We challenge Iowans to Sign Up and Stand Up for Recovery. Become part of a network of recovering individuals, families and friends willing to raise awareness about the value of recovery from alcohol and other addictions.
For a complete list of recovery programs and organizations in your area, search the Iowa Facility Locator online, or call The Iowa Substance Abuse Information Center, 1-866-242-4111.
Recovery Iowa seeks to raise public awareness that addiction to alcohol and other drugs is a public health issue, eliminate the stigma associated with addiction and recovery, and improve awareness about substance abuse recovery issues.
The Recovery Iowa site features wonderful and motivating quotes borrowed from your recovery stories. Personal stories are powerful, educational, and inspirational for those in recovery, those unfamiliar with the power of recovery, and for those not yet in recovery. Help raise awareness about the value of recovery by telling your story. You can email your story to Recovery Iowa or add your story as a blog comment.
2009
Recovery Month Planning Begins Now
The 2009 theme, "Join the Voices for Recovery: Together We Learn, Together We Heal," emphasizes the need to use all available resources, in our communities and on the Internet, to educate people about the disease and to help those with substance use disorders, and those close to them, get assistance. It also celebrates the power of community support and understanding. The 2009 Web site, www.recoverymonth.gov, is online and ready to help you start planning your events, proclamations, and observance now!
Send your event information to info@RecoveryIowa.org and it will be posted on the Recovery Iowa Blog, and on our Recovery Month 2009 Webpage.
Prevention Program Helps Teens Override a Gene Linked To Risky Behavior
According to a study in the May/June issue of Child Development, a family-based prevention program designed to help adolescents avoid substance use and other risky behaviors proved especially effective for a group of young teens with a genetic risk factor contributing toward such behavior. For two-and-a-half years, investigators monitored the progress of 11-year-olds enrolled in a family-centered prevention program called Strong African American Families (SAAF), and a comparison group. A DNA analysis showed some youths carried the short allele form of 5-HTTLPR. This common genetic variation, found in over 40 percent of people, and is known from previous studies to be associated with impulsivity, low self-control, binge drinking, and substance use.
The researchers found that adolescents with this gene who participated in the SAAF program were no more likely than their counterparts without the gene to have engaged in drinking, marijuana smoking, and sexual activity. In addition, youths with the gene in the comparison group were twice as likely to have engaged in these risky behaviors as those in the prevention group. [MORE]
An Introduction to Mutual Support Groups for Alcohol and Drug Abuse
Mutual support (also called self-help) groups are an important part of recovery from substance abuse. Mutual support groups exist both for persons with a substance abuse and for their families or significant others and are one of the choices an individual has during the recovery process. This six-page fact sheet has information on the effects of mutual support groups on helping people sustain their recovery as well the different types of mutual support groups. (Download in PDF). See a listing of Mutual Aid Groups in Iowa.