At any given moment you have the power to say this is not how the story is going to end
So hi this is my latest blog post. Quick update on me, ok so today marks 27 weeks since I gave up drinking. Its also been 9 days since I came off the Antabuse medication. Its been a tough week this week as I’ve had new anti-depressive medication kicking in and its resulted in a lowing of my mood and me feeling constantly tired and zapped of energy. I also been through a breakup this week swell. But I’ve still managed not to reach for drink so I guess I'm fairly proud of myself. For some strange reason I still won’t give myself any self praise for achieving 27 weeks sober.
Even though I am now off the Antabuse I am going to be maintaining Sobriety. As I have mentioned in previous posts some people are able to have just 1 or 2 drinks, enjoy it and walk away.....if thats you, I envy you, you swine!! you make me sick!. Why, because Im not able to, once I get a taste for it thats it i won’t stop until I pass out.
I’ve managed to get through this week by focusing on this blog and trying to do some other positive things.
One main problem that I have found since I stopped drinking is that for all its bad points, Addiction is a very time consuming hobbies. Once you stop how do you fill that time?
The Kickstarter Project
Ok so see the link above, I’ve launched a Kick Starter project. The Concept? An Alcohol Free Social Venue with the same benefits of any other Pub/Bar/Restaurant/Nightclub, to offer a pressure free social environment for recovering addicts.
Ok so I want to create a bar and restaurant that may open till late evening and act as a normal bar/club but that will be exclusively alcohol free and somewhere for recovering addicts to socialise without the pressure of drink being involved. It needn’t be exclusive for people in recovery anyone will be welcome which I believe will attract people who don’t really like drink, or that would rather save money on a night out and drive or indeed healthy minded people who don’t want to drink. In essence people who would rather enjoy the fun of a night out and socialising, conversation etc without being intoxicated or dealing with a venue full of intoxicated people.
Would this be a dull boring venue though?
Not in the slightest! We want to offer everything a ‘normal venue’ would i.e Live music, DJ’s, Comedy nights, sport, even Karaoke!.
Food wise we will offer a fantastic lunchtime menu with meat and vegetarian options and then a fantastic evening menu along the same lines, as well as a bar snacks menu.
Drink Wise, who says non-alcohol has to be boring. We will be providing a top range of hot beverages such as coffees, syrup options & Herbal Teas. We will offer a range of common soft drinks and special locally sourced organic soft drinks. Our pride and joy however will be a superb Mocktail (Alcohol Free Alternative Cocktails) Menu.
We also will have a firm policy of employing (as many as possible) ex addicts to help them in there recovery with rebuilding their lives etc. This will include in all roles from the kitchen, bar, front of house, entertainment, security etc and all ideas on the running of the venue will be as a team decision instead of a typical management decision based business, there for our staff will have a lot of pride in seeing there ideas and thoughts become a reality.
Im also aware that some people recovering from addiction are maybe homeless or lack essential life skills or IT skills which are needed for so much these days like applying for jobs etc, so we will have a computer section which will act as an Internet Cafe but we will offer lessons and courses on a free basis for things such as cooking, life skills, IT and anything else there is demand for.
For all its down points addiction is a time consuming hobbies, so we will offer ways for ex addicts to fill there time, maybe like art, writing, craft groups etc and we would like to run an in house radio station swell which can be streamed to the world over the internet. It will give us music within the venue during the day but will also give us a chance to train people in doing radio work which will give them confidence and something to do, as well as the focus of writing a show, pre creating interviews/features or jingles and then bringing it all together in a live show.
We also want to link up with local addiction services and be used as a venue for group based meetings and courses etc. We will also run our own independent group session meetings as an alternative to AA and other services that some people may not be comfortable.
We hope people will help us get this project off the ground as I feel it could make a HUGE difference.
The Drink Problem
Part 3 - Education & Treatment
Ok, so it would seem through my research that there is very little in the UK eduction around Alcohol. There is some eduction done for 15/16 year olds around the subject of drugs and sex etc. I think given the impact that advertising, TV and social media and peer pressure plays these days that sort of age is far too late, I know I had my first drink when I was 14 for example, and Im sure Im not alone in that sort of fact. Drug education is not a compulsory subject in schools, yet:
60% of schools say they teach drug education once or less a year.
59% of young people say they can’t remember having a drug education lesson in the last year.
63% of 11 to 15 year olds say they find teachers a helpful source of information about drugs.
96% of young people said they found drug education helpful in thinking about the risks associated with taking drugs. Mentor believes drug education in school is vital to help ensure young people have the knowledge, skills and attitudes to avoid the damage drugs can do. But drug education remains a weaker aspect of the curriculum. Pupils have higher expectations of what should be delivered, and teachers ask for national resources and guidance. Quality standards which schools can use are available in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The UK has none..
Patterns of PSHE delivery
The World Health Organisation reports that 73% of European countries have a legal obligation to include alcohol prevention in the school curriculum and just over half have national guidelines for the prevention and reduction of alcohol-related harm in school settings.
By contrast, the new National Curriculum for schools in England doesn’t mention alcohol at all. Despite the fact that England comes 9th for early drunkenness according to the most recent ‘Health Behaviours in School-Age Children’ report.
