Michael Tensei: Human interaction must continue for substance abusers

To The Daily Sun,

Various diseases of the mind, body, and spirit are treated in different ways. Currently, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been becoming increasingly imperative that social contact between humans be as minimal as possible. With regards to psychiatric or other mental health related maladies, social interaction and non-isolation is important for patients to affect a positive change in mood. In terms of the recovery from active addiction or substance use disorders (SUD), community-based support group involvement is a necessary component in most drug addiction recovery success stories. It has been well established for many decades that the best way of achieving long-term quality freedom from alcohol and drugs is to meet with a group and exchange help.

Hopefully, during this crisis, when we are obligated to minimize contact, there will not be many relapses by those who rely on community self-help meetings, such as Alcoholics or Narcotics Anonymous. The network of meetings has ceased and fortunately, there are ways to replace face to face meetings such as online, reading related literature, and smaller-private meetings.

When someone in recovery is lucky enough to make it back from a SUD relapse, most of the time they acknowledge that they slowed or completely stopped going to meetings. Once that precious dynamic of human interaction, when the only way to keep it is to give it away is lost, then the chances of calamity for that individual gravely increases.

One-to-one counseling and therapy can be a very helpful means toward keeping that open, yet anonymous, component of recovery from a very deadly disease. A disease that is not only of the body, mind, and spirit, but of the family and community.

Michael Tensel, MLADC

A&D Recovery Counseling

Laconia