If you find yourself feeling like you can’t get out of the rut starting your recovery journey, you will definitely experience some days where staying motivated alone will feel extremely difficult. Being independent in the battle for long term health is the worst way to get over an addiction to very strong substances like drugs or alcohol. Having a close knit peer support system who can guide you and keep you motivated throughout your addiction recovery is crucial to prevent any relapses from happening in the future.
Traditional methods of peer support groups like Alcoholics Anonymous have been around for many years as the go-to opportunity to talk amongst a group of people who can understand and listen to your struggles. In the past few years, we have been quickly integrating our lives with the internet and social media. Public forums, online messenger, and even video chat groups has allowed the peer support method to evolve into a powerful online community to help keep people motivated, learn more about their “triggers” to avoid sinking to temptation, and staying consistent to ensure long term success. People from a variety of lifestyles and backgrounds pursuing this accessible resource and are finishing it with success as a stronger person than ever before.
Peer Support Impact
It’s a long journey that is required to recover from addiction without any consistent support from other people around you. Although people who are within a peer support group may come from different walks of life and each have a variety of needs, everyone depends on each other as a line of support. Every person involved in the group is aware of what life is like as an addict in our current society, the difficulty of dealing daily temptations, and dealing with feelings that occur during recovery like sadness, guilt, and remorse that comes recovery. Most people try to rebuild their sense of self -confidence, their relationships with any friends and family, and their professional careers for the future. Being part of an active support group increases your likelihood to stay in recovery and finish it strong. You will gain needed emotional support with understanding mentors and informational support from educational seminars that teach important recovery skills. You will also acquire an important sense of belonging, as well as tips for interacting with other people that don’t revolve around consuming drugs or alchohol.
A Variety of Services
No matter where you start in your recovery journey, there are a variety services available for to help you gain sobriety and ensure relapse prevention. Peer support groups are great at being adaptable and could be individualized to your pre-recovery, recovery in progress, or post-recovery time line. For example, a peer support group can be initiated before a person enters their rehab treatment to help them develop an organized mindset for making lifestyle changes. If they’re already enrolled in a specific treatment program, support groups can also accompany it and provide an important link to a community of people going through the same experience. If treatment is done, a person has the option to still join to increase their chance of preventing relapse in the future. Even if you feel like pursuing a support group is expensive or do not exactly wish to open up to a room full of strangers, the support system that develops is foundational to your overall success as a patient. Throughout each stage, while participating in each meeting, members of peer support groups will be building their leadership abilities that will be vital to use in the future.
Online Support
There is definite evidence that having a peer support group provides enormous benefits to the body, mind, and spirit. If you have a very busy schedule and can’t find enough time to attend Alcoholic Anonymous type events in person, you might want to take a look at joining online programs to digitally stay on track. No matter how large the forum is, chances are you will find someone who shares similar troubles and can form a meaningful bond alongside you as you grow. New Age Alcoholics Anonymous meetings are now increasingly popular for people to bond over remote locations and global time zones. The online community provides a safe space to discuss personal failures, goals, and experiences to develop into a healthy person again. Facebook and Reddit has many forums and groups that are open to their members for free, and welcome them with open arms. A lot of colleges throughout the country also run discussion forums for their students to join on a weekly basis. You can also easily Google search for online AA groups that suit your lifestyle and personal goals to help you best succeed!
