Genuine and Stable Quitting: The Pattern of Stability in Quitting based on the Lived Experiences of Improved Substance-Dependent Individuals by the Grounded Theory Method

Objective: The aim of the present study was to provide a model of stability in quitting based on the lived experiences of improved substance-dependent people. Method: The method of this research was qualitative and of the background theory type. Participants in this study were improved substance-dependent people living in Lorestan province in 2018-2019 who had more than 6 years of experience in maintaining addiction withdrawal. Among them, 20 people were selected by purposive-theoretical sampling method and were interviewed semi-structurally. Data analysis consisted of three stages of open, axial, and selective coding. Results: The results showed that participants with emphasis on causal conditions (including experience and perception of physical and mental fatigue, experience and perception of reaching the end of the line, experience and perception of threat of substance use and the clarification of negative will), grounded conditions (such as controlling craving and fear of relapse, relying on spirituality, semantics and the growth of self-knowledge, and introspection), intervention conditions (including social support and economic stability and acceptance and family support), and through the strategies of participating and continuing in the program of the same group (i.e., narcotics anonymous: NA), the use of lateral auxiliary resources and change in relationships have been trying to achieve lasting and genuine quitting. Conclusion: Stability in quitting means achieving genuine and lasting withdrawal. Also, the results of this study can be used as a model to prevent relapse and persistence in quitting.