TO GET HELP:
To find an online recovery meeting, go to zoom.NAstuff.com,
intherooms.com or
AAonline.org.
If you are struggling and need help, the Monongalia County Quick Response offers assistance via face-to-face video chats from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monay-Friday at doxy.me/peerrecoverymonco or by phone at
304-602-3305.
In a time when a sense of community is needed most, COVID-19 has put recovering addicts back into
isolation.
“Even in a pandemic, the addiction problem doesn’t go away,” said James Berry, director of addiction services and WVU Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry. “Really, it can be more acutely felt than ever.”
As people remain in quarantine for weeks at a time they can become more anxious and stressed. Berry said this can lead those in recovery to turn back to substance abuse.
“They are triggered to use the substances that have become very dangerous for them,” he said. “Being separated from our fellow human beings is a very hard condition to be in.”
But staying home doesn’t mean you’re alone, said Dan McCawley, program manager for WV PEERS, a group of peer recovery coaches engaged in community outreach through West Virginia Sober Living.
The Monongalia County Quick Response Team, a countywide collaborative of public health officials, first responders, peer recovery coaches and others, is still available for support via phone and internet conferencing.
Anyone needing help can chat face-to-face on a confidential video site — doxy.me/peerrecoverymonco — from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday or by phone at 304-602-3305, McCawley said.
At The Center for Hope and Healing, Berry said steps have been taken to protect faculty and staff from continuing to spread the virus, while still providing the help those in recovery need.
As of March 30, by order of the Department of Health & Human Resources, all new admissions for all substance use disorder residential programs are on-hold for 14 days. It is continuing to accept new patients into its out-patient services.
Within the center’s residential services, double occupancy rooms have switched to single, and extra sanitation and social distancing measures are also being taken. He said the facility has also gone primarily virtual for out-patient services, but is continuing to offer face-to-face meetings within the residential treatment program and in-patient hospital services.
Drew O’Connell, a Morgantown resident, has been in recovery for the past two years. He said he worries most for those in the early stages of their recovery programs.
“In early recovery, they bank on seven meetings a week,” O’Connell said. “That’s what kept me clean is meeting after meeting, those hugs, those kind words, that human interaction that you need.”
O’Connell said being stuck in isolation leaves those in recovery with little to do, leading them to think a lot about their pasts. He said although it is challenging for anyone in recovery, it can be especially difficult for those in the early stages.
“It’s lonely, it’s really lonely,” O’Connell said.
O’Connell said his recovery meetings have gone virtual through Zoom, a video communications platform. He said anywhere from two to a dozen people participate in the meetings at a time.
He said in this type of situation, a 12-step plan that he and others in recovery follow is more important than ever, and is the main focus during the virtual meetings. While he said this is still helpful in many ways, it is not the same as having face-to-face interactions.
“It is not the same as getting hugs from the people you care about, the people that I have built this journey with,” O’Connell said.
To find an online recovery meeting, go to zoom.NAstuff.com or intherooms.com.
Katie McDowell contributed to this report
By Gabriella Brown
TWEET @DominionPostWV
