The challenge of adversity: Three narratives of alcohol dependence, recovery, and adult development

Turning points have been known to reverse the downward spiral of alcoholism and its concomitant associations with divorce, depression, and work-relate d difficulties. In this study, the authors present the stories of 3 women f rom the Mills Longitudinal Study who were alcoholic. Using a narrative appr oach, the authors tracked the women's developmental gains during recovery u sing Erik Erikson's theory of psychosocial development, specifically focusi ng on the tasks of identity, intimacy, and generacivity. Results show that despite similar personal problems and turning points that moved them to sto p drinking, each woman followed a different path to self-reconstruction and psychological growth. These accounts offer important information about ind ividual differences in recovery from alcoholism, which are often lost in la rger aggregate accounts of personal change.