Young Adult Resilience for Recovery From Substance Addiction in Assam, India: Lived Experience Insights From a Photo-Led Interview Study

Substance addiction can be considered a form of social injustice grounded in interactions between individual, family and community-level risk factors. Although prevention and treatment of substance use disorder is a key target of the United Nations sustainable development goal Good Health and Well-Being, many low-and-middle-income countries lack a culturally validated approach for its management. We contend that a resilience approach may provide a sound basis from which to develop such an approach in non-western, low-resource settings. Hence, the aim of this study is to identify factors supporting resilience for recovery from substance addiction in the lived experience of young adults in Assam, India. We used photo-led interviews to centre the lived experience of young adult addicts-in-recovery (11 men, 5 women; 19–24 years) recruited through two rehabilitation services and their networks. Reflexive thematic analysis of the data produced three clusters of themes: (i) precursors to recovery; (ii) repairing relationships; and, (iii) structuring a life of recovery. Findings are discussed and potential areas for intervention are identified to support a multi-level, culturally informed, community-driven approach to recovery from substance addiction.