From relapse prevention to recovery protection: a positive perspective on recovery from substance use disorder

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to advise recovery protection, a novel and contrasting conceptual proposition to relapse prevention. Recovery protection advocates that in addiction recovery, instead of people working to a level of preventing what they do not want, they elevate this toward acting to protect what they do. This translates to living an effective recovery lifestyle where ongoing personal growth can continue to make it a more valuable prospect. It is argued that this altered perspective would help promote addiction recovery as a positive and beneficial lifestyle choice, challenging some of the barriers that people with SUD face when accessing professional services.Research limitationsThis paper commentates on recovery protection, drawing knowledge from the recovery model as applied to mental health generally and work exploring recovery from SUD as a positive process involving change and life improvement. As a theoretical position, it is in its infancy, requiring greater study to establish it as a valid prospect in drug and alcohol treatment services.Originality/valueRecovery protection is a novel proposition that seeks to align recovery from SUD with the recovery model in mental health generally. It recognizes recovery from SUD as a process of growth and positive change.