a

fate where in they would inevitably do something that is harmful to others and eventually, to

themselves.

Rationale

What they need is another option. Other people do say that we only have one life to live

and it is true nevertheless, living only once is not tantamount to having one, sole chance. Do-overs,

how many one might need, is a privilege humans have. As beings that can think on their own and

decide for themselves, they ultimately have the power to take control of their lives. In whatever

sort of situation they might be in, they can change it. It is because inside everyone is a deep-seated

potential, one that enables someone to adjust and to adapt. One that holds the promise of a self that

could be redefined since humans can undergo a dynamic process of ceaseless transformations that

eventually leads to growth.

Growth, according to Bronfenbrenner (1994), happens during the numerous interactions

Work in Progress 3

with everything that surrounds an individual. It is a progressive undertaking that involves being

directly or indirectly influenced by the environment that embraces a person and in turn, being able

to affect, whether intentional or unintentional, those that are located outside of an individual

(Bronfenbrenner, 1994). With this definition, it can be seen how inevitable a thing growth is what

with all the things that are happening and everything that could happen through out ones life.

As all these possibilities are alive within humanity, and as it is a fact that substance abusers

are also human beings, this means that they, too could take ahold of their lives and steer them

toward another path. At present, there are already certain people who have already accomplished

such a feat. They have fought against the clutches of dependence and came out triumphant. It is

indeed intriguing to look at such a phenomenon where in some individuals succeeded at while

most people continue to struggle with.

Moving beyond mere intrigue, thorough examination of the cases of these individuals could

likely yield more practical alternatives to the solution employed in the substance abuse problem.

Digging deeper into the experiences of the people who have gone through the phenomenon might

point to the direction that should be taken in order to effectively eradicate this specific predicament

the Filipinos are facing. Possibly, a more humane and systematic way to solve this issue could be

gleaned out of this research as well.

Another factor in pursuing this study lies in the theme, that of about growth and recovery

a perspective somewhat contrary to the current preferred view of the populace. In reminding people

that humans are neither stagnant nor incapable of change, it promotes a more positive thinking

about others, which might help in motivating people to try and be more understanding instead of

closing their minds off almost immediately.

All of these put together completes the puzzle as to why this study was made. These people
Work in Progress 4

who might have taken a step or a leap towards what society dictates to be the wrong direction were

able to turn their life back around. It is a testament indeed of how much humans can do if given a

choice. They could rise from the rut they were in like what these people, who were once slaves to

drugs and alcohol, did. They were able to successfully escape the clutches of addiction.

Objectives

However, escaping substance abuse is not an easy feat and in order to do that, individuals

go through a process or a journey of some sort toward their respective recoveries. Understanding

this process is important since there are a lot of things that could be learned hence, this study aims:

to know the processes individuals have to go through in order to recover from drug

abuse;

to know what they have learned in the process of recovery;

to identify the experiences of these people that were pivotal to their recovery and

growth;

to determine the specific techniques individuals used in order to sustain their recovery;

and

to learn about the factors that could possibly prevent relapse.

Research Questions

From these objectives, the following questions could be derived:

What processes did these individuals have to undergo in order to escape the clutches of

drug abuse?

What were the learnings or insights these people acquired from what they have been

through?
Work in Progress 5

What significant experiences from addiction contributed to the recovery and growth of

these people?

What techniques or strategies did these individuals employ in order to sustain their

recovery?

What factors generally contribute to the prevention of relapse?

Significance of the Study

Learning all these could play a part in various matters. One of which perhaps is in

contributing to the fight to open minds. As it is seen at present, a lot of issues are being magnified

due to a heavy inclination to stigma. This research could help in reminding others that there are

other ways to look at things; a lot of perspectives exist. An example of which would be the one

used in this study: people are seen as beings with the capacity to change and be someone different

from their previous selves. By reminding the general population about this, they might be able to

broaden their own perspectives and could hopefully lead to a more critical analysis as they continue

to search for the most efficient solution to the substance abuse problem. This, of course, does not

stop at just changing mindsets.

This study could also be a source of inspiration for the people. It could be so since it serves

as a call to remember that humans continue to grow and are thereby creating different and ideally,

better versions of themselves. In keeping this in mind, one should be able to hold on to the hope

that there is still something that can be done and the individual has the power to do it. Aside from

that, it is some sort of a reminder as well that people would not remain fixed on a certain point in

their lives, they would eventually be able to move ahead as things would inevitably change.

Another thing to keep in mind here is that even if change is inescapable, the person still has some

sort of power over life. It lies in the decisions or choices the individual could make.
Work in Progress 6

Aside from the power to inspire, another significance in doing this research is that of a

practical one. There could be an impact on the future of rehabilitation. The findings could be

integrated in the therapies that are currently being employed for the people who are trying to be

free from substance addiction. The information could also be used by people or even communities

that would want to have an active participation in the aftercare of the person who was once a

substance abuser. Another possible contribution is to stimulate the creation of programs that are

more humane, change and growth oriented, and also respectful of the dignity of the person.

Hopefully, as a result, all these would lead the individuals to a successful recovery or to a lessened

probability of relapse.

One more thing that this research can do is to contribute to the present body of knowledge

in the recovery from drug abuse. It could also fill some gaps in the research when it comes to what

actually works when healing from addiction. It could help as well in shedding more light in other

areas it could be of any relation to. Also, since this study is focused on Filipinos who are in the

process of recovery from drug abuse, studies in the area of recovery in the Philippines could be

furthered.

Scope and Delimitations

This study then would focus on the recovery from drug abuse that is a circumstance that

many have tried to conquer but are still striving to do so at present. Filipinos who have experienced

the said phenomenon comprised the pool of participants since the experiences of the Filipino

people on addiction and recovery is not much documented hence, the scarcity in literature.

As for the drugs used, the study included marijuana, shabu, and a certain drug which is a

heroin derivative. Also, the participants of the study were previously admitted to a treatment center

or rehabilitation center and are all currently residing in Pampanga. There was no prescribed age
Work in Progress 7

range or limit during the beginning of the research since these individuals could really be anyone.

A study on recovery was even done in Davao that included a 15 year-old (Guabong, Longno,

Castro, & Guinto, 2015), which shows that addiction chooses no age. In this study however, the

ages of the participants are between early thirties and late fifties.

Lastly, found in this research as well are only the analyses on the experiences of the

individuals who have undergone drug abuse. Given the limited time and resources, the experiences

of the family members and other people involved in the whole recovery experience could not be

examined.

Definition of Terms

Addiction/Substance Abuse - described as a dependence to drugs or alcohol; for example, a

person needs to drink alcohol or use a drug in order to be able to do something else

Recovery - a state where in a person is no longer dependent on any substance; for example, a

person does not feel the need to take any substance in order to perform other tasks

Relapse - the term used to refer to the occurrence of a persons dependence to drug while in

recovery
Work in Progress 8

Chapter 2

Review of Related Literature

I. Addiction

Addiction and treatment.

The prevalence of substance abuse as a whole is now considered as one of the major issues

the world faces. Drug addiction, in particular, is a global problem that not only affects families but

it has an impact on society as well. As years passed, the accessibility of addictive substances as

well as the number of users have also increased. Consequently, this type of environment had also

raised the risks for minors to fall victims to addiction (Guabong, Longno, Castro, & Guinto, 2015).

Addiction is defined by Goodman (1990) as a process by which a behavior that could be

either for pleasure or for providing escape from an individuals internal discomforts is employed

within a pattern of failure to control the behavior time and time again and the persistence in doing

the behavior although there are significant negative consequences. To put it simply, the individual

suffering from addiction is rendered powerless in stopping the behavior and that despite the

presence of repercussions, the individual can no longer manage the behavior (Goodman, 1990).

Meanwhile, Covington (1999) explains addiction through the spiral model. As the spiral

continues its descent, it was said to form ever tightening loops. This was how addiction was

framed. It drags a person into that endless loop that continues to get smaller and smaller until the

individual is completely consumed by the drug and that becomes the center of their life. Everything

is reorganized so as to keep drugs or alcohol or any other substance as the sole priority (cited in

Covington, 2002).

Treating addiction, on the other hand, is not as simple as removing the drug from the system

of a person or what is commonly called detoxification. It does not also mean that a person no
Work in Progress 9

longer has an addiction once all withdrawal symptoms are no longer felt rather, OBrien and

McLellan (1996) states the underlying addictive disorder persists, and that this persistence

produces a tendency to relapse to active drug-taking (OBrien & McLellan, 1996).

An issue that could probably affect addiction treatment is the discrimination towards

women that was emphasized by Covington (2002). The reality of women who succumb to

addiction are stigmatized. Their sexuality and competence as parents are attacked. Meanwhile,

their male counterparts who are in the very same situation as them are only seen as bums

(Covington, 2002). In the case of women however, they are called with names much more

deprecating and that the thing that is being attacked with them are their very being. Unlike their

male counterparts who are only villainized only up to the level of what they do for a living. An

example of this is when women are called whores and as mentioned earlier, men are seen as bums.

The double standards presses a heavy burden to the women involved in substance abuse and so

Covington (2002) said that the women in turn, carry more shame and would take quite a varied

and delicate approach when it comes to treating them from their addiction (Covington, 2002). Most

probably, the feelings of shame and guilt should be taken into account as the therapy is

administered because more than the drug itself, these emotions might have drawn far deeper scars.

In relation to the problem with stigma, addiction treatments predominantly focus on the

male experience according to Covington (2002). There are quite complex reasons behind this and

one of which was like what was mentioned above: a number of the views are related to stereotypes

when it comes to men and women. On the other hand, some of it was caused by the lack of

acknowledgement in how men and women differ when it comes to their respective needs. People

should understand as well as accept that there are truly significant differences between genders

and that there are certain characteristics that are only found in one and the other has its own set of
Work in Progress 10

distinct traits as well. Aside from these, Covington also said that the heavy focus of treatments on

the male population is likely due to who the people who research, create policies, and continue to

further the field of addiction are. Also included are those who direct these treatments. Almost all

of these that were mentioned are of the male variety. In most circumstances, they had experienced

the world in a different way or they see it in a very different light from that of a woman. This then,

more often than not, leads to the exclusion of womens realities in the treatment setting. Hence,

the fundamental obstacles to developing gender-specific treatments are diverse. They lie in the

theory, administration, and as well as in the structure of treatments. There could also be some

problems with the policy-making and even in funding decisions (Covington, 2002).

Then, it could be said that it would be much harder for women to get the treatment they

need as long as these problems exist. As long as this issue on not having gender-specific treatments

remains unresolved, there will still be women who would carry on much longer as slaves to the

endless spiral of addiction.

Aside from the disparity of the way men and women are perceived as well as in their needs

in treatment, another variable that might influence the engagement in addictive behaviors is the

history of trauma within families. As it is stated in the study of Schfer (2011), alcohol as well as

other forms of drug addiction are one of the contributing factors in the destruction of families and

communities. However, the results also showed that almost all of the participants childhoods, in

reference to their families of origin, were marred with painful and traumatic experiences and this

then tend to be one of the factors that led to their addictive behavior that consequently affected

their relationships with other family members (Schfer, 2011). It is interesting to note how huge

the role the family could play and how much past experiences could influence or even shape

peoples lives. It is important to remember this or perhaps, consider this at all times since most
Work in Progress 11

often than not, society tends to shift the blame solely to the person who engaged in substance

abuse, which should not be the case, as this study points out.

In addition, the participants of the research as well as their families all experienced different

types of family disruption like losing custody of children, becoming unemployed, separation in

marriages, physical as well as psychological abuse and lastly, depression or perhaps other health

issues. There were also participants in the study who were involved in drug-related crimes or who

have encountered accidents during the course of their usage, which also affected the state of their

familial relations (Schfer, 2011). Here, it could be seen how matters could be related to each other

and perhaps this would make more sense when viewed through the systems perspective of Urie

Bronfenbrenner (1994) where in he hypothesized that the microsystem, which includes the family,

could affect the individual and how the individual could also affect them as well (Bronfenbrenner,

1994). Finally, the study also calls for attention to be given on how diverse and complex the

psychological dynamics of the families of addicts are. Aside from that, Schfer (2011) also stated

that the observed dynamics is a reflection of the society, which is responsible for the creation of

such social conditions that act as the breeding grounds of addiction (Schfer, 2011).

Another factor that could also be considered in treatment is spirituality. It is possibly a

construct that urges people to see the positive side of things. In Piedmont (2004)s study it is said

to be a motivational construct that could be measured empirically. It is also considered as a

predictor for the outcomes of psychosocial treatments for addiction as well. Since people who

abuse substances are often trapped inside their own worlds that are filled with pain, feelings of

incompetency, and beliefs of inadequacy (Piedmont, 2004) spirituality now becomes a welcomed

haven for these addicts. As stated by Piedmont (2004), spiritualitys role in the lives of these people

is in the way it erases the thinking of worthlessness and uselessness. One of its emphasis is that
Work in Progress 12

they see broken people as valuable beings and that it stresses the significance of each person in the

fabric of life (Piedmont, 2004).

In a certain study, the Davao City Rehabilitation Center for Drug Dependents or

DCTRCDD merges spirituality with a therapeutic community approach. As Guabong et al, (2015)

mentioned, DCTRCDD takes on a therapeutic community approach that is strengthened with

spiritual guidance. It was said that the people who undergo treatment in this agency are just like

residents of a regular community where in they have their own roles and responsibilities (Guabong

et al., 2015). This seems to be a good approach since the people that were admitted in the agency,

even though quite excluded from the world outside the facility, could still feel as if they are just

like all the other people. It helps that in spite of being placed in an institution, they could still feel

like they are not completely useless and that they could still function. It is also nice to note here

that the word community meant that it is not only somewhere people gather but they also feel

that they are accepted and that they belong; they are part of the community.

In addition, to Piedmont (2004)s study, the data gathered also determined to provide

evidence on spirituality being a separate dimension of personality that is not within the existing

models on individual differences. It is also stated that spirituality could even be considered as the

sixth factor of personality (Piedmont, 2004). This finding should probably be researched further

in order to be able to explore the benefits of spirituality on addiction treatment.

Relapse.

Aside from treatments, gender probably plays a role in some aspects of relapse as well.

When it comes to alcohol disorders, Walitzer and Dearing (2006)s study found that alcohol

relapse is similar across genders. Factors such as negative mood, childhood sexual abuse, alcohol-

related self-efficacy, and poorer coping strategies indeed are predictive of alcohol relapse, however
Work in Progress 13

gender did not have any direct effect on the aforementioned. Marriage and alcohol relapse though,

is moderately affected by gender. Marriage and marital stress are factors that could influence the

relapse tendency of women. With men however, the effect was the opposite: marriage lowered

risks of relapse. When it comes to substance abuse, women are reported to have lower relapse

tendencies and those who do relapse, appear to have a negative affect alongside interpersonal

problems. Men, on the other hand, usually have positive experiences before relapsing (Walitzer &

Dearing, 2006).

Aside from knowing the influences of gender, it is also important to explore other factors

that could affect relapse. In this study by Narimani and Sadeghieh (2008), the goal is to identify

the magnitude of addiction relapse while taking into consideration factors found in the areas of

social, familial, as well as personality. What is identified are familial factors such as conflict with

the family member or neighbor and insufficient support from family and community. Giving in to

temptation when addictive substance is present is also one of the factors. The personality factors,

on the other hand, include, high levels of anxiety and depression, self-control, lowered self-esteem,

and learned helplessness. This is why the centers should take the period of treatment seriously and

utilize various cognitive theories in order to address the anxiety and depression. They should also

include group therapies to better the persons self-control and assertiveness (Narimani &

Sadeghieh, 2008). If they would not be able to deal with these factors, then the tendency for relapse

would only increase and could thereby undermine whatever progress has been made, if there are.

What could be seen here then is the need for a broader approach where in the focus is not

only on the treatment of relapse but also on the other aspects that could influence the rate of

relapsing. So in the research of Wang and Wang (2007), they were able to identify direct causes

of relapse, the first being the temptation to use alone or with the people they used to do drugs with.
Work in Progress 14

The second is for the pleasure or ecstasy that is experienced when under the influence of the

substance. Third is a relatively well off living. Fourth is the mental stress that the person

experiences. Fifth, irritation while sixth is demoralization. Seventh then is all about family

conflicts and after that is unemployment. The ninth cause is the feeling of distrust from the family.

