Hello 'shipping

[Jabberwocky]

Saw this in another thread and it got me thinking...

I needed a fellowship to help me. I was a huge isolator though and was activity drinking myself to death. Meditation works wonders too

As far as I can tell, psychosocial integration goes directly to the heart of the process commonly referred to as recovery from addiction.

Psychosocial integration refers to an individual's development, both as an individual and as a member of a community of other people. As an individual this is about how we navigate our identity as a distinct unit, our character, our heart-mind-bodies. As a member of a community it is about support and duty.*

Fellowship, some random definitions from duckduckgo:

(n) The condition of sharing similar interests, ideals, or experiences, as by reason of profession, religion, or nationality.
(n) The companionship of individuals in a congenial atmosphere and on equal terms.
(n) A close association of friends or equals sharing similar interests.

Wordnik

With the actual word fellowship, I guess I have some issues. Still, I can't help but feel passionately about the concept.

On BL, we experience a form of interaction surrounding our own little community. The glue that binds us together is the rainbow of harm reduction. Yup, I know: pretty cool %)

Yet, there is only so much BL can do for people. We're a great place to find/disseminate information about drug use, harm reduction, public health, research, etc. No way would I have gotten this far after very nearly killing myself a handful of times without the peer support of friends on BL. Likewise, I would probably be in jail or an institution if I hadn't used BL to educate myself on drug use, harm reduction, addiction and recovery.

Yet the site is run entirely by unpaid volunteers and as such there is only so much we can do as a community to foster psychosocial integration and development. I'm curious how you find what might be called fellowship offline.

What I'm getting at is how you experience psychosocial integration.

• What does fellowshipping mean to you?
• How has your community supported you?
  • What does community mean to you?
  • Without getting too specific, who are the significant actors in your community you are supported by?
  • The main actors you feel are holding you back?
• What challenges has your community helped you meet, learn from, overcome and/or integrate?

How does your community support (or not) your ongoing development in recovery?

Basically I'm curious how others have help you on your path in recovery, whether they be family, friends, drug users, doctors, therapists, courts, hospitals, rehabs, clinics - any and all sources of support.

Your responses will be of help to future users turned recovery junkies. Thank you!




*I have provide you with a functional yet horrible definition of psychosocial integration here; check out Bruce Alexander's fantastic book, The Globalization of Addiction, if you want a proper definition.

 

[aihfl]

Interesting food for thought. Every go around I feel like I've grown in some capacity and some major strides I think I've taken this time is less of a dependence on others. During the 18 months I stayed sober, my way of dealing with it was to constantly be doing something, after I got pissy at an AA meeting and swore up and down they were a bunch of codependent losers I wanted nothing to do with. This time around, recovery support groups have a place in my recovery, but they are not central to my recovery. Neither, likewise, is socially burning the candle at both ends. I go to a meeting when I want to go and if I don't feel like going I don't. I'm not of the mind that it's the equivalent of eating Brussel sprouts; something I don't want to do, but should, and I don't feel guilty about missing meetings or if I haven't been in touch with my sponsor for a few weeks. I no longer fear being at home alone. In fact, it's really nice to just be at home reading a novel, watching a DVD or catching up on a week's worth of TV on the DVR. I've probably read more books in the past five months than I read in the past three years before that.

I saw a showing of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas recently and it for a few moments, it did make me somewhat romanticize the days when I carried on like that, but the movie doesn't show the ugly side that culminates in jail stays and hospital admissions. I don't exactly why I don't crave downers and psychedelics (not sure I ever even "craved" psychedelics, not like I craved booze and benzos, anyway) anymore (I suspect that antidepressant therapy has a lot to do with it; when you don't feel bad about yourself and your situation, that takes a lot of the reasons to use out of the picture) but I feel pretty safe in saying that prayer and God in the conventional sense had nothing to do with it. That's not to say that there isn't a spiritual component to my recovery - I go to yoga every chance I have and I've learned how to develop a meditation practice through Refuge Recovery.

I guess for the first time maybe ever, I'm comfortable with myself and by myself.