Fighting Stigma and Discrimination When Recovering From Problem Drug Use

July 12, 2022 by

Yesterday, I described the difficulty that people recovering from problem drug use face in becoming accepted by mainstream society. They are shunned and socially excluded at a time they need to reintegrate into mainstream society in order to facilitate their recovery and allow them to live a normal life. Here is a related story.

Early in February 2008, I attended with my colleagues Lucie James and Kevin Manley, the first Drink and Drugs News (DDN) / Alliance Service User Conference, which was organised by Claire Brown and Ian Ralph of DDN and held in Birmingham. Around 500 people attended, two-thirds of them service users, a very successful conference.

Lucie, Kevin and I enjoyed our day and made some new friends. A special issue of DDN, which was the leading UK magazine focused on drug and alcohol treatment, was devoted to the conference. Prejudice towards service users was obviously an issue that was discussed during the afternoon’s discussion tables.

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Factors Facilitating Recovery: Involvement in Meaningful Activities

May 19, 2021 by

Another important factor facilitating recovery involves the development of valued social roles through involvement in meaningful activities. Through these activities, recovering people gain a sense a purpose and direction in their life—they find a niche in the community. 

These meaningful activities may involve employment or volunteering, engagement in hobbies or other leisure activities, or connecting with other organisations or groups. Employment is a central way in which people can achieve more meaning and purpose in their lives and is therefore a key pathway to recovery. As described in a previous post, impacting on the lives of other people in a positive manner, ‘giving back’ as it is often called, is also important for personal recovery.

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‘These Three Companies Make a Point of Hiring Recovering Addicts’ by Heidi Vanderlee

May 15, 2014 by

Military_truck_with_crew_2004My apologies for being offline twice twice in the past couple of weeks but we were hacked and I didn’t realise our website was closed down by our server company as I was asleep! Hassles of a life online!

‘So you’ve hit rock bottom and now you’re crawling your way back out. But unfortunately the hard work that goes into getting sober won’t pay the bills. Getting hired as a recovering addict isn’t always easy: Many of us have spotty employment histories, and the stigma attached to past criminal or mental health records may deter potential employers.

Addicts in early recovery often find themselves tending bar, waiting tables or working the cappuccino machine at a local coffee shop. But if mixing boozy beverages or making little hearts in foamed milk isn’t up your alley, there are still plenty of other employment options out there.

Growing numbers of non-profit organizations – such as the Doe Fund and the Salvation Army – are going out of their way to find employment for addicts in recovery. And there are places where your history with substances could actually give your CV the boost it needs to get you in the door.

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‘Felling the Forest’ by Rebecca Daddow

October 15, 2013 by

get-low-blog-imageHere’s an interesting blog from Rebecca Daddow of Nurture Development.

‘This past weekend, I watched the film Get Low – it was recommended to me by Cormac following a conversation about Community Builders (can you spot who the Community Builder is in the film?). It is a film filled with wonderful acknowledgements of the gifts we possess and find naturally around us. In many ways, it speaks to some of the core values of ABCD.

One of the scenes that resonated most with me sees the main character, Felix, walking through the forest that grows on his land with an old friend, Mattie, who he has reconnected with after 40 years of self-imposed isolation:

Mattie: “It really is beautiful out here. It probably looked like this everywhere 100 years ago.”

Felix: “If you leave things alone, they know what to do”

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The Detroit Recovery Project

September 23, 2013 by

rsz_detroit-skyline-comerica-park-2Having lived in Detroit between 1984-1986, it’s nice to see good happening in my old home. Check out this short film involving Recovery Carrier Andre L. Johnson, CEO of The Detroit Recovery Project.

“Here in Detroit, our two biggest challenges for people in recovery is adequate living arrangements and employment. And so if we can address those two aspects we have begun to solve the problems in our community as well as the problems of the world.

You have the humblest set of people I have ever met on this earth but their spirit are strong. You don’t see their spirits, but you can feel the spirit of that person yearning for recovery.”

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‘The Work of Recovery’ by Bill White

August 27, 2013 by

employmentI missed this very important recent posting on Bill White’s website which is well worth reading.

‘Research on addiction recovery is quite scant compared to the volumes of research on addiction-related pathologies and clinical interventions. Additionally, some of the most important research on addiction recovery is buried in academic journals, rarely if ever read by the people who need it most – addiction treatment professionals and people needing, seeking or in recovery.  Such is the case of studies on the role of work in addiction recovery.  

In 2011, Dieter Henkel of the Institute for Addiction Research at the University of Applied Sciences in Frankfurt, Germany, conducted a comprehensive review of international studies on the relationship between substance use and employment that was published in Current Drug Abuse Reviews (4, 4-27).  Henkel drew the following conclusions from his review of more than 130 scientific studies:

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