Next, is the lack of care and love from the members of the family. Eleventh and last is the

discrimination felt by the recovering addicts that comes from the people surrounding them. Over

all, environmental factors are determined to be the direct causes of relapse (Wang & Wang, 2017).

Aside from identifying the eleven causes as environmental factors, it could also be observed that

most of the reasons for relapse is also due to the need to cope with varying, unpleasant experiences.

In addition, relapse seems to occur when the person needs an escape from the struggles in life or

if there is a need to somehow feel good. Moreover, the causes of relapse that involve families

provide further support on what Schfer (2011) said about the familys impact on the individual.

Another matter that should also be taken into consideration is social support. Three

hypotheses arose from a study done by Kim et al. (2008) in social support. The first is that in

Asian cultures, the people survive interdependently and so would not need to ask for help outright

because it is already expected to come to the individual. The second hypothesis is that Asians

firmly believe that problems should be kept to themselves and solved on their own. Third and last

pertained to the fear of Asians in the probable negative impact of seeking help in the relationship

with other people (Kim, Sherman, & Taylor, 2008).

In connection, Tuliao and Liwag (2011) claimed that these hypotheses appeared to be

supported by the Filipino culture, specifically in the concept of hiya (shame). The great concern

of Filipinos in taking care of the familys reputation and keeping their dignity intact led them to

be more careful in their actions. This then is said to be the reason why it might have been quite
Work in Progress 15

shameful to seek help from other people (Tuliao & Liwag, 2011).

To conclude, Tuliao and Liwag (2011)s study focused on the cross-cultural validation of

the predictors on relapse. It also looked into the experiences of people who relapsed in abusing

shabu and those who were able to keep themselves from relapsing. It compared and contrasted

these two groups in order to arrive at the present findings. Besides that, there was a call for further

exploration on the influenceor lack thereofof social support in the recovery of Filipinos.

II. Recovery

Turning point.

There would come a time for people to realize or reflect upon their life and after which,

along with the aid of a certain event, this could spur an individual to change, to reach a certain

turning point. The study of Wethington (2003) looked at turning points which is defined by

Clausen as an instance when a person undergoes a major transformation in views about the self,

identity, or the meaning of life (as cited in Wethington, 2003).

There are three things associated with turning points. First, events and situations

symbolizing suitable portrayals of adult social roles where in an unexpected or expected major

change could be its cause. There could be positive or negative events that could trigger a positive

psychological turning point or a negative one, respectively. An example of the positive event that

could lead to a turning point is success and recognition in the supposed role of the adult. Examples

of negative occurrences, on the other hand, could be marital stress or problems regarding children.

Second, personality characteristics; recent psychological disturbance; and the beliefs on coping

with stressful events could also lead to psychological turning points. Third, stressors and

challenges are associated with positive and negative turning points. People may claim that they

have experienced a positive turning point since they felt that they did an excellent job in dealing
Work in Progress 16

with a certain situation that was perceived to be really challenging (Wethington, 2003). So

basically, major events could be viewed as positive or negative turning points depending on how

the person sees these events or how they are able to deal with them.

Finally, qualitative data from the study suggested that positive turning points are highly

associated with the ability to master challenging situations (Wethington, 2003).

Recovery.

If addiction is seen as a downward spiral, recovery is then seen to spiral upwards

(Covington, 2002). In contrast to what happens in relapse, instead of the drug constricting a

woman, Covington (2002) said that the drug slowly loosens its grip on the woman and the spiral

continuously turns into ever widening circles. The focus of which is less and less on the drug. A

womans perspective widens and she regains control of her life (Covington, 2002). It would

probably come to a point where in the circle becomes too wide to even see an association with the

drug. At that point then, finally, it is she who directs her life again.

Moreover, recovery is viewed as something that is multi-phasic. Even the word recovery,

according to el-Guebaly (2012), is used in various ways. It is relative to the experiences as well as

to the people who use them. There is still no universal theoretical framework that was agreed upon

however, there seems to be advances in recovery. Included in recovery now is the process of

healing and growth that could go on for years instead of just the typical weeks or at most, months

of designated recovery time. The fundamentals of attaining a sort of change in recovery involve a

stabilization of the biophysics, building of essential skills, prevention of relapse, then there is the

journey that is focused on discovering a purpose or meaning to ones life. Also considered as a

form of recovery is abstinence. Recovery and abstinence are even used quite interchangeably

before however, abstinence is now seen as a significant means to an end but not the end itself
Work in Progress 17

(el-Guebaly, 2012).

The concept of recovery is still quite complex and more researches should be performed.

In spite of this though, it had already started transforming the goal of addiction management;

the treatment acting as a building block to recovery as well as all the resources which are essential

to its sustenance. (el-Guebaly, 2012).

Despite its complexity, however, the concept of recovery is found to be widespread. Laudet

(2007) pointed out that even if this was the case, it remained poorly understood as well as ill-

defined. In her study, she is able to gather that both the persons who considered themselves in

recovery and those that did not have the same definition in mind of what recovery is. According

to them, recovery is the abstinence from addictive substances. The findings of the research

suggested that recovery required abstinence from all substances that could alter the mood and that

it reaches beyond substance abuse and into other areas of functioning. It was also said that recovery

is a process of continually improving oneself that there is no endpoint or graduation (Laudet,

2007), there is only betterment ahead that is why in Laudet (2007)s study, she considered recovery

as an opportunity to start anew and to attain a higher quality of life (Laudet, 2007), which is

consistent with what el-Guebaly (2012) said: recovery is seen as inclusive of a persons change in

character (el-Guebaly, 2012).

In continuation, Laudet (2007) also mentioned that what sets recovery apart from

abstinence is the work of change and that abstinence then is treated as a requisite in the

continuous process of recovery (Laudet, 2007). About abstinence being necessary however, el-

Guebaly (2012) quite disagrees with that. In el-Guebaly (2012)s study, it was stated that recovery

is not just about abstinence from drugs but it is also about the creation of a better version of oneself.

Also, it was stated as an act of reclaiming the self where in the person gets the control back over
Work in Progress 18

their life (el-Guebaly, 2012). So what the latter emphasizes is to better oneself instead of merely

being sober.

As for the former, it is supported by the definition provided by The Betty Ford Institute

Consensus Panel. For them, recovery is a lifestyle that is characterized by voluntary abstinence

from drugs and other substances, personal health, and citizenship. Citizenship has been described

as working towards the betterment of the community and to improve the lives of others. In addition,

Betty Ford also identified stages of recovery, which are early sobriety, sustained sobriety, and

stable sobriety. The differences between each stage are the number of years the person has been

able to maintain the lifestyle prescribed by Betty Ford. In the same order, the length of time needed

per stage, is listed: a year, one to five years, and more than five years (The Betty Ford Institute

Consensus Panel, 2007).

In relation to the definition of Betty Ford Institute on recovery (2007), there was this small-

scale study on some drug-dependents that was done over a 9-year period, which was focused on

sobriety. This research was also able to provide an insight on the process of recovery. So according

to this research, the first stage included the sole concentration on abstaining from substance use

and this would take approximately a year or so. The next phase would be less focused on mere

abstinence since it was already perfected from the previous stage. This was where one could lead

a normal life. Afterwards, it progressed and soon it entered late recovery which involved the

search for purpose or meaning to life as well as growth (Margolis, Kilpatrick, & Mooney, 2000).

This, probably, is getting closer to well-being since there seems to be a more wholistic approach

employed in later recovery.

In addition, Wethington (2003) recommended future paths for the application of coping. It

was said that it would be better developed if coping is redirected to focus on more concrete
Work in Progress 19

outcomes like attaining goals or compensating for loss, and exiting the situation. Stress research

is also included in the suggestions and also, it was mentioned that effort that is done by the self

could reduce the negative effects of the difficulties of life while the positive happenings may

reverse the effects of earlier negative situations (Wethington, 2003).

On the other hand, the United Kingdom Drug Policy Commission, also had their own

version of what recovery is. According to them, the process of recovery from problematic

substance use is characterized by voluntarily-sustained control over substance use which

maximizes health and well-being and participation in the rights, roles and responsibilities of

society. It was also stated that this definition of recovery encompasses both the abstinence and

maintenance approaches to recovery since it highlights control over substance use (United

Kingdom Drug Policy Commission, 2008).

With these definitions provided, it could be seen that what they have in common is that

they view recovery as voluntary, which means it really demands the commitment of the person.

Moreover, what could also be gleaned out of these definitions is that recovery is indeed relative

and since it should involve the person, the choice of whether the path to recovery is that of a total

abstinence or maintained control of use should perhaps be given to the individual. It means that

since there are different types of people with different experiences, along with a variety of

intervening variables that could not be discounted, the freedom to determine the recovery track the

individuals would take should perhaps be given to each of them. That should be how it is instead

of forcing them to undertake a certain approach at all times and after all, what could work for some

may have a different effector maybe no effecton others. Although a word of caution is also

needed here since there might be cases that may benefit more from prescribed approaches.

Sustaining recovery.
Work in Progress 20

A qualitative case study was used in order to look at the experiences of three residents of

the Davao City Rehabilitation Center for Drug Dependents. The participants, two of which are

minors, previously abused drugs before they were brought to the center. In the study, the three

participants shared stories on their journey to recovery inside the rehab agency. They gained an

insight as to what their vision in life is and according to them, they were also able to acquire values

that are applicable to their welfare and development (Guabong et al., 2015).

Based on the findings, it was therefore concluded that the path to recovery is no easy feat.

Before getting rehabilitated, people addicted to drugs had to convince themselves that they could

make it, that they could get out of their addiction. In order for them to start their journey, however,

they have to sincerely decide to cooperate with the staff. The internal is decisive while the external

can only facilitate and hasten change that they want in their lives. The residents are said to be the

internal while the staff are considered to be the external factors (Guabong et al., 2015).

Also according to Guabong et al., the therapeutic community approach was able to help

the participants in changing their perspectives and they were also able to develop positive values.

The experiences identified by the participants to be their best ones are essential motivators and

these also acted as reminders for them that life could still be beautiful. The said experiences were

memorable for them since they were not able to experience these things outside the agency and

that was one factor that pushed these people to cling to drugs. They use drugs as a way to

compensate for something that they feel they lack. However, at present time, they were able to see

that a happy and meaning-filled life could also be attained without the use of drugs (Guabong et

al., 2015). Besides, a life filled with drugs could get weary at some point, as seen in a particular

study.

In here, some people in the process of recovery often stated that their reason for quitting
Work in Progress 21

was due to how much they were sick and tired of living a drug-filled life. In addition, recovery

was deemed to be the path to a better life, however, it was also seen to be full of challenges as well

as stress (Prezioso, 1987). Furthermore, a study made by Laudet and White (2008) is about the

role of the recovery capital which are social support, spirituality, religiousness, meaning of life,

and the 12-step affiliation on the enhancements on the ability to cope with stress and life

satisfaction. The study also hypothesized that the higher the recovery capital of the person, the

more they could sustain recovery and the individual would also have a higher quality of life with

low stress levels for the upcoming year. It also looked at the different effects of recovery capital

across the stages of recovery. The multiple regression result was found to be of support to the

hypothesis as well as in the salience of recovery capital on the various phases of recovery (Laudet

& White, 2008).

In connection, White (2005) stated that advocates of recovery as well as professionals

working in the field of treatment and research called for a shift in the focus of the studies. What

they want is to move beyond the current focal pointalcohol and other drug (AOD) problems and

possible treatmentsto a more developed recovery paradigm. The paradigm they suggested

revolves around the assumption that long-lasting solutions to the AOD problems already exist and

that they could be seen in the lives of the individuals and families families, and communities that

were able to recover and by developing a greater understanding of all these, will yield more

alternatives and global solutions to the AOD problem (White, 2005).

Wang and Wang (2007) states that the needs of a former addict in order to stay sober and

to be properly reintegrated into the society are care, support, and understanding from the family

and society, assistance in employment, changes in the environment where the person lives, and to

stay away from drugs and other substances (Wang & Wang, 2007).
Work in Progress 22

Moreover, it is said that probably, the most significant contribution of addiction treatments

that integrates spirituality, like the one that is employed in the study, lies in how it is able to develop

in individuals a strong sense of meaning that acts as a sturdy foundation upon which they could

begin and eventually establish their lives (Piedmont, 2004).

An important matter should be done however, before being able to start building this new

lifeto forgive. Forgiving was always claimed to have a connection with substance abuse

however, there is a lack of evidence in order to support this. This is why this particular study is

conducted. It is a longitudinal research that looked at the relationship between the variables

Religiousness and Spirituality (RS) and alcohol abuse. The researchers of the study looked at three

aspects of forgiveness: of self (ForSelf), of others (ForOthers), and by God (ByGod). It was found

that ForOthers is the first to change and is said to be the easiest to attain. Meanwhile, ForSelf

appeared to be hardest to reach and is then concluded to be the most important in recovering. It is

also said to hinder the attainment of full recovery and on the other hand, could increase the

tendency for relapse (Webb, Robinson, Brower, & Zucker, 2006).

A research on the predictors of relapse on Filipino methamphetamine abusers was also

done by Tuliao and Liwag (2011). Aside from identifying the factors that could possibly predict

relapse, the study also aimed to have an in-depth understanding of the relapse experiences of

Filipino shabu users. Found in the results are the predictors of relapse: a) self-efficacy, b) negative

affect, c) motivation to change, d) coping behavior and skills, and f) craving; all of which are

consistent with the literature gathered prior to the conduct of the study. Additionally, based on the

data, vigilance towards recovery as well as spirituality are also considered as predictors of relapse.

These two could be supported by the studies on addiction relapse. Functional social support, on

the other hand, is not found to have that capacity. Instead, there are a lot of inconsistencies that
Work in Progress 23

were found in the study and in the literature. However this problem was addressed through seeking

out more literature (Tuliao & Liwag, 2011).

Furthermore, perhaps resilience, a trait that is commonly observed in Filipinos, could also

play a part in sustaining recovery since despite all the obstacles the Filipinos face, their resilience

most often prevails. This research by Bautista (2000) is said to be a confirmation of the realities

the abused Filipino children have. It is also mentioned that the non resilient could not be spoken

of because what is there are only more resilient or less resilient ones. Based on the study, resilience

was found to be a process where in it sometimes pauses and then continues to progress. There are

also high points as well as low points (Bautista, 2000).

Going further, resilience was displayed by the children through the coping techniques that

were utilized. These are acceptance of lifes difficulties, adapting to whatever the current situation

demands, functioning competently in the face of major problems in life, learning from hardships,

trusting oneself to be a teacher as well as a source of valuation, pagtitiis which pertains to

patience or forbearance, and not making every problem a big deal. Added characteristics of the

resilient are having the ability to: find happiness amidst adversity, maintain sanity in spite of

traumatic experiences, preserve character that is wholesome even through deprivation, adopt a

mind set that is ethical, recover from the scars of the past, craft a therapeutic construction of reality,

be other-centered, and see situations as temporary states (Bautista, 2000). Resilience then plays a

part in sustaining recovery since it enables people to perhaps bend instead of break.

Something that also aids in resilience is positivity. There exists in the field of psychology

an area that deals specifically with positivity and its consequences. Before that however, years and

years of research in psychology mostly revolved around pathology. As a result, the concluding

model of a person is one that presented them with no such positive features which could aid in
Work in Progress 24

building a life that has meaning or even one that is worth living. Things such as hope, wisdom,

creativity, future-mindedness, courage, spirituality, responsibility, and perseverance are

considered to be altered forms of what is deemed to be the fundamental emotions: the negative

ones (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000).

Going further, Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi stated that this ideology might be explained

by the perceived evolutionary purpose of negative emotions which rests on how they indicate the

presence of urgent problems or possible dangers. Since it is instinctual for humans to immediately

act on these threats, the effect of positive emotions on the lives of individuals seems to be quite

insignificant and so oftentimes disregarded, seen as having minor impacts if they are even

acknowledged. However, the value of positive emotions is aptly illustrated in this manner: Like

the fish who is unaware of the water in which it swims, people take for granted a certain amount

of hope, love, enjoyment, and trust because these are the very conditions that allow them to go on

living (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000).

In addition, the science of positivity in personal experiences, individual characteristics, and

even in institutions appear to be promising in order to help a person better cope with a life that is

empty and devoid of meaning. It also showed a potential to lessen the vulnerability of an individual

to pathologies brought by an unfruitful life (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000).

