by Fiona Stockard | Nov 17, 2014 | Addiction Articles, Recovery
Can We Use Facebook to Get Sober?
Recently, The Atlantic published an essay about one woman watching her friends fall into, and recover from, heroin addiction. While their sheer volume often drowns these stories out, this particular one was interesting.
What made this essay different from the other 10,000 we see everyday? Well, it looked at addiction and recovery through the lens of Facebook!
I use Facebook pretty much all day. I’m always peeking in to see if I was tagged in anything and what my friends are up to. Add Instagram, Twitter, etc. to the mix and it becomes plain to see that we’re surrounded 24/7 by social media!
But what if we could use Facebook, and all the others, to spread a message of hope and recovery? I mean, you’re probably reading this article right now because you saw it on social media!
So, how can we, as women in recovery, use social media for more than a five-minute distraction?
Social Media and Active Addiction
It’s funny how accurate The Atlantic’s essay was. They talk about how friends and family of addicts can gauge someone’s addiction through their activity on social media.
That is 100% my story! I can’t tell you how many times I deactivated my Facebook when I was getting high. My Myspace and LiveJournal (I’m dating myself, I know!) fell out of use when I was drinking. Concerned comments would pile up and give me even more guilt.
There’s the other side, too. I remember posting countless pictures of friends and myself playing beer pong or at a party with our white girl wasted faces.
Classic teenager and young adult move, right? Except, for me, these “fun” pictures were less a chronicle of youthful mistakes and more snapshots of my active addiction.
Facebook and Sobriety
And then I started trying to get sober. Suddenly, Facebook became less terrifying. Rather than hiding from concerned friends’ messages, I could post how great life was! Of course, relapse would send me running from the computer.
The Atlantic’s article touches upon this very idea. The author writes about seeing her addict friends post things like “Today is ninety days!!” I’m pretty sure I made that exact same post…more than once!
This is where Facebook, and the rest of the social media family, can become useful, and even indispensible, to sobriety.
Imagine if you lived in a small town and didn’t have access to around the clock meetings. Imagine it’s two a.m., you can’t sleep, and all you can think of is drinking. What’s a girl to do?
Simple! You can hop on Facebook and instantly connect to millions of other recovering addicts and alcoholics. You can get support, encouragement, and general positive messages no matter the time or location.
That sounds pretty awesome to me!
Let’s Spread a Message of Hope!
Can we all agree, right here and right now, to start a new trend? Let’s switch from liking pictures and status to liking God and our sisters in recovery!
Let’s start using Facebook to spread a message of hope and recovery!
by Fiona Stockard | Oct 1, 2014 | Recovery
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Written By: Fiona Stockard
Recovery on Your Phone
My name is Fiona and I’m a smartphone addict! Raise your hand if you are, too. Oh, everyone here’s a smartphone addict?
Look, everyone’s on their phone 24/7. It’s a part of life. The sky’s blue, grass is green, penguins are the cutest animals, and smartphones are surgically attached to our hands. Them’s the facts.
For addicts though, our phones can be helpful with recovery. Not only can we call anyone, anytime, but we can also go online and read twelve-step literature. We can attend online meetings. We can reach out to treatment centers and recovery organizations. We can…use sobriety apps?
What’s a sobriety app? Which sobriety apps are good? Should I have to pay for a sobriety app? Learn the answers to these questions and more! Let’s find out how to get plugged in to sobriety resources on our phones!
What’s a Sobriety App?
Well, it’s pretty self-explanatory. A sobriety app is any app that helps with your sobriety! There are a ton of these. In fact, a quick Google search turns up pages upon pages upon pages of sobriety apps!
There are twelve-step based apps. These sobriety apps show you how many years, months, weeks, days, and minutes since your last drink or drug. They have the Big Book and Basic Text available to read. They have local meeting and intergroup locations, numbers, and addresses.
There are religious based apps. These have scripture and verses pertaining to addiction and recovery. They have church, synagogue, and mosque directories.
There are self-help sobriety apps. These have tips and tricks to help in recovery. They have links and contact information for non-twelve-step based groups and organizations.
There are about one million more sobriety apps! With so many different choices, how can we make sense of them all? Which apps are good and which apps aren’t? Let’s find out.
Some Good Sobriety Apps
12 Steps AA Companion
This app has a running sobriety calculator, the Big Book, AA intergroup directories, and meeting times. It also allows you to highlight and save passage of the Big Book for easy access.
This is my favorite sobriety app, hands down. I’ll admit, I’m a little biased though, ‘cause I downloaded it when it was free! Today, it costs between $1.99 and $2.99, depending on your phone.
AA Big Book and More
For those who don’t want to pay, there’s this app. AA Big Book and More has the Big Book, a sobriety calculator, and delivers daily motivational message.
Sponsor Support
This neat app makes sure you’re always able to reach your sponsor. You can call and email your sponsor through the app. You can journal. You can keep AA meeting info (location, time, etc.). You can even keep track of your therapists/councilors. Oh, and Sponsor Support’s free. That’s a pretty sweet deal!
Friends of Jimmy
This is an NA sobriety app, which has a sobriety calculator. It also offers A TON of slogans and motivational messages with cute graphics. Friends of Jimmy isn’t yet ready for download, though the site claims it’ll be coming out any day now.
One Day at a Time
This app offers the Big Book. It also has a sobriety calculator, but unlike other apps, let’s you compare your sober-time to friends. Think of it as a reminder to do the next right thing! One Day at a Time costs $1.99.
Lift – Daily Motivation
This app keeps you motivated. It’s easy for us addicts to start something, but finishing it? Well, that’s a bit harder. Enter your goal and when you complete it, Lift throws you a smartphone party! Lift is free.
Mindfulness Meditation
This app offers at-home (or on the go!) meditations. It allows you to pick the length of meditation and offers soothing, guided instruction. It also lets you share your personal meditations through social media. Mindfulness Meditation offers a free lite version.
iPromises Recovery Companion
This app is like a recovery calendar. It reminds you of meetings, appointments, and personal goals. It also has an out-of-town AA meeting directory. iPromises Recovery Companion is free, so get it while it’s hot!
Biblical Encouragement – Alcohol Addiction
This app has the bible. It offers recovery related passages and lets you highlight and save favorite verses. You can even share them with your friends and family through social media. Biblical Encouragement – Alcohol Addiction is .99 cents.
