Recovering writer’s pandemic cautionary tale

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

WATCH – She’s been there, done that –

Aug. 14, 2020 – The Seattle journalist said she missed almost a decade of life when her problem with alcohol grew out of control in 2007. At the height of her addiction, Barnett drank more than two bottles of wine or a bottle of vodka a day. She was fired from a job, lost a relationship, lost friends and had a hard time supporting herself because she was spending so much money on alcohol, she writes in her new book, “Quitter: A Memoir of Drinking, Relapse, and Recovery.”

Now Barnett, who has been sober for five-and-a-half years, is watching with concern as many people turn to alcohol as a way to cope with the stress and anxiety of life during the pandemic.

Alcohol sales spiked this spring during the national lockdown. In one survey, 1 in 3 Americans said they were more likely to drink alcohol during working hours while stuck at home. People joked about relying on “quarantinis” to get through the day. “I hate the joke-y marketing, the ‘Everything is great, it’s 4 o’clock somewhere.’ It drives me crazy,” Barnett said.

“With people drinking so much right now, you’re going to see more people seeking treatment and more people falling into addiction.”

She shared what it was like to try to end her dependency and what it took to finally recover:

more@Today

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Questions & Answers – AA Agnostica

 The creator of the Polish website Agnostics and Atheists in AA recently asked me a number of questions. Here are the questions
and my answers.

By Roger C

How long have you been in AA?

I’ve been in AA since I got sober a little over a decade ago (March 8, 2010). However, after three months of attending mainstream AA meetings, I became terrified that I would start drinking again, because I couldn’t stand the meetings. All the God stuff, you know. And the meetings ending with the Lord’s Prayer. I then accidentally discovered the oldest secular AA meeting in Canada, Beyond Belief Agnostics and Freethinkers, started in Toronto, Ontario on September 24, 2009. I went to the meeting. I loved the meeting! I remember walking along Bloor Street after it was over and I threw my hands up in the air and shouted “I’m saved!”

Are you an agnostic or an atheist?

I am an agnostic. Life to me is a “Magical Mystery Tour”, as per the Beatles. I certainly don’t believe in a anthropomorphic, interventionist, male deity. Not a chance. I should also note that I have a Master’s degree in Religious Studies obtained from McGill University in Montreal, Québec.

As an agnostic I studied and taught there for a decade, and I read the New Testament in its original language, Koine Greek. But I was always an agnostic. And everybody at McGill knew that and I was treated with great respect.

So, as an agnostic, what was I doing in the Faculty of Religious Studies? Well, one of my main reasons was to figure out why people believe in a supernatural, anthropomorphic deity. It is my understanding that it isn’t until we humans are about nine years old that we realize that our lives will end – with our death. Oh, my! So a main reason for religious belief is the denial of mortality and the invention of immortality – of course not for all other animals but just for we human animals.

Moreover and as a consequence religion is a cultural issue. As Richard Dawkins puts it in his book The God Delusion “Though the details differ across the world, no known culture lacks some version of the… anti-factual… fantasies of religion.” (p. 166). And that is passed along from one generation to another. Religion is hammered into children by their parents. It was certainly obvious that religion had been a key part of the early lives of the soon to be ordained ministers at McGill University.

Did you immediately reveal in the AA fellowship that God was not a part of your recovery?

Yes I did. And it was the huge disrespect I got at mainstream AA meetings as a result that really disturbed me, and made me want to get the hell out.

Is your home group a special group for agnostics and atheists, or is it a regular AA meeting?

I attended three secular AA meetings in Toronto – Beyond Belief Agnostic and Freethinkers, We Agnostics and We Are Not Saints – for roughly six years until I started the We Agnostics meeting in Hamilton (an hour away from Toronto) on Thursday, February 4, 2016. The meeting was a huge success and a second We Agnostics meeting on Mondays was launched on September 10, 2018. Of course since mid-March of this year both have been zoom meetings.

But now – hallelujah! – the Face to Face meetings at the First Unitarian Church are scheduled to recommence on Monday, August 24. We will, of course, play it safe. As Heather, one of the meeting organizers put it, “I think we should err on the side of extreme caution”. There will, of course, be masks, hand sanitizing, social distancing…

But f2f meetings are important, particularly for newcomers to AA.

