The Lived Experiences of Filipino PWUDs in Recovery without Family Support

• Main Author: Co, Trixia Anne
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2020
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/theses-dissertations/376
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

The Philippines’s fight against drugs brought about an influx PWUDs availing of CBDR services for treatment. Programs have been created to develop skills to avoid relapse and improve family relations to increase support throughout recovery. A portion of the population of these PWUDs however, are no longer with their families, have no form of communication and are not receiving support given personal circumstances. Engaging them in family interventions becomes futile and puts their family members in a vulnerable state. An interpretative phenomenological study was conducted to study the experiences of Filipino PWUDs in recovery without family support. Results present four main themes on the experiences of (1) loss and longing while in recovery, (2) coping, (3) self- improvement, and (4) rekindling, rejoining and restarting social connections. Insights from this study can be used in understanding the Filipino way of coping in the absence of family, reconstructing the role of family support in the recovery of PWUDs and finding ways to redesign family interventions in the Philippines.