Abstract
The services to prevent and treat substance abuse and associated disorders have been delivered separately from mental and general healthcare services. Since abuse of substances has been linked to criminal issues or problems, the effort to provide prevention services was not initially considered as a responsibility by the health care systems. People in need of care for substance use seen access to a limited range of treatments not covered in insurance programs. Effective integration of prevention and treatment measures, as well as recovery programs, is a key to address the addiction problem. Recent healthcare laws or reformed policies in states like the US are facilitating integration to serve better people and public health. Usually, there is hope to recover from a mental health issue like alcohol use, opioid, and other substances. Supportive programs provided by non-profit organizations like the Narcotics Anonymous has helped see many people get well and sustain a better living condition.
Narcotics Anonymous (NA) is a health recovery agency that was established to see the success of alcoholic people. The group was founded in the year 1953, in Los Angeles and has spread across different locations in the US. What is required to be a member of NA is the personal urge to overcome the addiction issue. Usually, there are no costs to attend a recovery program at NA, and it is open to every person who is substance dependence. NA started as an alcoholic anonymous (AA) offshoot. The agency relies on the use of twelve steps in the recovery with participants following directions and supports each other to stay clean.
NA is a 12-step program, and like the AA group, participants recover by going through these guidelines. The 12-steps are supposed to be explored following a particular order, but most people struggling with addictions often find themselves visiting the guidelines over time. The first is admitting to being powerless, believing that a greater power can restore one to sanity, and the third step is making lives over God’s. The fourth step requites searching for moral inventory, admit to God, one-self, and other people the nature of wrongs and be ready to have God to remove the defects. The seventh step asks God humbly to eliminate shortcomings, make amends to people harmed, except when doing so causes harm, the tenth step is to continue taking personal inventory and sought through players to improve conscious contact. The last step is carrying the message to other addicts and practice acquired principles.
The purpose of NA is to offer supporting healing through meetings for individuals struggling with substances. However, what the NA group might be missing is the reliance on the internal power as it focusses much on the higher power from outside. Also, the NA misses a lack of empathy in physical recovery.