Also, the proponents of positive psychology have written that they might not be the first

ones to have come up with this concept (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000) however, what was

different in their research was that it provided empirical support through fifteen different articles

that acted as the foundation of positive psychology. These articles that were included looked at

factors that enabled happiness alongside autonomys effects, the regulation of oneself, the effects

of hope and optimism on health, the meaning of wisdom, and the manifestation of talent and
Work in Progress 25

creativity (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000).

Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi said that they predict that in the near future, positive

psychology will act as an enabler for psychologists to better understand and further the factors that

would allow individuals, communities, and societies to not only survive but ultimately, to thrive

(Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000).

Likewise, it should be noted that based on the definition given by OBrien and McLellan

(1996) earlier, that addiction is a chronic and relapsing condition (OBrien & McLellan, 1996), it

could then be said that simply abstaining from drug use could not be considered as having

recovered from the addiction rather, the abstinence could be considered as a part or a necessary

step for some but not all, in recovery. Cessation from drug use is seemingly portrayed in here as

something optional.

Lastly, Laudet (2007) also mentioned that there seemed to be no cure for addiction, rather

one just have to continue going on with the process of recovery (Laudet, 2007). This might be

quite negative if one chooses to take it that way. However, if the way one is being treatedthe

process of recoveryis taken into account, then it would be seen, just like in Covington (2002)s

spiral model of recovery, that the individual will feel the freedom from addiction as they move

forward. Additionally, there is the supposed goal or direction of recovery where in it points to

growth and self-improvement. So it might be better if an individual focused more on the positive

points of the situation rather that seeking out the possible faults. After all, people are the ones who

craft their own realities, according to social psychology. They see what they want to see and

believe in what they choose to believe in.

III. Some Notes for Methodology

A descriptive research is one that aims to know what is going on. Many see this type of
Work in Progress 26

research as something that is not quite important since it is primarily done to give description.

What is not acknowledged however, is how important the role of the descriptive research truly is.

Over the years, the products of these researches that are deemed to be good descriptions are

considered to be pivotal to the research field and have greatly contributed to our knowledge of the

form as well as the very nature of society (What is research design, n.d.). In addition, it can be said

that this type of research is the one that provides the foundation in which other researches could

spring from since without a clearly defined concept, one would have a hard time on studying the

reason behind it, which is the purpose of this researchs counterpart: explanatory research. Also,

according to the text, descriptions may be abstract or concrete and that good descriptions are

defined as those that can provoke explanatory researches (What is research design, n.d.).

Phenomenology, on the other hand, aims to describe experiences of individuals on a certain

phenomenon in the absence of assumptions made before hand on the objective reality of those said

experiences. It is also mentioned that phenomenology is the exploration of the true meaning of a

phenomenon through the description of the peoples own experiences. It is also an inductive,

descriptive research method which aims to look at certain phenomena in the way human

experiences appear. In short, the main objective of a phenomenology is to describe experiences

as they are lived and what it examines is how a certain occurrence is perceived to be (Vilakati,

2009).

Theoretical Framework

This study aims to look at and understand the process by which individuals recover from

drug abuse. It is also centered on the potential human beings hold and since this is the focus of the

research, self-determination theory, which also highlights human potential, in how studies that are

done under it are explorations on the inherent growth tendencies of humans as well as their
Work in Progress 27

corresponding psychological needs (Ryan & Deci, 2000). It could be seen here then how similar

this theory and those assumptions in the research are but in order to get the bigger picture, self-

determination theory shall be discussed further below. This will be done in order to understand

why the theory will be used as the blueprint or point of reference all throughout the research

process.

Basically, what this theory suggests is that humans have the capacity to attain their goals

or purpose, grow and eventually thrive, as well as improve their well-being when they are placed

in environments that promote the fulfillment of their basic needs (Ryan & Deci, 2000). By means

of an extensive empirical research, these basic needs were then identified, according to Mancini

(2008). These are the need for autonomy, competence, and relatedness to others. In addition, he

also specified that the theory also proposed that it is part of human nature to do whatever is

necessary to fulfill these needs (Mancini, 2008).

However, since life could not be as smooth sailing in all aspects, Ryan and Deci (2000)

also mentioned that the settings where in humans find themselves in may not always be conducive

enough in order to support the attainment of their needs. (Ryan & Deci, 2000). To put it simply,

some environments might allow it while others may not.

In terms of the basic needs, Mancini (2008) suggested that emphasis should be placed on

autonomy since the feeling of autonomy is something that is considered to be a fundamental

condition in order to perform self-motivated behaviors which is a critical part in recovery and well-

being. This view of autonomy is backed up by an extensive amount of research that display the

positive outcomes of having autonomy-supportive environments. An example of this would be

when people in nursing homes are allowed to decide to do things on their own instead of

controlling how they act, it is found that this is highly associated with well-being. Another one is
Work in Progress 28

in the educational setting. Encouragement of autonomy was seen to be associated with deeper

processing, better test performance, more persistence, and more autonomous learning processes.

Meanwhile, in alcohol abuse, those who have entered treatment in their own volition or with higher

autonomous motivation was associated with these people taking on more active roles as well as

remaining in treatment. All these then have shown how important the role of the environment is in

motivating individuals to work towards their desired outcomes or goals (Mancini, 2008). This, in

a way, was also able to show how a persons sense of autonomy could influence competence

through motivation.

As for the needs of relatedness, its importance is seen in how great emphasis is given to

community integration as well as to providing social support in recovery (cited in Mancini, 2008).

In addition, it is also stated that the self-determination theory and recovery-oriented practices are

parallels with each other and that since the theory had a solid foundation in empiricism, this could

suggest that programs that were derived or drawn out from this theory are more likely to yield

better results, to a certain extent (Mancini, 2008).

All of those then are the reasons why the self-determination theory was found to be an

appropriate framework for the study. Perhaps aside from the similarities in focus, another factor

for employing it is that of its high potential for transferability in recovery experiences.

Conceptual Diagram

Furthermore, what could then be gathered from the literature is that the process leading
Work in Progress 29

towards recovery includes four major components as seen in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Conceptual Diagram

Addiction is a condition where people are stuck in a cycle of drug abuse. Within its

confines, all they seem to care about is how they would be able to acquire their drugs of choice

and to sustain their usage. So basically, their lives revolve around the drug they are addicted to

until there comes a time when something suddenly breaks the monotony, which is the turning

point. Experiencing turning points do not necessarily guarantee the beginning of recovery since it

could possibly lead to two directions. These events could either help addicts take the first step

towards recovery or it could take them deeper into their addiction. This outcome then, depends on

how the individual would process and respond to what has happened. First, considering that the

person did not take it that well and he/she responded quite negatively like taking more drugs, which

could lead to greater repercussions. This then could be one of the examples as to how someone

could be pushed further into the addiction. As for the other outcome of the experience of turning

points, it could lead to the opposite direction, which is the path towards recovery.

Recovery is when a person is no longer dependent on any type of drug or substance. This

is when the people who were once captives of addiction were finally able to break free from that

world of drugs, a life that only allows them the option to use drugs. As these various individuals
Work in Progress 30

then walk along the path of recovery, they embark in a journey that help them move farther from

their addictions one step at a time. These journeys of recovery could vary per person and time is a

valuable element, which helps in an individuals progress. Furthermore, in recovery, the person

has the autonomy or that he or she has the power to decide how things will go, in general. Also, it

should also be noted that the attainment or sustenance of an individuals recovery is also dependent

on the capacity of the environment to support the persons need in order to recover and if the social

context is not able to do so, eventually, relapse could occur.

This means that the people who are in the journey to recovery become dependent on

substances or drugs again. This then leads them back to where they were. Basically, a person could

walk the paths of recovery and relapse multiple times within the course of their lives since in

someway, this might also be considered as a cycle however, what is probably different this time

around is that the person holds his/her freedom to choose the path to take unlike in the cycle of

addiction, the individual can no longer control what happens and so the only thing that person

could do is to depend on the drug.

Finally, the line that represents recovery is continuous and angled slightly upward. This

means that recovery is a process that could be influenced and affected by a lot of factors, filled

with challenges, and that as one continues to move along his/her recovery, the person experiences

various things that learning could be derived from hence, the line gradually rises. The knowledge

that the people who are in their journeys of recovery acquire, aid them in order to move forward.
Work in Progress 31
Work in Progress 32

Chapter 3

Methodology

Research Design

Since the purpose of the study is to learn about and understand the individual experiences

of the people who have gone through substance abuse as well as their respective transformational

processes, a descriptive phenomenological design was used. This design is appropriate since it is

focused on describing a particular phenomenon through the lens or perspective of the persons who

have experienced it and from the analysis of these experiences, certain themes could be derived

themes that could answer the objectives of the study. Furthermore, as Vilkati (2009) mentioned in

her paper, phenomenologies are for exploring the perception of a phenomenon through the lived

experiences of people ( Vilakati, 2009).

Participants

In order to find participants, purposive sampling was used since the researcher is looking

for individuals who previously abused drugs but are now in recovery. A referral method was also

used so as to locate the participants. Most of these were from the family and friends of the

researcher while some were from the participants themselves.

There were 10 people who participated in the study; seven of them are male while the three

are female. Morris (1990) stated that at least ten participants is an acceptable number for studies

such as this (Morris, 1990). To add, Lachica (2014) also said that the purpose of qualitative studies

is not to form generalizations rather, it is done so as to explore and document a phenomenon

(Lachica, 2014).

Most of the participants drug of choice was shabu, aside from that though there was also

a participant who was addicted to oxycodeine, a pharmaceutical drug that is derived from heroin
Work in Progress 33

and another participant who was once dependent on marijuana furthermore, some of them also

abused alcohol alongside drugs.

In addition, the ages of the participants ranged from 31 to 56 years old and with regard to

the places where they live, all of them are from Pampanga although the majority came from

Angeles City. From the remaining, two are residents of the Municipality of Mabalacat, one is from

Magalang, and one is from Mexico City. Moreover, since the researcher aims to look at a variety

of recovery stories, the length of time in recovery was not specified before the data gathering was

conducted. The range in the length of time in recovery of the participants are three months to

twenty-two years.

Also, it should be noted that a certain participant in this study, though in recovery,

occasionally used marijuana. It will be discussed later on why this individual is still considered as

in recovery and not marked as someone who relapsed.

Inclusion Criteria

1. History of Addiction

The person was dependent on the drug before rehabilitation.

He/she was placed in a treatment or rehabilitation center because the person is

already a danger to himself/herself and to others.

Withdrawal effects were experienced following the termination of drug use.

2. Mark of Recovery

Dependence on the drug is no longer there.

Due to the cessation of drug abuse, the person is no longer a danger to self or

to others.

Withdrawal effects have already stopped.

Work in Progress 34

There was no occurrence of a relapse during the period considered to be in

recovery.

Data Collection Method

Procedure. The researcher asked family and friends if they knew anyone who is currently

in recovery from substance abuse. When a probable participant was referred to the researcher, she

first contacted them via the telephone or her mobile to ask if the person was willing to participate

in the study. During that initial contact, a brief overview of the study was also given to the

individual and once he/she agreed, a face-to-face meeting was then scheduled.

Before the formal data collection could begin, the participant was asked to sign an informed

consent form (See Appendix A) which included details about the purposes of the study; what to

expect during the pakikipagkwentuhan, the method chosen for the study; and also about the rights

and confidentiality guarantees in participating in the study. Everything that was on the informed

consent form was explained to the participant and the researcher reiterates, before the participant

could sign, the voluntary nature of his/her participation and that the participant also has the right

to withdraw at any point of the study and for whatever reason. After all that was the

pakikipagkwentuhan where in the participants were asked to share their experiences during drug

abuse and the process of recovery as well as some details in their lives at present.

Instrument. In order to ensure that all the necessary data will be gathered, the researcher

made use of an interview guide (See Appendix B) during the pakikipagkwentuhan. Another reason

for using such an instrument is to make sure that the conversations cover the same bases or aspects

in the lives of the participants.

Data Analysis

The first thing the researcher did was to derive categories from the objectives of the study.
Work in Progress 35

After doing that, the transcripts of the participants were each analyzed where in all pertinent

phrases, sentences, or paragraphs were placed into corresponding categories. The next step of the

researcher was to look at the data under each category and try to find a pattern in order to group

them further. The themes were then derived from these clusters formed.

Ethical Considerations

The first measure taken by the researcher was to give the participants informed consent

sheets to ascertain that they understand what they were agreeing to. The participants were also told

before and after the pakikipagkwentuhan session that the data gathered shall only be used for

academic purposes. Names of the participants were also changed in order to preserve the

confidentiality of the information they had given. Also, during the pakikipagkwentuhan, the

researcher confirmed what the participants were trying to say by asking them to elaborate and she

also summarized and reiterated what she heard so as to validate the data with the participants.

Lastly, the researcher shall communicate the findings of the study to the participants as well as to

other people who contributed to the study.

Work in Progress 36

Chapter 4

Results

The study was conceived in order to understand the experiences of individuals who have

gone through drug abuse. For this very reason, the recovery of 10 different Filipinos were

examined. The way in which their recoveries were analyzed was by performing a thematic content

analysis on each of the transcripts from the pakikipagkwentuhan with them. This method was used

in order to determine the variety of factors that could contribute to recovery and relapse prevention

as well as to identify the experiences that were pivotal to the growth and transformation of the said

persons. The outcome of the analyses as well as other pertinent information are hereby presented

in the chapter.

Table 1

Sociodemographic Characteristics of Participants

Participant Gender Age Religion Address

Jay Male 24 - Angeles City

Facenda Male 46 Roman Catholic Angeles City
Bryan Male 36 Roman Catholic Angeles City
Calvin Male 41 Roman Catholic Municipality of Magalang
Mariah Female 35 Roman Catholic Angeles City
Lou Female 48 Roman Catholic Angeles City
Paul Male 47 Roman Catholic Mabalacat City
Allen Male 56 Roman Catholic Angeles City
Rick Male 31 Roman Catholic Municipality of Mexico
Marie Female 40 Roman Catholic Mabalacat City

Table 1 Continued
Work in Progress 37

Sociodemographic Characteristics Continued

Participant Occupation Civil Status Educational Attainment

Jay Student Single College Undergraduate

Facenda Collector Single College Undergraduate
Bryan Student Single College Undergraduate
Calvin Self-Employed Separated College Undergraduate
Mariah Rehab Worker Separated College Undergraduate
Lou Unemployed Single High School Level
Paul Self-Employed Married College Undergraduate
Allen Self-Employed Married College Undergraduate
Rick Rehab Worker Single High School Level
Marie Zumba Instructor Married High School Graduate

As it could be seen, Table 1 gives the information on who the participants were. There

were a total of ten participants in the study where in seven are male and three are female. One was

in his mid-twenties while three were in their thirties. Five, on the other hand, were in their forties

and one other participant is in his fifties. With regard to religion, all of them except one mentioned

that they were Roman Catholics. One out of the nine who declared they were Catholics also said

that their family was really religious, meaning that they devoutly go to masses and uphold

traditions of Catholicism. On the other hand however, there was one other participant who stated

that he did not practice his religion and he was leaning more on spirituality at present. As for the

participant who did not state his religious affiliation, he did mention that he believes in a God.

When it comes to where the participants live, all of them are currently residing in

Pampanga. Six of which are from Angeles City while the two were from Mabalacat City. As for

the other two, one was from the Municipality of Magalang, while the other was from the

Municipality of Mexico. With regard to their respective occupations, there were two who are trying

to complete their degrees so they are students at the moment meanwhile, three of the participants
Work in Progress 38

managed their own businesses, which made them self-employed. Another two currently worked

in rehab centers, which happened to be the first jobs of both after being rehabilitated. As for the

three participants, one was a collector, another was a zumba instructor, while the other person was

unemployed. This person that was classified under unemployed voluntarily chose to forego

working since she said that she would rather focus on her recovery at the moment.

Figure 2. Civil Status

Looking at the civil status of the participants, Figure 2 shows that two participants were

separated, three reported that they were married, while half of the participants were single.
Work in Progress 39

Figure 3. Educational Attainments

Figure 3, on the other hand, represented the ratio of the educational attainments of the

participants. It could be seen that one out of the ten graduated from high school while two were in

high school level. Likewise, seven of them were undergraduates of college. The participants also

mentioned that they used to study courses like business management or administration and other

science-related courses. Moreover, as mentioned earlier, two of these undergraduates are currently

continuing their study in college. Their courses are Civil Engineering and Mass Communications.