A recent mapping exercise we carried out as part of the Alcohol and Drug Education and Prevention Information Service (ADEPIS) project found that the majority of schools provide an hour or two a year of drug education, which unfortunately won’t cut it when it comes to offering the kind of support that will make a real difference in young people’s lives.This guidance is aimed at teachers, school governors and practitioners with health and wellbeing as part of their remit working in education, local authorities, the NHS and the wider public, voluntary and community sectors. It may also be of interest to children, young people and their families.
The recommendations focus on encouraging children not to drink, delaying the age at which they start drinking and reducing the harm it can cause among those who do drink.
NICE recommendations include the following:
- alcohol education should be an integral part of the school curriculum and should be tailored for different age groups and different learning needs
- a 'whole school' approach should be adopted, covering everything from policy development and the school environment to staff training and parents and pupils should be involved in developing and supporting this
- where appropriate, children and young people who are thought to be drinking harmful amounts should be offered one-to-one advice or should be referred to an external service
- schools should work with a range of local partners to support alcohol education in schools, ensure school interventions are integrated with community activities and to find ways to consult with families about initiatives to reduce alcohol use.
Dr Gillian Tober, consultant psychologist and former president of the Society for the Study of Addiction, answers questions about treating addiction.
When is it time to get help?
The sooner the better. Some people say you have to hit rock bottom before you're ready to change, but evidence shows that the earlier the intervention, the more successful it will be.
What can friends and family do?
Whether you're a relative, friend or an employer, as soon as you detect a problem relating to addiction you should tell the person that you've noticed a worsening pattern in their drinking, drug use, mood or physical health.
If this is said in an accusing way, the person is likely to be defensive and will distance themselves. The more positive and constructive you are, the more likely it is you will be able to help the addicted person and get them into treatment.
The evidence for the benefit of support from people close to the addict is so strong that many specialist services offer treatment that's based on recruiting a network of family and friends.
It's important that the person with drug and alcohol problems is helped by people who are concerned, constructive, and who don't have problems themselves.
Who should the person go to first?
A GP can refer an addicted person at any stage, not just when they're willing to stop. GPs can give advice about sensible drinking and use their own surgery's resources, such as nurses or counsellors.
GPs may also recommend national helplines, such as Samaritans, and support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous.
These groups help lots of people deal with their addiction. In addition, there are local NHS addiction units that will see people, even if they're not ready to stop. These units encourage people to talk about their addiction and try to change their motivation.
Find your local alcohol addiction service and find your local drug addiction service.
How is an addict treated?
Treatment is adapted to suit the individual. There are several treatments that are proven to work. These mainly combine talking therapies with medication. Cognitive behavioural treatments are typically used because they work very well with addiction problems.
Treatment usually starts with getting the person with the problem to think about how they want to change. It's important to avoid condemning them. They need to believe they can do it and their life will be better as a result.
Professionals will discuss how the addicted person sees their life in the future, what obstacles they feel they face in changing, and what will help them deal with those obstacles.
Then they can identify the situations the addicted person will find difficult and make plans to deal with those situations. Through this process they can set the target, which is ultimately abstinence.
Once you've identified the target and what the person needs to do to reach it, you set up all the resources available. Family and friends are an important resource. You want people who won't encourage the person to "just have one drink because it won't matter", but instead offer to take them to the cinema, for example.
When people engage in dependent behaviour, their whole lifestyle revolves around using and obtaining the substance, and dealing with the after-effects. Changing that lifestyle is a very big step. Often the hardest part is not stopping the addiction, but staying stopped.
How do self-help groups and residential rehab work?
Some self-help groups are extremely useful because they provide a network, often in the absence of family and friends. Groups are very useful for giving support during aftercare.
Residential rehabilitation helps many people overcome the initial phases of withdrawal and start making lifestyle changes that will allow them to continue in recovery.
Do self-help or home-based recovery programmes work?
Most definitely. People are more likely to find a way to recovery that suits them if there's a wide range of options available. People don't respond well when they feel they're being pushed into a corner.
However, a self-help manual can rarely replace being with supportive people in a social setting that rewards abstinence or control.
Does recovery always have to mean abstinence?
For a minority of people with moderate drinking problems, a controlled drinking goal is possible. However, most people at treatment centres need to aim for abstinence. With heroin and cocaine, abstinence is the only option.
How does an addict guard against relapse?
Lots of ways. One would be removing or avoiding the triggers of addiction. Another might be making contact with new people who aren't in recovery and don't use drugs.
That's a big step to take, and some people advise the opposite, saying it's important to stick with people who are in recovery because they understand and can offer support. This is fine as long as they're supporting your abstinence rather than stimulating your addiction.
In the case of drug users, the people who recover successfully are the ones who change their drug-using surroundings. This can be very difficult, especially if their partner is a drug user (unless they change their habit, too).
It's also important for recovering addicts to change their activities so they have alternative ways of feeling rewarded, alternative ways of coping with feeling down or lonely, and alternative ways of having a good time.
Very often, people get into drug and alcohol addiction simply to relax and enjoy themselves, but then they lose control. When that happens, they have to find different ways to relax.
So that about concludes todays Blog Post, my next post will be up after I have had a few days break....Watch this space!!
- Watch your thoughts, they become words
Watch your words, they become actions
Watch your actions, they become habits
Watch your habits, they become character
Watch your character, it becomes your destiny
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