Addiction recovery is "a voluntarily maintained lifestyle characterized by sobriety, personal health, and citizenship," according to a draft definition composed by an expert panel convened by the Betty Ford Institute.

Published in the October 2007 issue of the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, the draft definition was included in a special section on Defining and Measuring Recovery. Experts noted that while the term "recovery" enjoys widespread use, no clear definition exists.

"Recovery may be the best word to summarize all the positive benefits to physical, mental, and social health that can happen when alcohol- and other drug-dependent individuals get the help they need," according to the panel report. The group noted that while sobriety is necessary as part of recovery, the two are not synonymous.

A hierarchy of sobriety also was proposed, including "early" sobriety (one month to one year), "sustained" sobriety (one to five years), and "stable" sobriety (five years or longer).

Personal health was included in the definition to emphasize the importance of engaging in social roles a well as personal physical and mental health, while citizenship was included to reinforce the need for recovering addicts to give back to their community and society.