I was in hospital for the next seven weeks, slipping in and out of consciousness. I didn’t notice the drug withdrawals because I was so ill. I had a line directly into my chest because my veins were not usable. My body reacted to the first antibiotic they gave me, and I went into anaphylactic shock. They changed antibiotic, and …
I was terrified when I moved into Penrhyn House. I had such low self-esteem and all my insecurities surfaced. I arrived with all my possessions in one holdall bag, which I didn’t unpack for two weeks. I was still unsure whether this recovery thing was what I wanted. However, I slowly convinced myself that I should try, and if it didn’t work …
When you share your story, and listen to other people’s stories, you realise that they have part of your story in theirs, and vice versa. This helps you identify with, and connect to, these other people. We kind of earn our seats at ‘the table’ with the pain and suffering we’ve been through. We connect in meetings through our suffering.
I believe that we who care about addiction and the environment must continue the heroic rescue work, but I also believe that the even more essential task is getting rid of “the-son of-a-bitch upstream,” i.e., the vicious cycle that is described by the global, historical view of addiction.
I grew up around alcohol. Drinking was a daily thing for my parents and wider family, who ran bars, pubs, and clubs. I saw the fun, and I saw the damage it caused. Some of my relatives drank themselves to the bitter end, but at such a young age this was overlooked, as these people were my heroes.
It means that we must actively heal the community and its institutions at the same time an individual works on his or her own healing from alcohol or drugs or other unwell behaviours. The individual affects the community and the community affects the individual. They are inseparable from the point of view of addiction recovery.
It’s all about giving new arrivals a sense of connection at the earliest opportunity. I’ve seen people connect and stay, and others who couldn’t make that connection and leave, and then relapse. Little gestures can make a huge difference. An invite to come out with a few of us …
He was a GP like me and he had drunk in a similar way to me and he had the same kind of consequences as me and he felt the same as me. He was a few years into his recovery and I identified and connected with him to the degree that I suddenly thought, “Oh my God, if he can do it, maybe I can do it.” I probably must have felt …
We know from an examination of our history that people typically recover in the context of community. It flourishes in environments where individuals feel a sense of belonging and purpose. In spaces of mattering. Places where people can share their gifts of recovery, what they have learned through transformation and earned …