Going further, in order to augment the information collected from the participants so far,

the socioeconomic status or SES was also identified.

Among all the sociodemographic characteristics of the participants, determining the

socioeconomic status or SES would probably be considered the most perplexing since there is no

direct way to identify an individual or a familys SES. Perhaps the most commonly used measure

is the income, though it may prove to be a good measure, it probably does not capture the totality
Work in Progress 40

of what the SES is. So for this study, income as well as the perception of the social class shall be

used. Tables 2 and 3 summarized the factors considered in obtaining the SES.

Table 2

Gross Monthly Income

Participant Household Individual

Jay - 16, 000

Facenda - -
Bryan Not able to state Still supported by family
Calvin - -
Mariah - -
Lou 100, 000 Not applicable since currently
not employed
Paul 200, 000 200, 000
Allen 80, 000 - 100, 000 80,000 - 100, 000
Rick 30, 000 - 45, 000 18, 000
Marie 120, 000 50, 000

It could be noted as well that there were some blanks or gaps in Table 2 which presented

the gross monthly incomes of the participants. It appears that way since some of the participants

were not that comfortable in disclosing how much they earned or in other cases, some of them did

not know the actual numbers.

So in order to classify what is considered to be upper, middle, or lower in terms of income,

the poverty line in the Philippines was used as a reference point. According to the Philippine

Statistics Authority, as of 2015, the poverty threshold per individual Filipino is P 1, 813.

Meanwhile, the poverty threshold per Filipino family is at P 9, 064. This means that this is the

minimum amount needed in order to acquire the food and non-food needs. This is also known as

the poverty line (Philippine Statistics Authority, 2015) In another article by PSA, the average
Work in Progress 41

annual family income was separated into deciles. The first decile represented the lowest 10% while

the tenth decile was said to represent the top 10% in terms of per capita income. The annual

incomes are P 86, 000 and P 786, 000, respectively (Philippine Statistics Authority, 2016).

In addition, in establishing a reference line in the middle of the incomes the researcher used

the aforementioned information on annual incomes. After which, she solved for the average

monthly income and afterwards, computed for the mean of these incomes. The result was P 36,

333. This then, together with the poverty line, were used as one of the bases in determining the

SES of the participants of the study.

As mentioned earlier, to address the multi-dimensionality of SES, the perceptions of the

participants about their social class were also included. The researcher also asked why they

perceived themselves to belong to that class so as to get an insight on why they assigned themselves

to a particular class. The summary of their perceptions could be seen in Table 3.

Table 3

Perceived Social Class

Participant Independent from Parents

Jay middle class

Facenda middle class
Bryan middle class
Calvin middle class
Mariah middle class
Lou middle class
Paul middle class
Allen middle class
Rick middle class
Marie middle class

It is quite interesting to note how all the participants perceived themselves to be in the
Work in Progress 42

middle class even if that might not be the cases as seen in Table 4. The respective SES of the

participants were derived from the analyses of the two aspects presented earlier.

Table 4

Socioeconomic Status

SES

Jay Lower Middle

Facenda Middle
Bryan Upper Middle
Calvin Upper Middle
Mariah Middle Class
Lou Upper Middle
Paul Upper Middle
Allen Upper Middle
Rick Middle
Marie Upper Middle

Aside from the socioeconomic status, another factor that was also considered was the

family history. The addiction history was traced by making individual genograms (See Appendix

C) where in these diagrams are representations of the nuclear family of the participants as well as

relatives who have a history of addiction.

There were only seven genograms presented because some of the participants were quite

busy and so they were not able to provide further information regarding their family histories.

Nevertheless, the rest of the participants family addiction history were reported so they were the

ones that were examined. Also, it should be noted that individuals that were identified in each

genogram were those who abused either drugs (color green) or alcohol (color blue). Those that

only tried the substances or perhaps who used occasionally were not included. Additionally, those

who smoked cigarettes or tobacco were not reflected in the diagram. Furthermore, since only the
Work in Progress 43

history is being examined here, the status of the individual in terms of addiction or recovery was

not specified so some of these people could be in recovery as well or are still abusing particular

substances at present.

Moreover, from the genograms, it could be seen that all of the seven participants had even

just a single relative with addiction. Both alcohol and drug abuse seem to be common within the

families of the participants since five out of seven reported that they have a family member

addicted to those substances, as seen above. Three out of seven have at least a sibling who is also

addicted to drugs. To add to this, all the participants as well as their respective siblings who were

addicted to drugs were only able to finish high school or perhaps were not even high school

graduates, and most of them were college undergraduates.

Aside from those, four out of seven were the eldest children in the family. It could be seen

in Maries genogram that she was the second child of her father however, she was considered as

the eldest in the family because she did not live or grew up with her half sister who was born earlier

than her. On the other hand, two from the participants were the youngest and it could also be seen

that Lous youngest sibling is also addicted to not only drugs, but also alcohol. With regard to the

uncles and aunts, it was determined that four out of seven participants had uncles who were

alcoholics and only one participant had an aunt who was addicted to drugs. Before proceeding

down to the cousins however, it is interesting to note that some participants were even able to trace

addiction up to their grandparents. These two participants identified their grandfathers as

alcoholics.

Moreover, there were also incidences of deaths within the families that were associated to

addiction. The participants reported that these relatives of theirs died due to alcohol-related

complications. These were mostly uncles of some of the participants.

Work in Progress 44

As for the cousins, four participants reported that they have cousins who abused drugs.

Three out of the four identified them as their first cousins while the other one had a second cousin

who was involved in drugs. That participant was Facenda who stated that he was not close with

that cousin. In fact, he said that, 7. Furthermore, still looking at the cousins, there were two out

of the seven participants who shared that they have cousins who were alcoholic. Additionally, with

regard to the genders of the cousins that had either alcohol or drug addiction, they were a mix of

males and females however, what was dominant is of the male gender.

Moreover, it should be noted as well how three individuals had more than one addiction.

Two of which were participants of the study and the other one was a sibling of a participant. Aside

from having two or more addictions, there was a new element presented here: gambling (color

orange). It seemed that cross-addictions may also occur and it could be seen that Allen and Bryan

became addicted also to gambling at some point. However, they also said that the only time they

gambled was when they were under the influence of drugs.

Finally, even though the target of the study is to identify those with the history of drug

abuse, alcohol abuse from other family members became evident as well and so it was presented

on the genograms. Furthermore, what perhaps appeared to be quite surprising was how gambling

turned out to be an addiction within the families of the participants as well. Three out of the seven

have relatives who gambled excessively.

In addition, the length of time the participants were in recovery (See Appendix D for the

profiles) varied from three months to 22 years. These were measured from the day the rehab or

institutions declared the participants to be sober until the day of the pakikipagkwentuhan with

them. The variety in the lengths of recovery of the participants were instrumental in order to see

what differences might arise from them. This however, would be discussed later on.
Work in Progress 45

Moreover, since all the demographic information have already been presented, the

succeeding parts of this chapter shall now report the findings from the analysis. In the thematic

content analysis done, the statements were grouped into five categories which were later on

subdivided into themes. Table 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 displays the frequency of the said themes.

Table 5

Abstracted themes for Process of Recovery

Themes Frequency
Relapse 10
In need of Help 8
Realization 33
Willingness 5
Acceptance 20
Beginning 13

As seen in Table 5, there are six themes that were classified under the category, Process of

Recovery. It also appears that Realization is the most frequent theme that was observed followed

by Acceptance. Although Table 5 displayed the frequency of the themes, it still merely provides a

superficial description of the themes. So, the succeeding paragraphs shall then be dedicated to

giving more detail on the identified themes.

Relapse

The first theme mentioned was Relapse. The participants reported that they experienced a

series of relapsing. They thought that they were finally able to attain recovery but it so happened

to not be the case. Paul described the experience of continuous relapses in these words: Maraming

bottom yung buhay ko eh. Kase marami akong realizations na akala ko yun na, pero hindi pa

pala, inulit nanaman. Akala mo yun na pero hindi pa pala. Maraming pala ng pala ng palala ng
Work in Progress 46

palala. Meanwhile, Rick experienced it in this way, he recounted, sasabihin ko sa sarili ko,

tama na, ayaw ko na. Hindi na ko gagamit. Pag bibigyan mo ako ng pera o kaya pagsangla ko, o

kaya basta may nakita akong gamit, yun nanaman. Doon nanaman magiistart." There was also

Mariah. She tried to turn her life back around by discontinuing drug use and going to school

however as she said, nag-aral sana ako ulit kanya lang yung pagpasok ko na ulit na yon, na,

nabalik na naman ako sa barkada. Nabalik na naman ako sa paggamit ko, hindi rin natuloy.

Kumbaga nasira din ulit dahil gumagamit nga ako and yung boyfriend ko na nagdala sakin sa

recovery, naghiwalay din kami kasi yun nga kaya nakapag asawa ako ulit ng drugging buddy ko.

Looking at their statements, it seemed as if these three at least tried to do something about

their addiction. Aside from them though, there were other participants as well who had similar

experiences with them. On the other hand, there were also those participants who relapsed because

they said that, hindi pa ko willingayoko pang tumigil and so they voluntarily left recovery.

These individuals were already given a chance to go to a rehab or support group but as they stated,

they were not willing to give their addictions up yet and so they continued with it.

So whether these individuals put an effort into stopping or willingly went back to drug

abuse, what they all had in common was that they were brought to a point where in they desperately

needed help, which leads to the next theme.

In Need of Help

Some of the participants mentioned that they badly needed help and so they tried to seek

help from God. Paul and Rick cited similar experiences where in they prayed to God while under

the influence of shabu. Paul recounted this story: I remember one time I was literally using shabu,

crying and then praying to God. Tigil mo na to, ayoko na, di ko na kaya. As for Rick, his plea

was for God to bring his old life back. Lou, another participant, also pleaded God to help her since
Work in Progress 47

she said that she did not know what to do anymore.

There were also participants who, although they know that they needed help, did not ask

for it. Bryan said that, Kahit na nakikita nilang nangangailangan na kong tulong pero ako di pa

din humihingi ng tulongpero sa loob ko may tumatawag na, help! ganun. Another participant

also mentioned that he did not accept help because he was in denial: ang sinabi ko sa mama ko,

kaya ko naman magbago kahit di niya ko parehab. So ako naman in denial, syempre. Alam ko

naman sa sarili ko na hindi ko naman talaga kaya.

It could be seen here that these individuals really need help. They even reached a point

where in they had a great need for help however, they simply did not know how to quit their

addiction as exemplified a while ago in praying while under the influence of shabu. It just showed

how desperate they were and how much they were grappling for a solution to their problem.

Likewise, even though they needed help, some people going through drug addiction may not

openly admit it or readily accept the help offered. These then raised the question of how people

could get out of the rut they were in. The answer to this query is yet to be unveiled but the next

section could possibly give a glimpse as to how it could begin, getting out of the rut.

Realization

Themes under Realization could be divided into three categories based on when they

occurred. The first classification is composed of things the participants realized before going to

rehab. These thoughts did not necessarily occur right before they got admitted to rehab. Calvins

realization went like this: Baka mawala yung mommy mo, di ka makitang magbago. This

thought struck him while trying to steal money from her mom in order to buy more drugs and so

he revealed his thoughts after that happened, which was quite similar to what Mariah realized: so

dito nagkaroon ako ng realization na kailangan ko ng ayusin yung sarili ko.

Work in Progress 48

Some realizations also showed the participants the consequences of what they have done.

Rick said, narealize ko noong wala na, wala ng taong nagtitiwala sa akin while Jay realized

this: I realized that I had so much in the beginning but I took for granted and exploited and took

advantage of. And I chose to do wrong, I chose toyou know in the beginning I even knew what

I was doing was wrong. These showed what was lost and in Jays statement, he also admitted that

he knew that he should not do it but he did anyway. Other realizations were that of needing help

and for some, it is to stop what they were doing.

Moving forward, other participants realized a couple of things in rehab as well like Jay and

Rick who were both brought to rehab by the initiative of their mothers. In rehab, they have come

to realize and accept that their moms made the right decision. Other participants realized that

indeed, they have become drug addicts or alcoholics since before they went to rehab, they did not

consider themselves as such and so they thought that they could just shoulder on and that rehab is

unnecessary. There were also realizations about what could happen to them if they continue

abusing substances. As Lou mentioned, Sa alak pwede ka mamatay, sa drugs pwede ka

maparalytiko. Ayaw ko na mangyari yun. Ayaw ko ng umabot sa puntong yun.

In addition, Jay have realized this: I only saw the joy in life when my life was nothing but

hell and thats what it took for me. Like my dad used to tell me when I was a kid, tigas ulo ko. I

had to learn things the hard way. There were also some more realizations on how they do not

know everything and on missing their family members. Rick said, Pero noon ngang nasa loob

na ko ng rehab, bigla ko narealize na noon ngang nasa labas ako, hindi ko naman talaga sila

hinahanap. Bakit namimiss ko sila samantalang drugs yung hianahnap ko that time.

Furthermore, they have also realized some matters when they were already outside of the

rehabilitation centers. One of which was this. Paul said, I used to be confused about that. I need
Work in Progress 49

to rely on myself, blah blah blah. Its very very clear: my best thinking, my best knowledge has

brought me to these rooms, brought me to the rooms of the this group, brought me to the gates of

the psychiatric ward jail and everything, dun ako dinala eh. So why will I depend on it again.

Aside from that, there were also realizations regarding the family. Some participants realized that

their family will always be by their side no matter what. As Jay said, I used to never want to spend

time with the family or do anything. I just wanna be out with my friends all the time. After 6 or 7

years of doing that, reopened my eyes on how much my family really mean to me. How much

friends and foes would come and go but your family, will always be there.

Some realizations brought the participants to rethink their ways. One of them was Calvin.

He realized that, Hindi ko pala pwedeng kontrolin yung mga tao na they have to be nice [to] me

kasi dati tinatakot ko sa pagsasalita. So pinapahinto ko sila sa takot Hindi pala. Yung pinaka

madali palang gawin doon, let go ka lang kasi powerless ka sa kanila eh. You can only suggest sa

kanila na ganito ang gawin. There was also Jay who said, Hanggang ngayon, ganyan din ako:

trial-and-error. Pero I know my boundaries; I know my limits now. There are certain things that

you shouldnt trial-and-error on. Alongside these were other realizations that taught the

participants things that they should not repeat again or matters in which they have to give more

importance to instead.

Overall, the participants had lots of realizations at different points in their recovery and

even during the time when they were still dependent on their drugs of choice. Aside from these

realizations though, there was another element that was observed in order to proceed with recovery

and that is willingness.

Willingness

Some participants said that willingness is key and that it is necessary as Jay said: Thats
Work in Progress 50

exactly how it is. I didnt get help until I wanted it. There were also some participants who

reiterated the role willingness could play in recovery. Rick said, Once nawilling kang

magbagoWilling akong magbago. Kung ano man iyong mga challenge na maaring ano, iaccept

ko iyon. Kasi nagkamali nga ako. Kumbaga, hihingi ka na nga ng mga kapalit o hihingi ka nga ng

tiwala eh wala ka pa ngang napapatunayan sa kanila. Paul also stated, pwedeng-pwede

magbagoKung gugustuhin mo lang, you can do it.

Besides willingness, there appeared one more thing that is important in order to take the

first step towards recovery: acceptance.

Acceptance

Some of the participants explicitly mentioned that the first step in recovery is acceptance.

As Paul said, but if you ask me, the first step for treatment in addiction is basically acknowledging

or accepting that I am an addict. Admitting to being powerless to addiction was also one of the

things other participants had to accept: Kailangan mo muna iaccept sa sarili mo na yung

addiction na pinasokyung bisyong pinasok ko ay hindi ko na kayang pigilan. For others, they

had to accept and eventually they also understood the decisions that their loved ones made for

them: Even though they planned a kidnapping, its fine. It was for my own good, Jay said.

