Walter’s Story People in recovery are often reluctant to tell their stories — particularly those people using methadone. Sadly, many recovery programs -- and people in recovery themselves -- don’t believe you’re really in recovery if you’re using methadone. Walter used to think that way. It took him 20 years of relapsing on opioids until he finally realized that he could take methadone and be in recovery. Then, he began sharing his story so other people with opioid medication addictions don’t have to suffer and die due to the stigma in society and the recovery community against methadone – a medication with significant research evidence of effectiveness. Once he began methadone treatment, Walter stopped relapsing on heroin and became a successful businessman with his own company. And yet, his friends, doctors and drug treatment counselors told him he needed to stop taking methadone, ignoring the fact that it is an FDA-approved medication for heroin addiction. “People still feel that because methadone is a drug, it can’t be a pathway to recovery,” Walter said. “People who have successfully treated their addiction with methadone are petrified that someone will find out that they are using this medication.” Today, Walter is an outspoken recovery advocate who is trying to change the stigma around methadone. He gives presentations to groups about medication-assisted treatment as part of the recovery process. He’s also program director for the Medication-Assisted Recovery Support (MARS) Project in the Bronx, where he leads a team of peers who provide support for people in recovery who use methadone and buprenorphine. The program helps people get back on their feet and stop the deadly cycle of relapse that’s prevalent among people with opioid addiction, he said. Once methadone patients receive their dose from the clinic, they are able to receive peer-group led recovery support services at the MARS center. The biggest hurdle many people in his program have to overcome, he says, is the false perception that methadone treatment means a person isn’t in recovery. At a recent presentation that Walter gave on the subject, a man told him that after 30 years of recovery using methadone, his wife still called him a junkie. Even today, after years of brain research on addiction and the neurological effects of substance abuse, many people don’t think addiction is a treatable medical condition. It wasn’t until Walter understood that his heroin use had altered his brain function that he finally accepted he could live a full life in recovery while taking methadone. He agrees that recovery is a bigger process than just taking the medication. Behavioral aspects of addiction need to be addressed, which is why the MARS project includes a variety of treatments in addition to medication-assisted recovery. “Addiction is a disease with many different parts to it, including behavioral and physical aspects. For many of us, methadone works really well in treating the neurological impact that leads us back to heroin again and again and again. Yes, there is more to recovering from addiction than taking medication. But unless you can stop the relapse, you haven’t got a chance.”