Oldal 19 [19]
1.INTRODUCTION = 17
and identity formation (which are essential to recovery from addiction) could
be examined beneficially.
According to narrative psychological studies the critical point of the recovery
process is when drug users recognize that their damaged sense of selves have
to be restored, and they should engage with a new identity (Biernacki, 1986). In
other words, they have to transform the “spoiled identity” (as Goffman, 1963
described it) into the identity of recovery (J. McIntosh & McKeganey, 2001).
The “turning points” are considered to be the essential steps on the road to re¬
covery. These could help drug users to reconstruct meanings of their experiences,
reflectively reconsider their lives and change their future (Hanninen & Kos¬
ki-Jannes, 1999; Koski-Jannes, 1998; J. McIntosh & McKeganey, 2001). ” Turning
points” are incorporated in life history as motors of identity work (Hanninen
& Koski-Jannes, 1999; Koski-Jannes, 1998, 2002). The experience of the "rock
bottom” (the turning point which often emphasized by AA literature, e.g., Al¬
coholics Anonymous, 2001) facilitates the recognition of they have not cared
for themselves before (Koski-Jannes, 2002). Recovery involves continuous self¬
care, self-monitoring, and reconstruction of life narratives (Larkin & Griffiths,
2002; Jozsef Racz et al., 2015). The reconstruction of narratives means reinter¬
preting experiences of addiction, and it is promoted by pre-constructed narra¬
tives of self-help groups, where peers’ stories could offer inspiring models of
how to forming a non-stigmatized identity (Koski-Jannes, 2002; Larkin & Grif¬
fiths, 2002; J. McIntosh & McKeganey, 2001). Self-help groups could be consid¬
ered as a “normative narrative community,’ where identity transformation takes
place through the use of metaphor and storytelling (Davis & Jansen, 1998).
According to J. McIntosh and McKeganey (2000) recovery is grounded in
the formation of “non-addict identity”. This new identity is a consequence of
reinterpreted “user self” and reconstructed self-image. The alteration of ex¬
periences and the alteration of identity during substance use are parallel pro¬
cesses. Users’ experiences of psychoactive substances are mostly positive at
the beginning of the drug use career, and these positive experiences often
relate to a positive identity or positive self-image. In the later stages of drug
use, the drug (or the object of addiction) with many unpleasant symptoms
lose much of its previous power and “mystic” (pp. 1504), thereby the users
should reinterpret their “user self” which was perceived as being positive at
the beginning of drug use carrier. Due to the reinterpretation, they keep
distance from the “user self” and endeavor to evolve a more authentic self,
thereby, evolve the “non-addict identity” (pp. 1504).
The identity change during recovery from addiction is a dynamic process,
in which experiences and identity change during addiction and experiences
of non-addict identity are equally important. In Figure 1.1 try to visualize
this process (of course this process is not as linear) according to existing
literature.