How many agnostic AA groups are there in the area you live in?

In Hamilton there is only the one We Agnostics group, with two meetings. Toronto has some 500 AA meetings a week. Ten of the groups are secular and there is a secular AA meeting each and every day (when there is no pandemic). In all of the province of Ontario there are 20 secular AA groups and 24 meetings every week.

If an agnostic or an atheist asks you for sponsoring do you use the Big Book or do you rely on other texts?

No, I do not use the Big Book. The word “God” (or “He” or “Him” etc.) is used 281 times in the first 164 pages of the Big Book. A Christian God, by the way. The book is hugely disrespectful of non-believers and of women. I have published, via AA Agnostica, a total of eight secular AA books. One of them was written by two women back in 1991. It’s called The Alternative 12 Steps – A Secular Guide to Recovery. When I first found the book, it had been out of print for over a decade. In order to publish a second edition, I needed the permission of the authors, and it took me a year to find them. I published the second edition in 2014.

Today, another one of my favorite books is Staying Sober Without God. Published in 2019, it also has a good set of 12 steps called The Practical Steps.

What was the reason you started the AA Agnostica website?

Interesting question! The website was initially called “AA Toronto Agnostics” and was launched by another fellow and me in June of 2011 when the two secular AA groups in the city, including mine, Beyond Belief Agnostics and Freethinkers, were booted out of the Greater Toronto Area Intergroup (GTAI). And why were we booted out? Well, because we used a secular version of the 12 Steps. That resulted in a war that lasted for almost six years and was resolved in January 2017, when the groups were re-admitted to the GTAI as legitimate and respected members, with their secular 12 Steps.

Anyway, after six months I changed the name of the website to AA Agnostica. While initially its sole purpose was to provide information about the times and locations of the secular AA meetings it quickly became a popular site where atheists, agnostics and freethinkers in AA could share their views. Finally, a place where they could do that! That’s the historical significance of the website. Since then over 600 articles have been posted on AA Agnostica, usually one every Sunday and sometimes on Wednesdays.

How do you get articles for the website?

Click on the image for more information.

There are many ways. First, there is a widget on the home page of the AA Agnostica website that invites people to write an article. Even without that, a number of people who visit AA Agnostica are motivated to write an article. And I will from time to time invite various people – because of their comments, articles they have written elsewhere, etc. – to write for AA Agnostica.

Let me also add that I avoid negative articles, in particular those whose sole purpose is to attack mainstream Alcoholics Anonymous. While there are many problems with mainstream or traditional AA – and critiques are welcome! – mere grumbling and griping is not helpful.

What is your opinion about publishing brochures for agnostics in AA?

I think brochures are a good idea. When I started the We Agnostics meeting in Hamilton I created a brochure about the meeting and I brought it to every mainstream AA meeting – usually about a half hour before the meeting started – and asked them to put copies on their literature table. Some of them did and some of them threw the brochures out. But it was very helpful in terms of getting people to attend our meeting. And recently I posted an article on AA Agnostica about brochures/pamphlets encouraging people to create their own: Secular AA Pamphlets.

Have you thought about organizing annual workshops for agnostics and atheists in AA?

Two – not annual but biennial – workshops have already been organized for agnostics and atheists in AA in Ontario. We call them conferences or roundups. And the ones in Ontario are called SOAAR – Secular Ontario Alcoholics Anonymous Roundup. The first was held in Toronto in 2016. I was one of the organizers of the second SOAAR, held in Hamilton in 2018. (There are articles about both on AA Agnostica.)

At the one in Hamilton one on the speakers was Jeffrey Munn, the author of Staying Sober Without God. He came all the way up from California! The next SOAAR, to be organized largely by the Brown Baggers, originally scheduled for 2020, will now be held in 2022, as a result of the pandemic and so it doesn’t interfere with the International Conference of Secular AA (ICSAA) which will be held near Washington, DC, in the fall of 2021.

Would you like to say something about the situation of agnostics and atheists in AA? How do you see the near and further future?

