The Sunday round-up, 28th February 2010

Having admired the delicate beauty of a fragile spray of newly emerged snow-drops today (before Sprocket – my puppy – squished them in a flurry of paws, followed by an over-excited rottweiler in hot pursuit who mashed them to oblivion) I felt the breath of spring on my face. Alongside the less fragrant breath of said rottweiler who abandoned puppy-worrying in favour of attempting an intimate act with my leg.

So in the spirit of all things new and leaping-lamb-like I have renamed this blog. Now it may not seem like much to you but change is afoot and this is my humble reflection of the amazing things that are still to come. And I really think they will, you know.

Now is it just me or is our community really buzzing? Like an irate wasp in a jam-jar we are honing our stingy bits and getting ready to go out there and zap the world with Recovery. Now we just need to work together to put a bit more pressure on that jam-jar lid and we’re away. That was a bit ‘Finding Nemo’ wasn’t it? But you get the picture.

It is an unwritten rule among those that edit websites that those in this position shall not show favouritism in any shape or form. To mention that I think that the UK Recovery Federation conference is likely to be a landmark event would represent gross bias – and therefore I will not mention it. I will also not mention that the incomparable Phil Valentine, our very own magnificent Professor Clark and the superlative Mark Gilman will be speaking.

Don’t forget to book – spaces are going fast (and that is not another plug). The UKRF hope (and it is still a hope at the moment) to be able to get some funds for people who would struggle to find money for travel or accommodation. If you are in this position please do get in touch.

Action, action, action. That is the clarion call from some of you this week. Tony questions whether there is a bit too much a-doing about nothing and Scott feels that more needs to be done to afford Recovery “the respect it needs and deserves.” I agree wholeheartedly but the doing is in the doing – if you see what I mean. Probably not, as even I am not sure what that variation of ‘the proof is in the pudding’ is all about myself!

Other than to say that Recovery is as much about us taking responsibility for ourselves, as it is about treatment workers reflecting on whether they are promoting ‘learned helplessness’. Thanks Kuladharini for an very incisive blog.

So to nick a slogan off a well known sports brand, just do it. Blog, meet, talk, shout, discuss, debate, write, support, lobby, tell your story, help a friend, set up a group, be out about your addiction, bore others with Recovery and most of all WALK on 25th September 2010 in Glasgow. There will be more details on the UK Recovery walk this week including how to register, to sponsor and opportunities to volunteer.

Now my sense of national pride was dented this week by the publication of the Home Office’s Cross-Government Drugs Research Strategy.

Peapod could weep, I stifled a sob and Geph, well, Geph said (slightly edited comment), “The Cross-Government Drugs Research Strategy – a beautifully presented chocolate box. Contents? One wizened peanut that once saw some chocolate from 50 yards through leaded glass. Ppssshhaww!” Follow that….

The more lachrymose among us, lamenting an opportunity lost in the UK, could only wipe our sniffles and, with tear-stained eyes, look with admiration (and a strong desire for emulation) at the white paper published by the Recovery Oriented Systems of Care (ROSC) Subcommittee of the Drug and Alcohol Coalition in Pennsylvania. Entitled Recovery-Oriented System of Care: A Recovery Community Perspective it is, as David says, that good. For an excerpt of the principles of a ROSC see David’s subsequent blog.

Staying geographical we arrive back in Blighty where PeaPod has mixed emotions as he ponders Scotland’s wonders and its woes. And we are not talking the comparison between the sublime ‘Letter from America’ (“Take a looooooooooooooooooook, at the rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrail-traaaaaaaaaaaack) and ‘Donald, where’s yer troosers’. No, we are not. Tommy’s blog on waiting times for methadone highlights a fair few of the not so good bits while John gives us a snippet of wonder.

David McCartney runs a health check on mutual aid in the UK and finds it bouncing with vitality and, if you sum all this up, it does seem to point to the conclusion that PeaPod comes to. Namely to “let recovering/recovered people lead the way’ and ‘catalyse the growth of communities of recovery.” Think he may well have a point.

