Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-2023

Description

Background

World Drug Report estimates the number of opioid users at 53 million and identifies opioids as responsible for two thirds of the 585,000 people who died as a result of drug use in 2017.

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to analyze the testimonies of 30 people regarding their journeys from drug addiction to drug withdrawal in Taiwan.

Methods

This was a qualitative research design. The sample inclusion criteria were as follows: (a) being a drug abuser, (b) completed the Christian Gospel Drug Withdrawal Program or church-sponsored program, and (c) shared their related testimony on the Good TV television channel in Taiwan. The participants' stories were posted in Chinese, transcribed by the author, and translated from Chinese into English. Content analysis was used to identify the major themes.

Results

Of the 30 participants, 24 were male (80%) and six were female (20%). The major themes identified in their testimonies were: (a) Using illegal drugs related to peer recognition, lack of knowledge, and temptations; (b) drug addiction was an endless pain cycle; (c) turning points related to love, repentance, and hope; (d) drug withdrawal was related to avoiding temptation and overcoming the drug withdrawal syndrome through the Holy Spirit; and (e) outcomes were faith and new life.

Conclusions/Implications for Practice

In this study, people who received the gospel drug withdrawal programs expressed that their lives had changed, they had withdrawn from drugs successfully, they had become volunteers to help others, and interactions with their family had improved. These programs may be applied in the mental health nursing profession.

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Copyright Statement

Copyright © 2023 The Author. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (CCBY), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

This article was originally published in the Journal of Nursing Education.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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