Aside from accepting these things, some of the participants also mentioned that they had

to accept and acknowledge that they were wrong, that they committed a mistake in order to

progress: wala kang first step na magagawa kasi di mo nga naaaccept na nagkamali ka. There

were also statements from the participants that pointed to accepting whatever happened in the past:

Worst thing is you know, the past. I need to accept the past. I can never ever change the past you

know. Also, they mentioned the consequence of acceptance as Rick puts it in these words:

Syempre pag naaccept mo na na nagkamali ka, syempre ang kapalit nun, bibigay mo yung best
Work in Progress 51

mo sa rehab.

The value of acceptance in recovery could be seen in the statements above and as some of

the participants directly said that the first step for treatment is addiction then the succeeding

paragraphs shall now tackle the beginnings of recovery.

Beginning

Allen described his experience in this way: Ayun, nung lumabas na nga ko, it was black

and white. Lumabas ka sa night life, it was black and white, walang kabuhay-buhay. Tapos I held

on, eventually, I started something. I started to appreciate life kasi I stared using drugs at a very

young age. He described how he felt when he was finally free from marijuana and was at the start

of his recovery.

Going further, other participants described the beginning to be very difficult due to

circumstances in life. As Marie recounted: hindi ganun kadali kasi I had to give up pushing,

paano ako magsusurvive, wala namang nanay or parents na magsusupport for me. hindi kami

mayaman, wala akong pera, kapag tumigil akong pagtutulak wala akong ano any income. She

uttered these words because alongside her drug abuse was also pushing or drug dealing, which

became her livelihood for so long. Paul also gave this statement: ang masasabi ko about addiction

to recovery hindi sya ganun kadali hindi naging madali, umiiyak ako. One of the participants

also mentioned that she cried to God and asked Him if that was really how difficult changing is.

In addition, Mariah mentioned that she had to be vigilant. Everyday kailangang binabantayan ko

talaga yung sarili ko, she said.

Aside from the beginning being difficult, some participants also mentioned that they had

to relearn everything. Paul said the following words:

Literally, I felt like a child, you know? Walking for the first time na walang alalay or di ba
Work in Progress 52

walang walker. So there were a lot of things that I used to do while Im in drugs, na I need

to do again without drugs. Like going to work, di ba? Or kahit kakain, naliligo. Di ba kahit

anong bagay, I have to do it or do everything normally. So, medyo mahirap, di ba yung

makipagkilala, makipagkaibigan, to get along, to hang out, you know? These are new

things for me in a sense na you just hang out not doing anything or drinking coffee, or

manuod lang kayo ng sine. Simple things you know, very simple things. It was already a

success for me.

So the beginnings were really difficult for them since they had to start all over again. Jay even had

to learn a new language (Filipino) because he grew up in the States but he was rehabilitated here

in the Philippines. He even mentioned that he felt that what was needed was, reprogram talaga.

All of these themes described the process of recovery. In the next portion of the paper, key

experiences of participants could be seen. Table 6 summarizes the significant experiences of the

participants.

Table 6

Abstracted Themes for Key Experience

Themes Frequency

Turning Point 19

Help Arrived 10

Worked in Rehab 5

Developed a Relationship with God 5

Found a Partner 3
Work in Progress 53

Table 6 shows five themes for the Key Experience of the participants. Turning Point had

the most frequency while Help Arrived is the second in the most number of recurring statements.

Further details about each of these themes will be provided below.

Turning Point

These are the experiences of the participants that changed something for them. There were

four subthemes identified under Turning Point. First is tiredness. Some of the participants felt

really tired toward the life they were living then and so they desired to change. As one of them

said, basically yun yung turning point ng life ko. When I was too tired, I was sick and tired of

being sick and tired. Pagod na, pagod. There were also participants who had turning points

related to their families or even with those people that they consider as such. Paul recounted this

story:

Para sakin yung pinaka turning point was really my family, yung anak ko, I have a 5-year

old daughter then who asked me one time, we were about to go to sleep. Sabi niya daddy,

are you a bad boy? Instantly I felt upset kasi I was already thinking who talked to my

daughter again, who brainwashed her, ano na naman to, and it was hard for me to say

no, Im not a bad boy. I had to ask her you know, what do you think sabi ko, sabi niya

sakin, no youre not a bad boy. For me, youre the best dad in the world and sabay umiyak

siya. And I felt that she meant what she said. She was sincere, and I felt somehow from a

mouth of a 5-year old na basically the only thing that I value in my life at that time, it meant

something, and somehow, for what every reason, it stuck on me. Na totoo yung sinasabi

nung anak ko, probably theres still something good in me na nakikita nung anak ko. And

di ko alam pano ko naisip na bakit hindi nalang ako magfocus dun sa konting good na yon,

baka sakaling may chance pa.

Work in Progress 54

Another example would be Mariahs experience. She said that one of her children started taking

marijuana and she did not know how to ask that child to stop using marijuana. She stated, papano

ko sila babawalin kung ako mismo hindi ko maano [matigil] di ba? Aside from that, she also

mentioned that one time, her mom told her that her mom will kill herself if Mariah does not change.

In addition, for Jay said, You know my real turning point was being that head CO out of

everything When I became the head of the family. He was referring to an experience in rehab.

Besides these family-related experiences, there were also those turning points that were

described as a spiritual awakening. One of the participants described this experience as a voice he

heard in his mind that told him to act now. He said that this voice did not sound like him and that

was probably the main reason why he listened to that voice. These were his words:

sakin kasi para siyang spiritual awakening, in a sense na for that night, for a period of

time somehow, Paul knew who Paul was. Parang dalawa na yung nag-uusap sa utak ko na

bukas nalang, pag bukas nalang magbabago nanaman yung isip mo, ngayon na, hindi,

uubusin ko muna yung drugs ko, so may nagtatalo na sa utak ko, and parang first time na

nagyari yon, na mayroong, nagkaroon ng pagtatalo, na mayroong nabuksan na

conscience. Something was really awakened inside of me, and literally I could hear his

voice and somehow yun yung sinusundan ko, not yung old self. Parang yung bagong voice

yung sinundan ko.

Some participants, on the other hand, described it as an experience where in umiyak ka ng

masakit, yun na yun. Another participant said this about awakening: definitely, there has to be

an awakening. May clangck, mayroon kang maramdaman. Kase, yun nga yung problema, as

addictsI used to run away from responsibilities and consequences, di ba? Na hindi ko

nararamdaman yung clangk in my life kasi may taga bayad may taga sagip may taga defend.
Work in Progress 55

Theres always something or someone fixing it for me.

So all these things were how the participants described a spiritual awakening. Aside from

that though, there were also some participants whose turning points were because of their

dissatisfaction with their current lives. Marie stated that she was not happy anymore because she

felt that, hindi ko na gusto yung ganun. nasan na ko? ano to? hindi nako ganito. dati for fun pero

ngayon hindi na maganda to. hindi na maganda as in. She said that because she was telling the

story of how she was kidnapped by her drugging buddies. She also said that she did not like the

fact that those were the kind of people she was with. She said, yung mga nakakasama ko that

time, imagine, nangcacarnap, nangkikidnap. Imagine, kikidnapin ka bigla, kabarkada mo. wala

na silang makidnap, ikaw na lang.

Basically, the sentiment of some of the other participants were similar to Maries. They

also did not like what they have become. In addition, some of them also mentioned that they know

what they have lost and that they wanted to get out of that kind of life but, di ko alam kung paano

ko uumpisahan, Rick said. This statement of his reflected the sentiments of other participants.

Help Arrived

As the previous section reflected the desire of the participants to change their lives, this

part is crucial to achieving their desire. Help Arrived basically sums up the themes of how the

participants were given help, whether directly or indirectly. First, there is the experience of help

being offered directly. Some participants recounted how one day, someone offered them help and

they just accepted it. Bryan said, nagkaroon ng intervention. Yun, dun na, dun na nag-umpisa

and nung nangyari yun noong araw na yun, sumama na ko ng maayos sa kanila. Di na ko

nagresist. Meanwhile, there were those participants who received help by being forcibly sent to

rehabilitation centers. Two of these participants experienced being framed, where in police officers
Work in Progress 56

came to their houses to supposedly arrest them but it was actually to bring them to rehab. Another

participant was also set-up by her children. She was asked to go in a certain place, which turned

out to be a rehab facility and so she got admitted there.

Aside from those two ways in which help was given, there is this third one that is more

indirect, so to speak. It could be described as a methodology being introduced. In here, during the

time when some of the participants were still abusing drugs, they were invited to come to support

groups or rehab facilities and so when they wanted to quit, as one of them said, alam ko kung

saan ako pupunta. This kind of scenario was still considered under Help Arrived because even

though these participants did not stay in rehab, an option was introduced to them by others.

Worked in Rehab

Another theme that emerged was Worked in Rehab. Some participants opted or were

offered jobs to work in the facilities where they were rehabilitated in. This experience helped them

according to them since as Rick said, Oo, wala talagang droga doon pero kung baga, nasasanay

na ko sa haba ng panahon na sarili ko yung desisyon na wala, walang droga. So working in the

facility helped him to practice further a life without drugs. Paul also mentioned this, parang half

foot out palang ako sa treatment facility, Im still in because the whole day, I spent with recovering

people, so I feel safer, di ba? So that in itself helped me a lot. Paul echoes the sentiments of other

participants in that they want to keep themselves safe and so they worked in rehabs. Aside from

those, Paul also shared what he learned in rehab: after some time, syempre akala mo ang galing

galing mo, tumutulong ka sa iba blah blah blah blah and then later on, I realized that basically it

was me being helped because dun ko nakita na papasok don ang pangit-pangit, magulo,

pagkalabas maayos, tignan. Pwedend-pwede magbago, di ba? Kung gugustuhin mo lang, you can
Work in Progress 57

do it. You can ask for help and you can change. So yun ang malaking eye opener sa akin when I

worked in the treatment facility.

Developed a Relationship with God

Apart from working in rehab, there were some participants who were able to form a

relationship with God or a Higher Power (HPP, which according to them, helped a lot in recovery.

Mariah shared, pinakaimportante talaga yung tinatawag namin na HP no, yung higher power,

yung relationship ko sa kanya no, sa totoo lang buong buhay ko hindi naman niya ko pinabayaan,

ako lang pala yung lumayo sa kanya, and ngayon kumbaga yung constant relationship ko sa higher

power ko nabalik. Calvin, on the other hand, described having a relationship with God in this

way: Doon ko na talaga naramdaman yung relationship na sinasabi nila. Tapos nag let go na

ko, sabi ko Kayo na po bahala.

Found a Partner

Aside from developing a relationship with God, one of the participants was able to develop

a relationship with a fellow in recovery. Marie said that having a husband who is also a recovering

buddy was very helpful since he reminded her always of the things that she should do instead of

doing drugs and that they have each other as support systems. Aside from that, she said that her

husband also guided her through her recovery. Her husband was ten years in recovery at the time

they met.

Other than the experiences that helped these individuals in their recovery, there were also

techniques or strategies that they employed. The following could be seen in Table 7.
Work in Progress 58

Table 7

Abstracted themes for Techniques or Strategies

Themes Frequency

Be Mentally Prepared 8

Have a Proper Mindset 26

Change Environment 10

Overcome Adversities 12

Attend Meetings 10

One Day at a Time 10

Focus on Self Recovery 6

Pray 5

Help Other People 5

Tell the People Close to You 1

From the analysis, the most prominent theme abstracted for Techniques or Strategies was
Work in Progress 59

to Have a Proper Mindset. After that would be to Overcome Adversities. These ten themes would

be further discussed below.

Be Mentally Prepared

Some participants mentioned that before they went out of rehab, they readied themselves.

They thought of the things that might happen and prepared for them. Rick even mentioned that he

prepared for the way he expected the people around him would act. He recounted, hindi ko iyon

hiningi sa kanila na pagkatiwalaan ninyo ako. di, di ganoon. Kasi iniisip ko na noong nasa

loob na ako ng rehab, naiisip ko na pagkalabas ko, ito iyong daratnan ko. Itong iyong mga

magiging ano sa akin, iyong hihigpitan ako, di bibigyan ng pera, so... iyon ganoon. Meanwhile,

another participant said, I told myself when I got out of rehab, Im gonna go back into the world

completelyAm I gonna go back into the real world without taking in what Ive learned in the

past years? Also, Allen said these words:

Tapos nakapag quit ako kasi I started changing my perception in life. Alam ko na I would

get sick anytime because of my drug use. I also got realistic I know masarap para sakin it

was pleasurable. But then sabi ko I have to let go that kind of pleasure. So ginawa ko sa

sarili ko, no matter how, whatever i felt, hindi nako gagamit. I made a decision, i know

what i have to contend with. So when I cut off what I have, the places where I used to go

were in black and white. Diba night life colorful yan diba? It was in black and white. I

hang on, I never had a drink I never had a sip or a drop of any kind of drink. I never used

stuff, any of those kind of intoxicating substances.

Other participants also did some mental preparations when they were already out of rehab.

What they did is they make a lot of decisions in their head first, or to simulate what was going to

happen if they did a certain thing. So this was one of the techniques that helped them to avoid
Work in Progress 60

going back to drug use, another would be to Have a Proper Mindset.

Have a Proper Mindset

This proved to be one of the most important strategies for the participants. They showed

this in five different ways. One of the participants used optimism. When people or circumstances

do not go in his favor, he chose to look at the bright side of things instead. He stated, so think

positive nga, wag mong isiping nagddoubt sila sayo. Ang isipin mo, mahal ka nila. Some

participants showed that they use some sort of gauge in order to see if they were on the verge of

relapsing. Doon pa lang sa ano, inaagapan ko na. Sa ugali ko pa lang: sa simpleng paghuhugas

ng plato na dating ginagawa ko sa rehab; sa amin, di ako, [yung] pinagkainan ko lang. Di ko

nahugas[an], sign of relapse na sa akin iyon. For another participant, he recounted that he had

this attitude of being boastful. He said, So yung nights na nahihirapan akong lumuhod, yung yung

nights na mas mayabang ako. Yun yung guage ko. I tried to keep it simple eh. Kase its very hard

to judge yourself,di ba? So I tried to see the simple things like pag di nako nakakaluhod

pagkamatutulog kase masyado na kong tamad or inaantok na ganun-ganun, lumalaki na naman

yung ulo ko di ba? So yabang, keep it simple. Yabang, ah mayabang ka na naman. He stated this

in the context of what he was like when he was abusing dugs. He also said that he tried to change

his attitude as he went along in recovery. Being mayabang was one of the things that he wanted to

let go off and so he used this gauge. Additionally, acceptance was also used as a gauge by another

participant. He said that he has a problem when he was having a hard time accepting something.

Another thing that worked for some of the participants was for them to keep certain things

in mind. As Facenda said, ang tinatak ko sa utak ko para di na ko magbalik sa pag drugs eh

maddisappoint ko na naman yung taong tumulong sa akin. Rick, on the other hand, did this:

inayos ko yung pagrerehab ko at inano ko sa sarili ko na this is the first and last. Meanwhile,
Work in Progress 61

what Paul kept in mind was that everything should happen precisely the way they did, in his own

wording: everything that happened needed to happen precisely for it to create that recipe or that

moment that is somehow became valuable for a certain thing. Parang lilipat ulit sa kabila, tumaas

nanaman. So its a series of random events in my life, di ba? So wala, wala talagang mistake.

Kailangan talaga siya mangyari. Other participants also believed this that everything had to open

in order for them to be who they are and as Allen said, Wala din akong regrets, yun yung frame

of mind ko eh.

Finally, the fifth way in having a proper mindset was through Allens menu board

technique. This is how it works: Di ba kung minsan punta ka sa fastfood. Yung isang specific

item na gusto mo, kung minsan wala na. Not available. So yung menu board, so yung menu board

sa pleasure ng life ko, sa life ko ngayon, sa menu board of pleasures, wala na yung drugs at saka

alcohol. Permanently hindi na available talaga. Iba na lang. Iba na lang. It is interesting to know

that this was what he mostly relied on and that he even stated that he also shared this to other

people struggling to escape from drug addiction.

Change Environment

Another tactic the participants use, and also what some of them were taught in rehab was

to change their environment. Of course, within the bounds of what they could control like the

people they spend time with. Some of the participants mentioned that this was one of the challenges

they had to face in recovery. They had to find new friends since they cannot accompany their old

friends anymore because these were the people who used to be their drugging buddies. Rick also

had this experience when he was buying something from the store and a former drugging buddy

approached him and offered him some drugs. He recounted his response in this way: Kailangan

pag ganun na yung situation, kailangang wag mo hayaan na tumagal ka ng limang minuto na
Work in Progress 62

kausap mo yung taong yun. Talagang kailangang umiwas ka na.

