Another day in recovery...

I was on the train earlier, travelling back from meeting up with one of our volunteers, and it was absolutely lashing it down! It got me thinking about rain and how it makes me feel!

Watching and listening to the rain has always had a theraputic effect on me. It does a number of things for me - It helps me to take stock of my life, short and longer term; It helps me to feel more positively about what's going on in my life at the time; But most of all it's a time when I can ground myself again - to get back in touch with the real me! I find it a lot easier to think when I'm sat watching the rain fall.

When it's raining I like to sit in my outhouse, drink tea, smoke and contemplate life, it works for me!

Celebrity's drug rehabilitation

Earlier tonight on the 'Living' channel, I was watching a program about celebrity's and rehabs, the successes and the failures and all the hype that goes along with it. It pisses me off when I think about celeb's with loads of money, taking shed loads of drugs, because that's what celeb's are supposed to do, aren't they? It feels to me like they're making a shambles and a joke out of real addiction and real people with real problems.

When everything starts to get too much, up comes the manager to pay for a top class, 5 star rehab for them. The cynic in me says more often than not, it's for the publicity, the old adage- any publicity, even bad publicity, is good publicity! We can all think of at least a couple of celeb's that would fit into that bracket. 

The example they're setting to the thousands of youngsters that look up to them is a very dangerous one - 'yes, you can use and abuse drugs and drink and when you've had enough, just go to rehab'. Well I'm afraid it's not like that in the real world. What really pisses me off is that these are the stories of rehab's that make it into the media, and they're the stories that help to lead public opinion on them. In my world, the odds of getting into a rehab at the time that it could actually help, is about the same as having a white Christmas!

Well, I feel a lot better for getting that off my chest!

"Parasite told of drug cost"

'Each class A drug addict costs society over three quarters of a million pounds, a judge reminded one heroin user.

Judge Stephen QC said some would describe people like Ashley Blower, 31, of Maesteg, as parasites.

"You don't work, you steal from other people, spending your benefits on drugs and obtaining additional money you need from wholesale shoplifting," he told him.

"People may be interested to know that the Ministry of Justice published figures recently indicating how much it costs society to look after a class A addict and the cost was £800,000 for each one."

Blower had been cleared by a jury of possessing heroin with intent but convicted of possession. He was sentanced to 18 months' supervision with attendance on a substance abuse program and an enhanced thinking course. He spent 259 days in custody awaiting trial, during which time he said he has been drug free.'

This story was printed in Monday July 7th edition of The South Wales Echo. I decided to highlight it here to see what other people thought of it.

The 'Recovery Movement'

I decided to get involved with the “Recovery Movement’ as I feel the substance misuse field really needs rejuvenating. There is a lot about the field that is good but I’m afraid there is more that is both negative and non-productive. If we all speak up about this, that is addicts, recovered addicts, and all those working in the field, and say what we think about treatment services, the good, the bad and the ugly, then just maybe the policy makers will start listening and actually develop a new, recovery based treatment service that will help more people into sustained recovery from their addictions.

Those with addiction problems should be shown all the treatment/recovery options when they present asking for help, including – abstinence based, maintenance based, counselling, CBT etc, with an explanation of what all of the options entail.

The concept of a ‘Recovery Movement’ is very simple – the joining together of like-minded, ambitious people who are willing to do what they can to adapt the treatment system so it will help more people into sustained recovery. My aim is to highlight the areas, both good and bad, that need looking at with a view to improving them, so that we can maximise the good that this field does for those with substance misuse issues and also remove some of the barriers that are in the way for those seeking to change their behaviour.

There are lots of people and services around the UK that are pushing the recovery agenda on their own, cut off from others who are trying to do the same. By bringing all of these people together, we will make a stronger, louder voice, a voice that will reach Westminster with so much energy, it will demand a response!

Well, they're my thought's on the 'Recovery Movement', to see what the Prof has to say please visit 'The Prof speaks out'.

The black or white approach to treatment

I read with interest the story highlighted on today's Daily Dose - 'Tackling substance abuse in families'. Bruce Thomson starts by saying-

"Debate regarding the most appropriate ways to help people to get off drugs has resulted in what often seem to be polarised positions in favour of either methadone prescribing or abstinence-based interventions."

This has long been the case in the substance misuse field - why it is so I'm not sure, as it is a pointless debate with both sides losing out. In my opinion the "extras" that usually come with abstinence based programs, i.e. counselling, fellowship groups, reflection/meditation groups, one to one/group therapy etc, are what make the difference. 

