Inside the Lives of Filipinos in Substance Use Rehabilitation Without Familial Support

Abstract

This qualitative study explored the lived experiences of Filipino men undergoing substance use rehabilitation without sustained familial support. It examined their challenges, coping strategies, alternative sources of support, and the meanings and motivations sustaining recovery. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), the study involved ten male participants aged 18–50 years undergoing rehabilitation in Department of Health (DOH)-accredited facilities in Bulacan, Rizal, and Cavite who had experienced prolonged absence of familial support. Data were collected through individual semi-structured interviews and analyzed through an idiographic, interpretative process, examining individual accounts before identifying patterns across participants. Three overarching themes emerged: (1) Challenges of Recovering Without Familial Support, (2) Reconstructing Support, Coping, and Personal Agency, and (3) Reconstructing Purpose and a Future Beyond Rehabilitation. Participants described loneliness, emotional distress, perceived relational loss, regret, resentment, and comparisons with peers receiving family support. They also described rebuilding support through peer relationships, meaningful roles, constructive activities, spirituality, acceptance, and personal responsibility. Their accounts reflected efforts to navigate relational absence while developing belonging, coping resources, and personal agency within the rehabilitation environment. Participants expressed future-oriented motivations involving personal improvement, health, employment, independence, responsibility, and a meaningful life beyond rehabilitation. The findings indicate that absent familial support creates emotional and relational challenges but does not preclude recovery. Participants actively reconstructed belonging, meaning, identity, and agency through available relationships, activities, and personal commitments.