He also mentioned that he had no other reason to stay there because they were not really

friends to begin with. According to him, they were merely acquaintances who happen to meet

before to do drugs. So Rick said that if he stayed there longer, that meant that he was on the verge

of relapsing again because the only reason for his not leaving would be, according to him, was his

desire to use. Moreover, Jay also mentioned that when he made friends now, he had to think twice.

So these participants learned to be cautious with the people they choose to spend time with.

Aside from avoiding their circle of friends that abused drugs, Jay tried to live in a place

where in his drug of choice is not that accessible. And thats another reason why I chose to live

here instead of going back home because here, you cant find em. That is a high-class drug. Not

ordinary-made. Maybe only general hospital in Manila has that drug. I think the closest thing they

have to it is a vycodein. Thats it. And thats nothing, he said. Jay was born and raised in the US

but he know opted to live here in the Philippines.

On the other hand, some of them also tried to avoid being in situations where in they feel

like they would be in danger. This danger that they were talking about was that of a circumstance

where in they would be exposed to either drugs or alcohol. Aside from changing the environment

though, there was another strategy that the participants do in order to sustain their recovery. They

try to overcome their adversities.

Overcome Adversities

Basically, some of the participants mentioned how they had to face their problems head on

and that at present, they are able to overcome these challenges. As one of them said, kailangan

mong harapin yun to be a stronger person. Parang foundation mo yun. Pundasyon mo yan to stay

sober. This theme was considered as strategy the participants use since they have also recounted
Work in Progress 63

that before, they did not face their problems. They ran from them and most of the time, they turned

to drugs.

Attend Meetings

For other participants, what they considered a useful way in order to stay in recovery is to

attend the meetings on their corresponding support groups. They said that by doing these, they can

draw strength from their fellow recovering buddies. These particular participants also considered

attending meetings to be their maintenance: pagpapatibay ng recovery namin and para sakin

maintenance talaga yung meeting. While for some of the participants attending meetings helped,

for others, what helped was to adhere to this motto: One day at a time.

One Day at a Time

Some participants mentioned that at present, they choose to live life one day at a time. As

one of them said, Tama na muna yung one day at a time. Just for today buhay ako, buhay mga

anak ko. Naging maayos ako. Aside from that, some of them also said that, Karamihan sa amin

kami nagrerecover karamihan sa amin one day at a time. Importante itong araw na ito; wag mo

munang bukas. Another participant also stated, Success na one day at a time. Kung ano lagi

iyong araw na to. Ang importante, hindi ako gagamit. This became one of the primary strategies

that some participants used in order to help them in their recovery. They took things one day at a

time. Aside from that, another thing participants did was to focus on their own recoveries.

Focus on Self Recovery

Some participants thought that the most important thing that they had to do when they came

out of rehab was to put themselves first. As Mariah said, ako muna bago yung lahat kasi kung di

maayos ako, di rin magiging maayos yung nakapaligid sakin. Some of the participants also
Work in Progress 64

mentioned how they really needed to focus on themselves most especially when they face trials

for example, when people mistrust their ability to sustain their recovery. In answer to that, this was

what Rick said:

So, ako ang ano ko don, wala akong pakialam don eh. Di koiniignore ko iyon kasi

kung magpapaapekto ako sa kanila, walang mangyayari ako di ko kailangang ipagkalat

sa mga tao na nagbago ako. Basta gagawin ko kung anong yung tama na alam ko So

kung ang finofocus mo iyong kung paano mo babaguhin sarili mo, kung paano ka

umasenso, paano ka makitungo sa mga kapwa mo, kung iyon ang finofocus mo, wala. Wala

kang kailangang ipag-alala. Hindi mo kailangang ipagkalat sa mga taong na nagbago ka

kung di ipakita mo o i-act mo sa sarili mo kung paano ano iyong natutunan mo sa loob ng

rehab o kung paano ka magbago. Doon pa lang, kahit di ka magsalita, nakikita na nila

eh.

Apart from focusing on self recovery, another way some of the participants used was to pray to a

higher being.

Pray

Some participants said that they prayed when they think that they cannot do anything by

themselves. As one of them stated, Wala naman akong magagawa. All I could do is pray. There

were also those participants who seemed to really rely on prayer. One of them even said,

Nagppray lang ako palagi. Sa 1 week, may 4 times ako nagppray sa church. Other participants

rely on prayer during the times when they feel mabigat ang kalooban. Another participant also

mentioned that he used prayers to put my feet back on the ground because he thought that

whenever he became mayabang it seemed as if he reverted to his old ways.

Work in Progress 65

Help Other People

What proved to be effective for other participants was to help other people. One of these

individuals even remarked, para saken ang pinaka shortcut talaga is you try to help other people,

try to be selfless. The other people they mostly referred to were newcomers or the people

who just entered or graduated rehab.

Tell the People Close to You

For one of the participants, he specifically stated that what really worked for him in

sustaining his recovery was to tell a loved one because, as he said, kailagan mong sabihin dun sa

mga taong malapit sayo. Sa pinsan mo o kaya sa mga magulang mo na nagccrave ka. Kailangan

namin sabihin yun kasi sila yung mga taong mag-aantabay sa akin.

Aside from techniques or strategies, there were also factors that contribute to recovery.

These factors could be seen in Table 8.

Table 8

Abstracted themes for Factors that Contribute to Recovery

Themes Frequency

Faith 27

Motivations 28

Support 13

Being Happy with Recovery 11

Remembering Life Before 5

Being Picky 3
Work in Progress 66

Change Lifestyle 1

Themes about factors that contribute to recovery were also abstracted. The two most

frequently mentioned by the participants were Motivations and Faith. First to be tackled is Faith.

Faith

Some of the participants relied heavily on their High Power/God. They mentioned things

like kayo na po bahala and I-le-let go ko lang lahat sa Kanya. They recognize that there is a

God whose power is greater than theirs and so, ngayon, sa recovery, naniniwala kami na Siya

lang ang makakapagdrive ng buhay namin. Inaallow namin Siyang magdrive ng buhay namin

some of the participants who believe in Him also trust that He could help them: Ive learned to

believe in my HP and everything will go well. and naeenforce yung faith na that there is a higher

power, there is a God, and Hes working in everyones life. And if Hes working in their lives,

siguro naman Hes also working on mine. These participants also mentioned repeatedly that what

helped was yung faith ko sa higher power ko.

Motivations

Aside from faith, there were also motivational factors that the participants were able to

mention. Mainly, their motivations for fighting and continuing in their recovery are their family,

dream, purpose, and to retain the trust that they said, bumalik ulit .

There are different ways on how the family could be a source of motivation. One, the

participants wanted to avoid disappointments from their family. Two, whenever the participants

see their loved ones happy, that is what, as one of them said, yung nagpapatatag ngayon sa akin

kaya ako nagpapatuloy sa aking recovery. Three, they are motivated to change for their family

members. As one of these participants stated: From the beginning, they broke me down. Piece by
Work in Progress 67

piece and I eventually built myself back up. And the only thing I could think about was my reason

to get out and my reason to do good was to be the older brother I never was to my little brother.

To be the oldest son of my mother that was helping her all the time.

Other participants are also fueled by their dreams. These was specifically seen in some of

the participants who were single. They said that there are still things that they want to happen in

their lives like building families of their own. As one of them said, I just have a dream. I just

wanna be old. I wanna see my kids have kids. I just wanna have my family. I just wanna be able

to call a family reunion, barbecue, hang out, drink, kwentuhan, kahit once a year lang, okay lang.

For others, they found this sense of purpose. Some of these purposes are still directed to

the family for example: purpose ko sa life. mapalaki ko yung mga bata, mga anak ko ng maayos.

There were also participants who mentioned that their purpose is to do their higher powers will

or to help others. This particular participant echoes the sentiments of those who live to do their

Gods will and those who live to help other people: for me, my purpose in life is to do my high

powers will. And kumbaga, marami siyang taong ginawang doktor, lawyer, abogado, basketball

player. Ako ginawa nya kong PhD, previously high on drugs, so yun yung forte ko.

It could also be observed how some participants, especially those who are still relatively

new to recovery had this kind of purpose: para sa bukas ko na kailangan meron naman akong

mga goal, one goal at a time lang din pala dapat, di ko pwedeng pagsaba sabayin, pero ngayon

sa totoo lang focus ako sa sarili ko lang muna talaga sa recovery ko.

Finally, they are motivated to not lose the trust of others again: Sabi ko nga kanina, na

nakakatulong sa recovery ko ngayon iyong mga taong nagbigay ulit sa akin ng tiwala.

Support

Another key factor is support. It could come from different sources based on the statements
Work in Progress 68

of the participants. Some feel the support from family members: Unang-una suporta ng mga

mahal ko sa buhay kasi paglabas mo tas walang suporta sa family, palagay ko wala din. Support

talaga. Meanwhile, others get support from their very own support groups. These participants

acknowledge how valuable peer support is to them. They even see them as their second family. As

Lou stated: Ayun lang kinaggrateful ko at least nabigyan ako ng second family na matatakbuhan

ko.

Moreover, this particular participant specifically mentioned how important support is:

Moral support is a very very big factor in recovery. If a person who is in recovery is not

shown a sense of need and if theyre not shown trust, and if theyre not shown in other

words another chance at life to be normal again, without being judged as a drug addict,

mahihirapan siya because those are the biggest things that we fear: rejection,

discriminationIts just like how a gay would feel trying to tell his father hes gay. You

know, hes his son so he should try to accept him for who he is and love him no matter

what. Ganun din yung sa drug addict. A drug addict is still a person.

Being Happy with Recovery

Another thing that emerged to be important is being happy with the life in recovery. As

one of the participants mentioned: So number one really, you have to be happy in recovery kasi

yung mga unang nawawala, yung mga may hinahanap, yung mga di contented. Pero if you feel

happy with your recovery, bakit ka pa babalik? Whats there to go back to? The participants also

mentioned how grateful they are with their lives at present. As Bryan stated: very happy sa

nangyayari sa buhay ko. Another participant also said these words: Somehow parang mas

nagkaroon ng point yung buhay ko eh parang naging simple nalang yung buhay. That its uhh,

naging mas masaya kasi I wont be alone anymore; I dont have to be alone.
Work in Progress 69

Remembering Life Before

Aside from being happy with recovery, some participants also mentioned that another thing

that helped them stay in recovery is seeing the newcomers. As Calvin said. Pagnakikita ko yung

new comers, it reminds me not to go back kasi magiging ganoon ka nanaman. Ang layo na ng

napuntahan mo. Na earn mo na yung trust, yung love, at you appreciate life more, di ba?

Mawawala nanaman yun. Some of them even mentioned that if they look back on their life

before, it seemed so dark and so hard. Bryan also mentioned that: Noon parang gray. Wala akong

nakikitang maganda pero sa totoo lang, nandiyan lang yung mga magaganda di ko lang nakikita.

As these participants stated, there is no reason for them to go back because now, they appreciate

life. They appreciate how simple it has become as compared to how their life was before. Mariah

recounted, dati napakakomplikado ng buhay ko na parang maliit na bagay lang pero parang

napakalaki na pero ngayon sa programa tinuruan akong maging simple.

Being Picky

A certain factor that helped a participant, on the other hand, was his being picky. He said,

masyadong maarte ako. His drug of choice was oxycodein, a certain type of oxycodon,

according to him. As he specified, I like a certain oxycodon. Isa lang. Blue na blue siya, thats

the darkest of em all. Thats the only one I would take. It could be seen here how particular he

was on his so-called taste on drugs.

Change Lifestyle

For another participant, she mentioned how for her, there should be a change in lifestyle in

order for her to continue in recovery. She said, hindi lang sya yung pagitigil sa droga buo ako

to keep me from coming back. Kasi I belive it's my attitude na pwede ring magtrigger sakin or

kung nega akong tao, or ungrateful akong tao can push me to go back on using.
Work in Progress 70

After learning about all these factors that contribute to relapse, there are also things that

the participants learned from their experiences in addiction and now in recovery. Table 9

summarizes the themes abstracted for learnings.

Table 9

Abstracted themes for Learnings

Themes Frequency
Apologize by Making Amends 3
Appreciate Little Things 2
Be Grateful and Content 6
To Love 9
Be Responsible 4
Learn from the Past 2
The Present is Very Important 2
Nothing is Permanent 1
Move Forward 3

These are the things the participants learned as they struggled through addiction towards

recovery. The most frequent themes found were that they learned to love and to be grateful. Going

further, the first learning to be discussed is apologizing by making amends.

Apologize by Making Amends

Calvin said: The best sorry that you could give them is trying to change, not to go back.

Other participants also echoed what Calvin said and one of them specifically mentioned this:

making amends with the family. ako, making amendsnot by saying sorry, it's an action. like sa

mga anak ko, during the time na nagdodroga ako, wala akong time for them, never akong nag-

attend ng PTA meeting. ngayon ang step 9 ko, by doing amends, I make it a point na andun ako

for them. Nagaattend ako ng PTA meeting, minsan nga late lang andun ako for them. Lagi ako sa
Work in Progress 71

school, so ayun yung pambawi ko.

Appreciate Little Things

According to Jay, what he learned was to appreciate all the little things. He also said that

he had to really appreciate and not take for granted the little things like Spending time with my

family, enjoying good food.

Be Grateful and Content

Some of the participants mentioned that being grateful and contented is important.

According to them, they learned to be thankful just by being alive and that the source of enjoyment

is gratefulness. Also, as one of them mentioned: dapat may gratitude saka contentment, kumbaga

tinuruan din ako ng programa na maging grateful sa kahit anong maliit na bagay kase dati wala

akong gratitude, meron nakong ganito di pa din ako kuntento. In support, another participant said

this:

Matatakot na rin ako siguro. Masaya na ko ngayon eh. Pag iniba ko pa kase to baka iba

pa yung mangyari ehLike what I said kung failure siya noon tapos ngayon naging gold,

if I try to make it gold, baka maging failure siya ngayon eh, di ba? So, I try not to think

about those things anymore because its beyond my control. It would just give me thoughts

of regretting things, but the truth is, I dont really know what would really happen if I

change this to that, di ba? It doesnt mean na kapag binago ko yun eh magiging ganito ako

or magbabago din yung buhay ko in a good way. I dont know. The truth is, hindi ko talaga

alam. So I just have to be contented in what happened to me and be grateful that it

happened.

To Love
Work in Progress 72

A big lesson for some of the participants is to love. They said that they had a hard time

relearning how to love other and themselves since before recovery, they were selfish. Additionally,

one of the said that: unang una pala, natutunan kong mahalin yung sarili ko. tanggapin kung sino

ako and that according to other participants, this learning how to love oneself led to learning how

to love other people as well, especially those outside the family.

Be Responsible

Some participants said that they were taught responsibility. These participants said the

following: First of all you take responsibility para maiwasan yung justification, yung defending,

talking about other peopleyou own up for your thoughts, for your feelings. Use the I statement.

You talk about yourself and not about the other people and I told myself, if I ever do a mistake

or a wrong, inaamin ko. Im not gonna blame it on anybody. Im not gonna lie to myself and say

nah, its their fault. I just take responsibility now for everything that I do.

Learn from the Past

Some of them also learned to learn from the past. As one of them put it: You wont shut

the door of your past, you really have to learn from it. Dont forget it. Another participant said

this: tapos yung pinaka importante yung kahapon ko, history na saken, kailangan maging

learning experience ko kailangan mayroon akong natutunan kumbaga pwede ko siyang gamiting

strength ko no na hindi ko na kailangang balikan yung kahapon.

The Present is Very Important

Aside from learning from the past, a certain participants also learned about the significance

of the present. He said:

sa lahat ng napagdaanan ko ang natutunan ko Tama pala sila. Na kung ano man yung tinanim

ko, yun yung aking aanihin. So if I start planting while Im youngplant good thingswhen I get
Work in Progress 73

older, Ill be reaping or sowing something thats good as well. whatever decisions I make today,

it will always [affect] the life I live tomorrow. So whats important is right here, right now, at this

moment, in my decisions at this moment, hindi yung kanina, hindi yung kahapon, or last week or

last month. Hindi yung bukas, yung next week, or yung next month. Its basically now. So a present

is a gift. The present is a gift. So, its a matter of how I will take advantage of this gift, how I will

use it, di ba? Sa maganda ba, o sasayangin ko ba, o hindi ko siyababalewalain ko na lang? Its

up to me. So now, my life is full of choices.