Why aren't all of these "extra" interventions offered with methadone maintenance or reduction prescribing? I don't see any reasons why they couldn't fit together, in fact, I've worked in a project myself that offered this kind of methadone prescribing service, which was then reduced leading to abstinence as the final goal - with good success rates I'd like to add. To my knowledge this project is the only one of it's kind. It could work just as well with methadone maintenance for those wanting that.

I'd like to see the whole range of interventions being offered to prospective clients with a kind of self-selection (with professional guidance) of the particular services they'd like to have in their recovery program, kind of like choosing what subjects to take for your GCSE's! This way service users aren't being forced into doing something that they don't need just to get the services that will help them. Of course for this to happen there would need to be co-operation between different services throughout treatment, all governed by a new kind of direct access free service, doing the initial assessment, referrals and overseeing/supporting the clients throughout the whole process including the aftercare.

That would be my 'perfect world' answer to substance misuse! No black or white but black AND white - I think I'd call it 'The zebra intervention'!

My Wired In experience

It was early 2005 when I first had any contact with Wired In. At the time I was a chaotic drug addict and no matter what I tried, I couldn’t quit using, in fact I had given up even trying. I just wanted everything to end; I’d simply had enough of life on my knees. Then I met Sarah, who worked for Wired In, we got talking and hit it off. I could see that she genuinely cared and that really surprised me, she was young, pretty and she wanted to spend time talking to me, a no-good drug addict (that was how I felt about myself), very strange!

I then started to volunteer with Wired In but I didn’t really do a lot at first, as my life was so chaotic. Usually I would just meet up with Sarah and have a good chat, I think that was what I really needed at the time. Sarah helped me to realise that there was more to the world than just darkness and pain, she had no ulterior motives for being my friend, it was only because she cared about what I was going through and wanted to support me. It was when I realised this that my outlook on life started to change. For me to accept, and believe I was actually worth that friendship was a huge step for me, in fact, it was the first step on the pathway to my recovery.

Since then I have got involved in lots of different activities with Wired In, and all of them served to increase my self-esteem, confidence, knowledge and skills; in fact I learnt a lot of new skills - public speaking, facilitating group sessions, conducting filmed interviews and about addiction/recovery as a whole, but more important than this I also learnt a lot about myself - my strengths, weaknesses, even who I really was and what I wanted to do with my life. It soon became clear to me that I wanted to work full-time in the substance misuse field and in October 2007, I secured a paid post with The Salvation Army as a Substance Misuse Worker. I’ve recently changed jobs and now work as the Community Development Co-ordinator with Wired In. My job is both challenging and very rewarding; I wouldn’t change it for the world!

Volunteering for Wired In has changed my life in so many, positive ways, I am indebted to all of the team, Sarah especially. I am now living a happy, fulfilled life and volunteering with Wired In was one of the main factors that helped me to turn my life around.

Wired In releases new film on You Tube

I've just been looking through the footage we have for the series "Life as a heroin addict'. It's helped me to realise how important it is to get information about addiction, treatment and recovery, out there in the public domain. It is something that people in the wider community don't know a lot about, apart that is from the exaggerated, sensationalist, usually negative, stories portrayed in the media.

If we are to encourage addicts in recovery to participate in recovery communities, then likewise we need to encourage people in the wider community to except and embrace those in recovery, welcoming them back into the heart of the local community. To do this we first need to break down the view that society has of drug addicts by education and by example. Look at me, I was a heroin/crack addict and now I hold down a respectable job, pay my taxes and live within the law.

By advertising my victory over addiction, I am showing my community that - 1) It is possible to overcome addiction/alcoholism. 2) That not all addicts/alcoholics & those in recovery are a danger to anyone. 3) People can change.

Likewise, I am showing my fellow addicts/alcoholics that - 1) It is possible to recover from addiction/alcoholism. 2) It is possible to live without the cravings to use/drink. 3) It is possible to be a valued member of the community again. 4) The stigma around addiction/alcoholism can be overcome. 5)  The communities opinion of those who have come from an addiction/alcoholic background can be changed for the better with education, time and patience.

I know this kind of dramatic change of opinion in the UK isn't going to happen overnight, but I also know that unless people like you and I, start to speak up for what we believe then It's never going to happen and this situation is going to get a lot worse for everyone. I want my children to grow up in a world where those living with health problems get the help they need promptly, with the support of their local community so that they can heal fully. I don't think that's too much to ask. Do you?