Well, I think AA needs to grow up. It’s a bit silly to totally depend upon a book published over 80 years ago. That’s the “Conference-approved” nonsense. And it’s absolutely absurd to be ending meetings with the Lord’s Prayer and then pretending to be “spiritual, not religious”. More nonsense.

Roughly 20 years ago the growth of mainstream AA peaked, in spite of the growth of the population – and the growth in the number of alcoholics. But the growth of the secular movement within AA has been impressive. Twenty years ago there were 36 secular AA meetings worldwide. Thirty six! And now, today, there are approximately 550 secular AA meetings.

Our growth – including our regional roundups and the three International Conferences of Alcoholics Anonymous (ICSAAs) – has already had an impact on mainstream AA. So: let’s keep it up!

Onwards and upwards…


 

Cady Groves’ cause of death revealed

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

Alcohol: The deadliest drug of all –  

August 7, 2020 – Cady Groves was born in Kansas and was living in Nashville when she died. She began her career in 2009 and toured with acts like Good Charlotte, Third Eye Blind and LMFAO before transitioning to country music in recent years, according to Vel Records. 

The singer was the third of the family’s siblings to die at a young age. Kelly Groves died at 28 in 2013 after struggles with prescription drug addiction following a serious car accident, about seven years after older brother Casey Groves also died at 28 from prescription drug abuse, Cody Groves told The Oklahoman in 2014.

In his initial tweet announcing his sister’s death, Cody Groves wrote, “Rest In Peace little sis. Hope you’re reunited with @kellydgroves and Casey.”

more@Today

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Jason Day was beaten by his boozing dad and got his first club from the dump

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

Not an exclusive club –

August 8, 2020 – Day said: “I grew up in a poor family, we went through some tough times, but so does the majority of the world. “My eldest sister basically raised us because mum and dad were gone at 4.30am and back at 7 at night.”

Heartbreak was to strike when Alvyn died of stomach cancer when Jason was 12. Jason started drinking and fighting.

It looked like he would go off the rails until Dening sent him to boarding school, triggering a chain of events that would lead to him becoming world No 1.

Jason met Colin Swatton at Kooralbyn International School – who until just last month was his full-time coach and mentor. The pair turned Day into a world-beater on the course with 17 professional wins, but more personal tragedy was to strike in 2017.

Day married Ellie in 2009 and soon after welcomed son Dash and daughter Lucy.

more@TheSun

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Former Angels employee charged in connection with Tyler Skaggs’ death

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

Doesn’t look like a murderer –

July 7, 2020 – The Drug Enforcement Administration determined in its investigation that Kay had met with Skaggs and had text exchanges with him regarding drugs the night before the pitcher was found dead in his suburban Dallas hotel room.

Kay was placed on leave by the Angels shortly after the incident and has not actively worked for the team in more than a year.

Attorney Michael Molfetta, who had been representing Kay, did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

The criminal complaint details the DEA’s findings as it relates to Kay and a victim the document identifies as “T.S.,” who was found dead in a Southlake, Texas, hotel room on July 1, 2019.

According to the DEA, Kay had been supplying fentanyl since 2017.

more@OCRegister

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Coronavirus Crisis Disrupts Treatment for Another Epidemic: Addiction

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

Crazy Times! Drugs Can Kill! –

August 2, 2020 – And that has left people who have another potentially deadly disease — addiction — with fewer opportunities for treatment, while threatening to reverse their recovery gains.

“It’s hard to underestimate the effects of the pandemic on the community with opioid use disorder,” said Dr. Caleb Alexander, a professor of epidemiology and medicine at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “The pandemic has profoundly disrupted the drug markets. Normally that would drive more people to treatment. Yet treatment is harder to come by.” Drug rehabs aren’t as much of a COVID “tinderbox” as nursing homes, Alexander said, but both are communal settings where social distancing can be difficult.

