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From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

It’s a rocky road at the start of recovery from substance abuse. But it seems the road gets smoother as it goes – especially if the traveler is not alone.

Alexandre Laudet of the National Development and Research Institutes, a nonprofit agency in New York, followed people who’d stayed clean for years. Her study is supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Results show that quality of life goes up as the years go on.

Laudet’s research participants also had more success and less stress if they had support – from friends, family, others in recovery, from religion or a higher power.

"The basic premise is the need to find sources of strength outside of oneself, so that – when things get difficult, people can turn to these sources of strength and support rather than turning to drugs and alcohol." (11 seconds)

Learn more at www.hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I'm Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: April 18, 2006

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