National Recovery Month 2015

Every September, National Recovery Month is a celebration promoting the message that behavioral health is essential to health, prevention works, treatment is effective, and people recover from mental and/or substance use disorders.
 

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Visible, Vocal, Valuable

September is Recovery Month. Sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and celebrated by peers, families, recovery networks, and organizations like the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association (PRA). At PRA, we know that recovery is an individual journey, and that psychiatric rehabilitation provides an individual, their family and friends, and practitioners the tools and resources to succeed in this journey.

PRA’s mission is to grow and trains the recovery workforce. The 2015 Recovery Month theme, “Join the Voices for Recovery: Visible, Vocal, Valuable!” highlights the value of peer support by educating, mentoring, and helping others. We believe that the practice of psychiatric rehabilitation leads to recovery, and thus are committed to the growth of psychiatric rehabilitation in both quantity and quality, and to the universal availability of state-of-the-art psychiatric rehabilitation services for all individuals with mental illness who seek such services.

In keeping with the Recovery Month theme, PRA constantly strives to support the recovery workforce. We do this in a variety of ways, including:

To kick off 2015 Recovery Month, PRA staff and members participated in the inaugural March for Dignity and Change in Mental Health in Washington, DC, connected with our regional representatives of our cause within various chapters, and continue to prepare for the upcoming 2015 Capitol Hill Day. 

Follow PRA's Recovery Month activities on Twitter or Facebook. 

Learn more about Recovery Month


Visible, Vocal, Valuable: An Overview

Mental and/or substance use disorders affect millions of Americans and directly touch the lives of individuals, family members, neighbors, and colleagues. Given the widespread impact and societal cost of these behavioral health conditions, it’s important for communities to make prevention, treatment, and recovery support available and accessible for all who need them.

Every September, National Recovery Month is a celebration promoting the message that behavioral health is essential to health, prevention works, treatment is effective, and people recover from mental and/or substance use disorders.

The 2015 Recovery Month theme, “Join the Voices for Recovery: Visible, Vocal, Valuable!” highlights the value of peer support by educating, mentoring, and helping others. It invites individuals in recovery and their support systems to be catalysts and active change agents in communities, and in civic and advocacy engagements.

The concept encourages individuals to be vocal by starting conversations about the prevention, treatment, and recovery of behavioral health conditions at earlier stages of life and to depict the societal benefits of recovery.

Why It’s Important…

The prevalence of mental and/or substance use disorders is high. Nearly one out of every five adults in the United States, about 43.8 million people, has a mental illness, such as a diagnosable mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder (excluding developmental and substance use disorders).1 Approximately 21.6 million people age 12 or older were classified with a substance dependence or misuse disorder in 2013.2 In spite of high prevalence, most Americans believe that recovery from a mental illness3 or a substance use disorder is possible.4

For many individuals, behavioral health treatment is an important part of the recovery process.5 However, in 2013, 22.7 million individuals aged 12 or older needed treatment for an illicit drug or alcohol use problem, but only 2.5 million received treatment at a specialty facility in the past year.6

High school and college students, families, and peer recovery networks all play unique roles in society and have the power to support healthy lifestyles. Members of the recovery community can lead the charge to educate these audiences about how they can provide support, starting with the basics of recovery.

For many people, recovery—

  • Emerges from hope, which is fostered by friends, families, providers, colleagues, and others who have experienced recovery themselves
  • Occurs via many pathways, which may include professional clinical treatment, use of medications, support from families and in schools, faith-based approaches, peer support, and other approaches
  • Is holistic, meaning recovery encompasses a person’s whole life including mind, body, spirit, and community
  • Is supported by relationships with peers and allies, and on social networks
  • Is culturally based and influenced 

Learn more about Recovery Month