I was recovering from my drug addiction when COVID-19 struck and on a drug rehabilitation placement.
I entered treatment nearly one year ago and spent three months in a primary residential facility until February 2020, when I moved into a community ‘move-on house’ to continue my treatment.
For me, COVID-19 turned out to be a positive experience:
When the lockdown came in March, it was a huge shock - my recovery was going well and I had plans, all of which lockdown put an end to. It was a big lesson...that life will happen regardless, and that I can choose to fight a losing battle with forces that are outside of my control, or I can choose to adapt and to change.
Recovery during lockdown has been difficult but very rewarding. The nature of lockdown was that many of the things that I used to do that helped distract me from my feelings, were taken away - no voluntary work, no face-to-face groups, no attendance at the rehab, and no travelling, so no home visits or day trips etc. I was left with just me and I chose to use the time to really look at myself and to become comfortable with myself.
The response from Change, Grow, Live was amazing. They quickly set things up so that we could do groups and 1-2-1 counselling remotely; they checked in on us every day and they set up quiz nights and activities that we could do on Zoom. I also took the chance to step up my efforts to connect with a 12-step addiction treatment programme and to study, as 12-step meetings can be accessed anytime of the day through Zoom.
During lockdown I managed to:
- Stay clean and sober
- Start working on steps and now on a step 4 of 12 Step Addiction Treatment Programme
- Study web development, graphic design, counselling and business course
- Start a new job a as volunteer
Most importantly I have learnt to be kind to myself and to treat myself with respect. Before I came to treatment, I felt hopeless. I do not think that I would have achieved so much had I not had to change and adapt my recovery to COVID-19 and lockdown. Now I feel able to deal with life on life's terms. When I look back to the start of lockdown, now I see what a great opportunity it was to have so much time to spend learning about myself and learning a new way to live.
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Support services
If you or someone you know would like help with drug or alcohol use, a full range of treatments and interventions designed to support you are available for Warwickshire adults, children and young people and their families:
- Change Grow Live (CGL) is a free and confidential drug and alcohol service for adults (18yers and over)
- Compass is a free, confidential substance misuse service for children and young people who need support around their own or another person’s drug or alcohol use. The service works with anyone between 5 and 25 years of age in Warwickshire.