Nothing is Permanent

Another lesson that was learned by one of the participants is that nothing is permanent.

This participant said the following words:everything is subject to change. Nothing is permanent.

Places change. People change. So kahit gaano pa kasama na yung isang tao, pwede siyang

magbago. Its possible.

Move Forward

Finally, a participant also learned that he has to move forward. He realized the importance

of forgiving and forgetting as he said: And the best thing I learned in rehab is to forgive and

forget Just forgive and forget and thats what just gets me through the day. Everyday, basta

forgive and forget. He also mentioned that aside from forgiving and forgetting, one also has to

learn to look forward to the future.

In summary, the data is organized within five categories. They are: Process of Recovery,

Key Experiences, Techniques or Strategies, Factors that Contribute to Recovery, and Learnings.

Under each are the various themes abstracted from the pakikipagkwentuhan. Furthermore, the

succeeding chapter shall discuss what these findings might mean as well as how they could

possibly relate to each other.

Work in Progress 74
Work in Progress 75

Chapter 5

Discussion

Drug problem in the Philippines is something that has existed for many generations now.

However, over the years, nothing much has been done about it or actions made to stop it might not

have been that successful. Hence, at present, a drug war was declared in answer to this problem.

Moreover, although there are Filipinos who support the campaign, there are a number of them that

are still unsatisfied with the current methodology since it brought about the loss of thousands of

human lives. Ergo, one of the reasons why this study was made was to hopefully help in making

people realize that there could be other alternatives, as evidenced by the individuals who were able

to overcome drug abuse.

However, before going into detail about the implications of these themes abstracted, it

would be better to begin with looking at the experiences of these individuals when they started

using drugs and the circumstances leading to their addiction. In doing this, hopefully, a better

understanding could be attained as to why they do what they do at present.

Pre-Addiction

It is a fact that people experience life differently from others however, this does not mean

that the lives they live have no similarities. In the case of the participants, it was striking how

almost all of them started at a young age. There were even two of them who started at ages eleven

and twelve. The others, on the other hand, first tasted either marijuana or shabu before graduating

from high school, which still implies that they were minors at that time. Guabong et al. (2015) had

mentioned this problem. They particularly said that this type of environment where in drugs have

become more accessible, had also raised the risks for minors to fall victims to addiction (Guabong

et al., 2015).
Work in Progress 76

There were also various reasons why these people started taking drugs. For some, it was

due to their curiosity. They just wanted to know how taking drugs felt like. Others started because

of the influence of their peers or for one of the participants, it was the influence of family members.

If one truly thinks about it, the way they started was quite natural. Since a part of being

human is being curious and there could be a variety of things people could be curious about. It just

so happened that for these individuals, drugs was one of these things. Likewise, being influenced

by peers is also not uncommon. Since there is that pressure to conform to what their peers tell them

to do in order to not jeopardize their chances to continue satisfying what is called the need for

relatedness as suggested by Ryan and Deci (2000)s self-determination theory.

Moreover, these participants also mentioned that they did not become dependent almost

immediately after that. Meanwhile, there were also some who in their drugging careersas one

of the participants like to call the time when they were addicted to drugstried many drugs and

they said that they never became addicted to any of them until they found their drug; the one that

gives them the best feeling.

In addition, the literature also showed that the role of the family is important. It is

significant in a way that most of the experiences of the participants during their formative years

were connected to them. As seen in Schfer (2011)s study, one of the factors that led to addictive

behavior was actually the negative experiences during childhood (Schfer, 2011). Looking back

on the experiences of the participants, there were some of them who had negative experiences

during childhood however, it was not just due to the influence of their families but also their peers.

Maybe, these experiences could indeed be considered as factors as to why they also started with

their addiction. Moreover, Bronfenbrenner (1994) did say that those people surrounding the

individual could influence or affect them and in turn, these individuals could do the same
Work in Progress 77

(Bronfenbrenner, 1994). Hence, it could really be a possibility.

In addition, it was also seen in the family histories of the seven participants that at least

one family member that is not necessarily within the nuclear family, had a history of addiction.

Perhaps these could have influenced some of them as well. Maybe not directly but if one is exposed

to drug use, then its chances of being a likely option could also increase.

Aside from reasons as to how they started, what they also have in common is that they also

had reasons to stay and that is mainly why they became dependent to their respective drugs.

Addiction

Phenomenon.

For some, it was really the sheer enjoyment of taking the drug that made them dependent.

This enjoyment does not only come from the high or pleasure that they get out of the drugs but

they also enjoy the feeling of not having any problems. Also, based on other accounts of the

participants, what sustained their use was also their psychological dependence, as one of the

participants put it. He explained it by citing the story of Elvis Presley. He said that Elvis Presley

had a motorcycle accident before and he had to take some pain killers. Whenever Elvis took them,

he felt relief because the pain goes away and that he also felt better than before. He performed

better; he functioned better. Elvis also became happier. Then, there came a time when he did not

need it anymore because he was not in any physical pain anymore. However he became dependent

emotionally because his emotional and psychological pains are being eased whenever he was under

the influence of the drug. So like Elvis, some of the participants in this study also sustained their

drug use because they treated drug as some sort of a mechanism in order to cope with what they

are going through because they wanted that relief from their problems as well. So basically, drugs

were an escape to some of them as well.

Work in Progress 78

This is consistent with what the literature says about addiction. As Goodman (1990) said,

addiction is a behavior that could be either for pleasure or for providing escape from an individuals

internal discomforts that is employed in a continuous pattern even though they experience

significant negative consequences (Goodman, 1990).

Moreover, other participants continued their drug use because they were surrounded by

what they call as drugging buddies, people they used to do drugs with. Lou said that: hindi ko

nahintokasi pag surrounded ka ng mga addicts theres no way na mahinto mo. Likewise, one

of the participants could not stop abusing drugs because she was in a relationship with a drug

addict as well. Furthermore, another reason that kept the participants in their usage was due to

some of their circumstances. One of the participants was the breadwinner of her family and so she

relied on the sistema in order to support their needs. She also mentioned that even if she wanted

to, because she dealt drugs, she continued using as well. It could be seen here that what motivated

her actions was the need to support her family which consequently led her to continue using drugs

as well. Perhaps one of the reasons why she continued using, aside from the access to drugs, was

also due to that burden she carried as the breadwinner. This is consistent with what Wang and

Wang (2007) said in how temptation and mental stress were factors that led a person to relapse

(Wang & Wang, 2007).

In addition, a certain participant continued his usage because he was in an environment

that permitted him to use. As he said:

my using progressed because I'm from the place, I know people. I know how to source

my stuff. Then no one would catch us. No one would apprehend usKasi angeles then

was a small town although city na siya, everyone knew everyone. So yung mga authorities

they couldn't really slap you with a suit no? Sabihing illegal yang ginagawa mo,
Work in Progress 79

pakukulong kita idedemanda kita, hindi nila pwedeng gawin kase at that time, they were

also users. There was this one time I was with the son of a very prominent family here in

Angeles. Ginagawa yung sasakyan niya. We were smoking marijuana sa may Pampang.

Hindi pa densely populated non. Ang nangyari non e, nakita namin from a far yung

sasakyan ng pulis. Sabi nya, andyan na, andyan na sila. Bilis, bilis, tago niyo yung

magandang stuff. Nakakatawa, tago yung magandang stuff, kasi we have stuff for them.

Hihingi yan e. Bibigyan namin sila pangit. Yung murang klasi bibigay.

As it could be seen, it seemed that there would not really be anyone that would stop him or them

because based on his account, even some of the authorities did drugs as well. Perhaps one of the

driving forces behind his actions was the need for competence where in he was able to display that

he was in control over his environment. This is applicable with other participants as well. Based

on their experience, it did not seem like they feared taking drugs or dealing drugs since they even

lasted years in doing these. They also reported that somehow, there were people who helped them

when they were in a bind. Someone would be there to take them away from the tight spot that they

were in and so the pseudo sense of being in control was there. Perhaps they felt this need for

competence being satisfied since they also saw how they could still control their environment

somehow through other people that continued to help them get out of jail, for example or those

that kept them away from trouble. So in a way, it helped them control the outcome of their actions.

Although, the one thing that they all had in common is that eventually, they all enjoyed

taking the drug. They want the feeling of being high and so they continued their usage. As one of

the participants said about addiction that, it is a chosen lifestyle. So these people chose to do

drugs because they were enjoying it. No matter what people said about what they did, they still

continued to do drugs. They also mentioned how they all felt in control. They did not admit that
Work in Progress 80

they were in fact addicted to the drugs because they felt like they could stop anytime they wanted

to but it was not the case. Moreover, when it came to that point where in they could no longer

manage their drug use, according to them, their addiction led them to do a lot of things that they

would not normally do without its influences. They also said that doing drugs led to a lot of

negative circumstances in their life. The reason for their not listening to others and the thinking

that they were still in control despite the negative consequences perhaps stems from the need for

autonomy. They want to demonstrate how much they were still in control of the situation.

All of the participants also experienced the loss of trust by the family members as well as

those people surrounding them. They recounted that before they knew it, no one trusted them and

that they were on their own. To add, people addicted to drugs have problems with relationships. A

participant even said that one of the greatest problems of addicts are found in relationships. He

said that they cannot form good relationships with people when they were abusing drugs. Thus,

they end up with shallow relationships or being isolated all together.

In here, it could be seen that their need for relatedness is somehow not being fulfilled

anymore since they were being alienated by their family, friends, and perhaps others that

surrounded them as well. During those times, they also lived everyday only thinking about how

they would be able to get drugs. Perhaps, one of the reasons why they lived like that is because of

their need for relatedness. They need to bond with someone or something since there seemed to be

no one there anymore.

In addition, perhaps another note-worthy matter in the lives of these people is that no one

was able to finish college. That may be one of the consequences of addiction. The reason behind

this might be because they prioritize drugs over everything else.

Furthermore, some of them even found themselves in extremely bad scenes. One of them
Work in Progress 81

experienced that her drugging buddies were kidnappers and carnappers and that these people

turned on her and kidnapped her even though they were supposedly friends. Another participant,

on the other hand, was set up by a fellow drug dealer in their neighborhood where in this drug

dealer paid people to kill him, the participant recounted. Some participants also experienced

getting jailed at some point in their lives. Furthermore, these individuals were addicted to drugs

for at least four years while some of them spent up to 19 years in addiction.

Looking at the experiences of addiction of the participants, it can be seen that they are

victims in many accounts. They begin to live with drugs because, probably, that is what they see

with other people. Alternatively, it is possible that they have needs that only drugs can satisfy that

is why they cling to it. These needs may vary from needing to perform as expected by others to

fully expressing the control they have on the course of their lives. Perhaps they are influenced to

use and abuse drugs by their peers, by their familys needs, or simply by the enjoyment they get

from the high after using. Whatever the reason why they eventually become addicted, it all ends

with the cost of losing control over their lives. They start to be dependent on drugs to function.

Their families begin to fear or loathe them. Moreover, they cling to their drug use as if it is the

only way out of their problems in life. However, addictions symptoms does not end with bodily

degradation; it seeps and destroys the social life around those who suffer from it.

Turning points.

Alongside these negative experiences, they also experienced turning points where in

according to Whetington (2003) is an instance that a person would have a major transformation

in views about the self, identity, or the meaning of life (Whetington, 2003). Some of them

eventually got tired of that kind of life and so they tried to do something about it. There were also

some who had turning points that were family-related. It is either something done by a family
Work in Progress 82

member towards them, or like in Mariahs case where in one of her children started doing drugs,

that led them to realize something or changed something in them. For Mariah, it was an eye-opener

because as she said, how would she be able to stop that child from using drugs if she herself was

still addicted to drugs. Aside from these turning points, there were also a lot of things that the

participants have realized. An example of which is how much they do not like the kind of life they

were living and that it was time to do something in order to change.

Aside from those, there also came a point where in the participants desired to quit that kind

of life and they acknowledged that they needed help. Perhaps in here, they were driven by the need

for autonomy since it was seen how they lost control over their lives and so they wish to take it

back.

Did not ask for help.

However, they did not express that they are in need of help. They did not want to tell

people. As many of them said, they knew that they needed help but they do not want to ask. Some

said that it was their pride that led them to not ask help, which made sense if one considers the

concept of hiya. As Tuliao and Liwag (2011) said it is the great concern of Filipinos to protect

their dignity which lead them to not ask help from other people (Tuliao & Liwag, 2011). So as it

could be seen, hiya could be a barrier to recovery because it prevents people from asking help even

if they know that they need it.

Willingness.

However, aside from not being able to ask help, another thing that is necessary is willingness.

Since as some of the participants stated, they did not accept help until they wanted it. Also, this is

vital to recovery because willingness is the sign that someone acknowledges that a certain thing is

valuable that is why he or she is willing to do or accept it. This proves to be significant since
Work in Progress 83

ultimately, as the self-determination theory suggests, if the choice was made without the influence

of external factors then, that person will do whatever is necessary to fulfill this need.

In the literature, willingness is also said to be crucial. It is acknowledged as something that

is necessary as seen in the definitions provided by Betty Ford Institute Consensus Panel (2007)

and the United Kingdom Drug Policy Commission (2008). Even if there were some differences in

the meanings they provided on what recovery is, their common ground was that recovery should

be voluntary because as it is said, if the person is willing, then the person could fully commit to

recovery. Likewise, this also satisfies the need for autonomy since the show of voluntariness means

that the person is the one in charge of his or her recovery.

Additionally, Guabong et al. (2015) further supports this claim that willingness is crucial

to recovery. They said that the internal is decisive while the external could only help in

facilitationg or hastening the change these individuals want in their life (Guabong et al., 2015). As

it is seen, it is still up to the individual, which is good because it gives the individual autonomy

which could to different directions. This is probably the reason why relapsing still occurs.

Relapse.

Even though they were able to experience all these things, and even if they were able quit

their drug, certain things happen and so they go back to their dependence. This then is called

relapse. As it was observed, the findings showed that a lot of factors are involved in order to sustain

recovery and if none of these factors are present, sustaining recovery would be quite an impossible

feat.

Also, as it was stated a while ago, these individuals also thought that they could control

their drug abuse. They thought that they could stop anytime. What perhaps led them to a series of

relapses is their overestimation of their abilities or maybe, underestimation of their situation. This
Work in Progress 84

might have happened since what ruled over them were their needs for competence and autonomy.

They badly wanted to stay in control of their lives as well as the outcomes of what they do that

they failed to see the reality of how things really were. So their countless attempts to stop might

have not been that successful.

Offered help.

Moreover, the results also showed that in order to utilize willingness, it has to be partnered

with being offered help although there were also cases where in help employs force. Furthermore,

as Machiavelli said, that the requirements of being a prince is that one should have virtue and

fortune. Virtue is having the talent or ability to do it (Machiavelli, 1950), which these people

already have according to Bronfenbrenner (1994). Also, with regard to fortune, this is the

presentation of opportunity that comes with not only luck, or in this studys case, being offered

help, but it is also the combination of all these circumstances that enables being a prince or

recovery to happen (Machiavelli, 1950). As it was seen in the results, even if some of the

participants were already offered help, they were not able to recover because they were not willing

to do so. Perhaps another reason for their declining the help offered is that they experience too

much pleasure in what they were doing and at the same time, they were able to escape from pain.

The hedonistic view on how well-being could be attained actually states that it is by attaining

pleasure and avoiding pain (Ryan & Deci, 2001). So it makes sense why they chose to continue

drug abuse now.

Also, in this study, the result somehow deviates to what the literature said that turning

points could lead to recovery. The findings showed that more than turning points, being offered

help is the necessary component in order to start recovery. So all of those that they have previously

experienced guided the participants toward their recoveries.

Work in Progress 85

Another necessary component which was also described by the participants as the first step

to recovery is acceptance. Since, as one of the participants said, not accepting that one is an addict

would not change that person since what is there to change if he does not admit that he committed

mistakes in the past that led him to who he became. Moreover, this acceptance would not happen

if the participants were not given time to think in order to realize certain things. This acceptance

usually occurred to them in rehab.