Chris shares his reading on self medication hypotheses. I was particularly struck by the concept of addiction as a way of replacing a dysphoria that individuals do not understand with a drug-induced dysphoria that they do understand. While Chris focuses on working with veterans and with PTSD it seems true that self-medication is the ‘cure’ of choice for many conditions. At least until it stops working.

Reading this, and then later in the week Keith’s story about his son Perry, and in particular Our son: part two, brought home the reality of the link between trauma and addiction and how often sexual abuse in childhood is a factor. I know Keith is finding writing about Perry quite tough so I am sure that you will lend him all the support that you can.

It sounds a terrible thing to say given the circumstances that have brought them here, but I am really glad to see more families and loved ones becoming part of this community. We have a great deal to learn from you and have the deepest respect for your courage.

Susan is reaching some more landmarks on her own recovery journey, each presenting different challenges. In driving she wonders if she made the right choices (a theme in all the blogs about loss) and in one month later shows us the emotional roller-coaster of grief and the struggles of trying to let go.

I’m sure you share my admiration for the way that she is dealing with the way she was informed of Michael’s death and the meeting with her colleague that gave an opportunity for healing. But it’s still tough, and some days like Saturdays are tougher than others.

Ann Marie is moving forwards apace, as her work with Loved Ones Unite shows, and her thoughts in if only and the amazingly written Mr Heroin are a reminder that it is still a struggle. I think it must be hard to be seen to be moving on and we need to bear in mind Elizabeth’s words from last week, “Time they say heals but the passing of years is not a real healer; it does however get you used to the fact that your loved one has left you forever and you have to live with that cruel fact.”

And we also mustn’t forget the pain of those who have had to live with those they hold dear struggling in active addiction, and to celebrate with them the joy when Recovery comes to town. I was really moved by Linda’s blog about her daughter, Polly. Especially when she says, “My daughter has, and still is working hard, and I am so proud of her. It just shows you there is light beyond the tunnel.”

Strange isn’t it? How we assume that when we stop putting huge amounts of crap into our bodies that we will live in a bubble of wellness for ever and ever. For goodness sake, we’ve been through hell, how can we possibly be as susceptible as everyone else? Well I hate to do this to you, but as Momma Gump said, “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” Unfortunately, Gareth gets a cold (which throws up some unbidden thoughts) and Alan, 12 years sober, gets gout.

Sometimes it’s tough without the vagaries of illness as Des copes with a topsy-turvy day and Claire recognises that stress doesn’t help.

Do you remember that Sunsilk advert? The one where you saw a woman tossing her hair around in a park – something I often do of a weekend – with two male voice-overs saying, “Is she,……..or isn’t she?”. Apologies to our younger community members for this trip down memory lane, but it has fame as a really crap advert. Anyway, for some reason whenever we return to the concept of addiction as a disease, is it……..or isn’t it? I think of hairspray.

But enough about me. David McCartney makes the point that, whether or not we “sign up to the disease model of addiction or not, there are plenty of advantages to understanding what the science is telling us” and Kerry explains how understanding addiction as an illness enabled her to take responsibility for her recovery.

Matthew runs a critical eye over the silly season that treatment plans and commissioning can invoke, and wonders if some behaviours are not all that they should be. He then sets us a bit of a poser around honesty vs professionalism and where the boundaries are. Martin’s question is why oriented practice is being implemented in some areas but not across across the country as a whole.

Geph finds joy in an elliptical conversation and GuyinGHo finds his beans somewhat steamed by a run in with spiritual arrogance. Finally an excellent piece of advice from Verve from her in-depth blog on co-dependency, “Don’t take someone else’s addiction personally, being involved with an addict hurts.”

And in honour of change, which is as good as a rest after all, I will leave my usual onwards and upwards on the bench and instead say:

Run, Forrest, Run!