Shared spaces, double-occupancy bedrooms and group therapy are common in rehabs. People struggling with addiction are generally younger than nursing home residents, but both populations are vulnerable because they’re more likely to suffer from other health conditions, such as diabetes or cardiovascular disease, that leave them at risk of succumbing to COVID-19.

more@GoodMenProject

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Kurt Angle Celebrates Seven Years Sober

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

Pinning the Demons… –

August 5, 2020 – Celebrating 7 years of sobriety today. To all of you who supported me and stood by me, through good and bad, I want to thank you for not giving up on me. Salute! (With a glass of milk in my You Suck cup). 

more@Mandatory

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Harry Potter’s Jason Isaacs on his fight against drug addiction

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

Slitherin’ out on top –  

AUGUST 5, 2020 – he actor admitted that he first got drunk at the age of 12.

The bartender, whom we then considered a hero, and now I understand that he belongs in prison, secretly brought us a full bottle of liquor. We drank it in the toilet and then staggered to the party. I vomited, I fell and tore off a giant curtain, climbed to kiss the girl, God bless her … I ran out into the street, vomited again, then I stumbled, smashed my head on the sidewalk and covered all my clothes with blood. The next morning I woke up with a splitting head, a stench from vomit, a huge scab on my head, and the memory of how I was completely disgraced yesterday. And I thought: I’d rather repeat it all. Why is that? I have no idea. Genes? Education? Zodiac sign? – Isaacs shared.

Jason also talked about what happened before he stopped using drugs:

I remember not long before I quit, it suddenly occurred to me that if everyone I knew died, literally everyone, I probably wouldn’t mind. I would even be glad because then it would be an excuse to sit in a room alone and take drugs, and everyone else would say: “You heard what happened, right?”

more@FreeNews

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AA meetings still going strong during COVID-19

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

WATCH – Zoom and six feet away… –

August 6, 2020 – He says he was at his wits end: in-and-out of jail and loved ones giving up on him.

“I got 56 misdemeanors, 7 DUI’s, 6 felonies, and 16 driver’s suspensions. That’s all I used to know, that jail was an institution,” Anastasia stated.

Then he hit rock bottom.

“My mom died in 2011. She overdosed on Xanax and oxycodone, so I was just tired of my life. I just wanted to die,” he said.

Until a friend got him some help. He spent months at several treatment centers like Maryhaven, House of Hope, and a sober house.

“I took about 14 months just to work on myself,” Anastasia stated.

He started attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings regularly and now helps recruit more members.

“The biggest part of my sobriety is staying busy and helping others.”

Making ever-lasting friendships during these meetings. But with COVID-19, meetings are now small or moved online, like Facebook.

more@ABC6

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Duo helps people suffering from addiction

Addiction Recovery Bulletin

WATCH – Human interest story –  

August 5, 2020 – “According to numbers I received from the 911 center, we’ve had 277 911 calls involving overdoses. Last year, for the whole year of 2019, I think we had 360. So we are on course to expand on last year’s number,” said Wood County Sheriff Steve Stephens.

Walters says people with addiction need community and fellowship. He says it’s a crucial part of their recovery and the pandemic has largely taken them away.

“Different buildings have different rules and regulations. And people just aren’t willing to have people in those buildings and that’s unfortunate because fellowship is a big, big deal when it comes to addiction recovery,” said Walters.

On top of that, Walters says fear and hopelessness created around the virus has pushed people recovering from addiction to make bad decisions. He and the sheriff suspect the stimulus checks sent to millions of Americans this spring allowed many of them to make those bad decisions. “During the month of May we had 83 in Wood County, which was up from 35 in April and if you will recall that’s when the stimulus checks were starting to get mailed out. So, I’m sure there is a correlation there between that and the stimulus checks.

Walters has teamed up with J. Morgan Leach to try to help people with addiction find some community again by putting on the Fifth Annual Parkersburg Memorial Walk. In years past, the event has drawn hundreds of people. Leach says it is legal for them to host such an event despite Governor Jim Justice’s executive order limiting the size of certain gatherings.

“Now the governor’s office did amend that stay at home order to allow for more broader gatherings that are not purely social in nature.” said Leach. “ does have that higher purpose. There are more things going on than just a social aspect. We’re literally trying to reach out to people who are overdosing or committing suicide at a higher rate than they would have been because of the isolationist nature of this pandemic.” said Leach.

Organizers hope the event will be something positive in a world they say is full of negativity.

more@WTAP

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