Moreover, accepting that they made mistakes should be partnered with the perception that

they could do something about it and that they should accept that recovery is possible because

without the hope of recovery, then, it might be harder for them to get out of addiction since what

they might think is what is there to go beyond for if one cannot get out of addiction.

Recovery

Phenomenon.

People in recovery are no longer dependent to any kind of drug. They are also working to

build better relationships with people and they have now learned to remove the focus from their

self alone. This is why in the process, they have also learned to love and to think of other people.

They no longer just live to gratify their pleasures but they are working towards a better life. Hence,

it could be seen how they are once again fulfilling their need for relatedness that they once lost or

somehow, redirected perhaps. Also, if a while back, it seemed that their approach towards life is

more hedonistic, in recovery, it perhaps could be something more like eudaimonic. This approach,

according to Ryan and Deci (2001), is focused more on meaning and self-realization. They also

said that well-being is achieved when a person is able to function fully (Ryan & Deci, 2001) and

these could be seen in the participants. They are now working towards that.

Moreover, since in recovery, they move beyond finding pleasurable things. In fact, what
Work in Progress 86

they find as pleasurable and where they draw their happiness from is in their very own recoveries.

They are now happy with the life they are living at present. As they move forward, part of what

helped them in staying in recovery are what they learned from what they have been through. They

have learned to accept the past and to appreciate the little things in life and so they were able to

gain a positive attitude towards things. So when they remember the lives they used to live, they

never want to go back. Now, they have also learned to cope with their problems and most

importantly, they have regained control over their lives, which helps in satisfying the need for

autonomy. In this vein, as autonomy is brought back, it then helps to move towards the attainment

of the need for competence since they are now able to think and move more freely. Hence, they

could steer their lives back on track. Now, they could also see what the results of what they do as

they are and they could learn from it in order to improve themselves more, which is their goal in

recovery. They want to improve for various reasons and they also have different purposes in doing

so. They also said that this is how life should be.

This is consistent with what Laudet (2007) said that recovery is a process of continually

improving oneself that there is no endpoint or graduation (Laudet, 2007) and so there could only

be betterment ahead. Laudet (2007) also considered recovery as an opportunity to start anew

(Laudet, 2007), which could be seen in the lives of these people at present. They are not just aiming

to take drugs, rather, now they are working towards different goals in life like helping others

recover, focusing on their families, and the likes.

Ultimately, recovery from addiction is a journey, according to the participants. It is a

journey where in the destination is not what matters most but the process or all the things that they

go through as they move forward, which perhaps made more sense to them since before, they tried

to evade reality by escaping towards drugs and so it is as if life passed them by. Also, what mattered
Work in Progress 87

to them before was their end goal which is to pleasure themselves. Now though, it was not the case

anymore since perhaps they have learned that that was not how life should be after all.

Likewise, this journey is a healing process for them and to those around them. This is also

found in the literature. el-Guably (2012) said that advances in recovery have now included the

process of healing and growth that could go on for years instead of just the typical weeks or at

most, months of designated recovery time (el-Guably, 2012). In addition, recovery is generally

described by these people as an abstinence to drugs perhaps because they do not want to risk

getting tempted and thereby, returning to addiction. However, it is not the case at all times. There

are also people who do not treat drug use as a relapse. So what matters really in recovery is that a

person should not become dependent to the drug again.

Moreover, as recovery was defined through the summation of the experiences of these

people, moving forward entails looking at some parts of recovery in order to better understand the

experiences of these individuals. Beginning, of course, with the beginning.

Beginning.

According to them, starting was really difficult for they had to do everything all over again.

They had to relearn how to do things without drugs and later on, as they went out, they have to

earn the trust of others as well. Aside from difficulties, they also had a lot of realizations since as

they said, they were given time to think far away from their families. Another participant

manifested that being sent to rehab was crucial to recovery since that time away, as seen in the

experiences of other participants as well, gives the recovering addict time to rethink his life. This

was possible since even if the participants had gone through different programs of rehabilitation,

the fact remains that they were pulled out from their usual life and somehow they had been forced

to adapt to a new environment. This became possible maybe, because of what the self-
Work in Progress 88

determination theory also mentioned how the environment should be able to support the needs of

the individual. In this case, rehabilitation centers were able to somehow foster an environment that

enabled the participants to begin with their recovery and somehow, progress. Also, another factor

is perhaps their need for competence. They wanted to be able to master this new environment and

to be able to get the outcome that they want. So, together with the environment that could support

their needs, they were able to do it, begin recovering. Thus, perhaps, being brought to rehabilitation

centers could also be a contributing factor to recovery.

However, what was really pivotal were the lessons they have learned through their self-

reflections for these brought about their changes in mindset, among other things. Before going any

further, the importance of a change in views should be discussed in greater detail.

Having a proper mindset.

See, when they were able to accept that they did wrong, they have also realized that the

blame should not only be pinned on other people. Likewise, they realized that they, too, were at

fault. Consequently, they reflected further on what happened in their lives, and so they learned to

be grateful for what happened instead of fixating on their resentments. For example, for the

participants who were forcibly brought to the rehabilitation centers, they eventually realized that

those who brought them there only meant to help them and so they have learned to be thankful to

them. Being grateful and learning to appreciate these little things also helped them in changing

their behavior. If before, they would not have looked at such an act as something for their welfare,

their response would have been to take more drugs in order to deal with what they have

experienced.

Perhaps, what also helped these people in accepting things in rehab was their need for

autonomy. At the end of the day, they learned that they were stuck there and that perhaps led them
Work in Progress 89

to take matters into their own hands and so they started with reflection. Moreover, in connection

to the change in perspective, one of the participants shared what he learned as he looked back into

his life. He explained it through this diagram shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4. Relationship of Perception and Behavior

Basically, what this particular participant said is that attitude, feeling, and behavior are all

dependent on ones perception and so once the perception is changed, the behavior could also be

changed. This seemed very relevant and adoptable to not only addiction and recovery, but also

almost in any situation. For example, if one adopts the perception that every person has a story to

tell and that he or she was shaped by all his or her experiences, then the general attitude towards

people could then shift to that of a more understanding one. Consequently, what the person feels

toward this person could also change and so the actions would be different as well. Perhaps, this

individual would act more kindly towards other people. Hence, through this, structure one of the

participants shared, it somehow brought a little more clarity on the significant role perception could

play in the lives of people.

Likewise, this change in how they look at things is instrumental because it could affect the

future actions of the people in recovery. As it could be seen in the accounts of the participants in
Work in Progress 90

how this change in mindset helped them overcome problems when they went out later on.

Likewise, the shifting of their mindset from an egocentric view to that of others-encompassing,

helped them to look beyond the superficial value for them of the actions made towards them. So

this change in views enabled them as well to think more critically as well as to be objective about

things.

Perhaps what also spurred the change in mindset is the drive to satisfy their need for

autonomy. As they looked back on their lives, perhaps they saw that they would not be able to

regain control over their lives if they remain in those thinkings or beliefs that they once had.

Moreover, it was seen how these changes in perception truly helped them as they went on with

their recoveries.

Faith and the family.

Faith and the influence of family played a huge part in the recovery of the participants

because aside from these two serving as motivations, they are also a source of support. For faith,

their belief that whatever happens, their God will come through for them, gives them the strength

to carry on. This perhaps became significant to the participants since they were able to see during

their addiction that they are not infallible. There are simply things that they cannot do and so they

asked help from a Higher Power as some of them refer to their God. As for their families, they

learned that they will always be there for them and so they also drew strength from them. Perhaps

this proved to be really helpful because of the drive to satisfy the need for relatedness. In order for

these people to stay in recovery, they have to be able to care for people and in turn, be cared for.

Moreover, there are substantial literature regarding faith and the support of the family and

the findings of the study on these matters proved to be quite similar to that of the previous

researches. These all highlight the significance of the role of the family and having a God in the
Work in Progress 91

lives of the participants. In addition, with regard to families, the literature also mentioned that these

individuals have also affected them during the time of their addiction. If that is the case, then

perhaps they also had an impact on them during the time of their recovery.

Another important thing for them is that they are happy, grateful, and contented with their

recovery which enables them to move forward because as they said, what was there to go back to.

Sustaining recovery.

Being satisfied with their current life proved to be one of the keys in sustaining recovery.

This is consistent with the research done by Laudet and White (2008) about recovery capital.

Recovery capital are all these different factors that help sustain recovery. Aside from being happy

about the life in recovery, social support, spirituality, religiousness, meaning of life, as well as the

12-step affiliation on the enhancements on the ability to cope with stress and life satisfaction were

also parts of the recovery capital (Laudet & White, 2008). In the study, it was seen how all these

had a hand in the recovery of the participants. Even the 12-step affiliation since some of the

participants came from facilities that employed the 12-step approach. Some of them even came to

regular support group meetings that also adopted the 12 steps. Perhaps the reason why the 12 steps

is effective is because this gives the individuals guidelines on how to go about things. Likewise, it

appeals to the need for competence since these people might have seen the effects of adhering to

the steps and in a way, that then provides control over what might happen because they have an

idea as to what could happen. It also helps in the fulfillment of the need for autonomy since it gives

the individuals a way in order to handle situations, which could establish some sort of control.

Another thing that should be highlighted here is the ability to cope with stress. Being able

to keep up with all the challenges in recovery and not just give in shows resilience. This is one of

the things that likely proved to sustain recovery as well. The participants showed this in how they
Work in Progress 92

kept on moving forward, one day at a time, because of their belief that there is a tomorrow that

could be reached and so they should not give up and give in to the temptation to use again. They

were also able to display it as they face their problems head on as opposed to what they used to do

before. They even said that facing these challenges head on would help them build a much stronger

foundation.

Maybe, these people have also been driven by their needs to conquer their situation and

their lives through their own hands and so they kept on fighting no matter what. Also, there is the

people that they have to do this for which acts as their motivation to strive further. There was also

their God that they do not want to disappoint and perhaps He is also one of the reasons why they

were able to keep on because they knew that He will be there every step of the way so they can do

it.

Moreover, Laudet and White (2008) also mentioned that the higher the recovery capital,

the more likely it is that the person could sustain his or her recovery (Laudet & White, 2008). This

makes sense because all these that were considered as a part of recovery capital is connected to the

basic needs of people. Furthermore, in discussing how recovery could be sustained, the issue about

whether those who practice total abstinence are only the ones who could be considered as in

recovery should also be tackled.

Abstinence and maintenance.

In this study, there is a single participant who still uses marijuana from time to time.

Marijuana was not the drug he was addicted to however, there are indeed some who have strong

beliefs that taking drugs while in recovery is a sign of relapse. Although, he said that he had regular

check-ins in the rehabilitation center he used to be in. The staff there also knew that he used from

time to time but they still consider him as someone who is in recovery and not someone who
Work in Progress 93

relapsed. It makes one wonder how it was so.

Looking further at his case, reiterates how much recovery is not that black and white. It

also had gray areas and so one could not say that the person have relapsed once he tasted a drug

once again. Moreover, another defining factor for this participant is that he grew up in another

country with another culture. He was born and raised in the United States which is very different

from the Philippines not only in topography, but also in the beliefs and traditions. So perhaps, that

is one of the reasons why he was not considered as a person who relapsed.

Moreover, he did say that the only time he uses marijuana is when he went back to the

States. Since his cousin are there, whenever they hang out, they all used marijuana and so he does

as well. In here, what probably drives him to do what he does is his need for relatedness. He

probably needed to smoke marijuana in order to belong and not to let them feel that he is different

so he would not be alienated again. Likewise, perhaps he was showing them that even if he is in

recovery, he was still somehow, the same person they knew growing up, sans the time when he

became addicted to oxycodein because that was the time when he isolated himself from them.

In truth, the United Kingdom Drug Policy Commission (2008) came up with a definition

of recovery that includes those who practice maintenance over abstinence. They said that what the

person had to display was the voluntary control over the drug use and aside from that, he or she is

able to function as a member of the society where in he is able to fulfill his duties. In addition, this

use should still be within the reasonable bounds of maximizing his health and well-being (United

Kingdom Drug Policy Commission, 2008). Additionally, it was also mentioned in a study by el-

Guably (2012) that abstinence is a significant means to an end but not the end itself (el-Guebaly,

2012).

All these then points to seeing recovery as not merely being sober but it entails so much
Work in Progress 94

more. Also, this study showed how people have the capacity to recover as long as they are given

the necessary support. As the self-determination theory said that humans have the capacity to attain

their goals or purpose, grow and eventually thrive, as well as improve their well-being when they

are placed in environments that promote the fulfillment of their basic needs (Ryan & Deci, 2000).

It was clearly seen how the combination of the role of the participant as well as the opportunity,

support, and other factors helped the participants reach the state they are in, which is the recovery

from not only their drug abuse but from their old lives as well.

From everything that has been discussed, it could be seen that there are still areas in which

one should do further research. So in the next chapter, all that was discussed shall be summarized

and some suggestions shall could also be read.

Work in Progress 95

Chapter 6

Conclusions and Recommendations

Conclusions

It was seen how the process of recovery may vary but acceptance will always be a

necessary step in order for it to truly begin. Moreover, being given help even if these people did

not explicitly ask is important to help them move forward. In the case of turning points however,

they do not necessarily urge people to go through recovery instead, they just add up to the

reasons for people to want to go to recovery. It is still the presentation of help that is pivotal to

recovery. However, being offered help can only do so much like getting these people detoxicated

but the succeeding steps would only be attained with the help of acceptance.

There are also a lot of factors that would help sustain recovery. However, the most

important thing is that for the persons who want to recover, and for these factors, to collaborate

because without that, recovery would not be sustained. However, emphasis should be placed on

the role of the individual in attaining recovery. If the person is not motivated or is not willing to

carry out his or her recovery, then, in spite of the presence of all the other factors, recovery might

still not be attained.

Moreover, faith in God or a Higher Power as well as the family has a huge impact on

these people who are in recovery. These two are also the most effective in preventing relapse.

Likewise, the mindset employed in recover is also important because whether a person would be

satisfied in recovery is dependent on how he or she views it as well since perception could affect

behavior. In addition, realizations are important because they help urge the participants into

doing something.

Resilience and life satisfaction was also seen to have a significant role in sustaining
Work in Progress 96

recovery. Moreover, it was shown how recovery could be different per person since an individual

does not experience things the same way another does. Likewise, this pointed out that recovery

could either be a total abstinence from drugs for some while it could be a controlled usage for

others. What matters is that a person will not go back to a life where in the drug is their focus.

Overall, recovery is a chosen lifestyle, a journey, that is not that simple. It is filled with

difficulties along the way. However, it should be remembered that recovery is indeed possible.

Recommendations

Furthermore, since the study was only able to focus on recovering addicts from the

province of Pampanga, a larger area as well as an increased sample size would help in finding

people who have more varied experiences as well as those coming from different walks in life.

By doing this, a richer data could be gathered and perhaps other factors might be observed.

Also, since the participants of these study were only those who were institutionalized or

rehabilitated and it was seen that rehabilitation could be a factor in recovery, then it would also

be recommendable to look at the experiences of those who have undergone natural recovery in

order to confirm if placing people in facilities could really be a factor to recovery. In addition,

looking at their experiences could also give more insight to recovery since even if the end goal is

the same, the process as to how they got there was different. Hence, a comparative study could

be done in order to address this.

It was also seen how the participants had at least one family member who had an

addiction however, the current data gathered in the study is insufficient to conclude any

relationship between addiction family history and drug abuse so further studies could be done in

this area as well.

In addition, since it was seen that the individuals surrounding the people in recovery has
Work in Progress 97

an impact on their recovery and vice versa, it would be better to look at the experiences of the

families and other people surrounding the former addicts. Perhaps a larger perspective would

help in contextualizing further the experiences of these individuals and it is also possible that

their insights along with those of the participants could help in finding an alternative to the drug

problem in the country.

Finally, although the literature says that women has specific needs when it comes to

recovery because of what they have been through, it did not became that evident in the study

perhaps because of the disparity in the ratio of men and women participants in the study. So for

future researches, in order to see if recovering Filipinas from addiction also face the same

circumstances, there should be a balanced number of men and women in the pool of participants.

A separate study on recovering Filipinas could also be done. This would also be helpful since

literature on addiction is quite scarce already and it is all the more with regard to the experiences

of the Filipinas.