Q: Recovery in isolation - what to do?
A: Sorry Rebecca, wrong answer.
The answer is: you adjust your program and keep working it. There are many resources online and plenty of things you can practice at home, several of which I have listed on my Home Page. This virus is selfish and relentless; it’s singular purpose to seek out more bodies to infect, break down and, ultimately, ruin. To anyone who has battled addiction, this should sound awfully familiar. So get informed, stay connected and get busy.
1. Reach out - just don’t touch anyone. A huge component of recovery is communicating with others. There are aa meetings online via Zoom and Google Hangouts; Sober Cast has an archive of audio recordings of aa meetings, some of which are very funny, touching and inspirational; call others you have met through working your program or who represent a healthy relationship – they too may need a connection right now.
2. Avoid Anxiety. Seems counter-intuitive all things considered, but try flipping the coin over and look at the situation from a different perspective: this is a good time to reflect; take care of nagging issues you’ve long avoided; practice gratitude; plan and rigorously undertake a daily regimen of Exercise, Healthy Diet and Regulated Sleep. There are also a number of supplements that can greatly assist with mood and sleep; I recommend Inositol (anxiety) and EM Powerplus (anxiety/depression and sleep) which can be purchased online or at most health food outlets.
3. Get busy - real busy. Again, seems an impossible task these days, to which I say… Nonsense. Sit down and start making a list of everything you’ve put off for when you “had more time”. Here, I’ll get you started: do your taxes, wipe down the top of your kitchen cabinets, organize your desk drawers, catalogue family pictures, make playlists/sort cd’s, clean out your storage locker, sanitize the grow op that was once your car’s interior, garden, get that Frisbee out of the tree, walk your dog, bathe your dog. And if you want to liven things up a bit – try bathing your cat.