BEING stuck at home is especially hard for people who are going through recovery from any form of addiction.
Sometimes a meeting can make the difference between sobriety and relapse, but with lockdown procedures in place due to the Covid-19 outbreak, what help is there for addicts?
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Narcotics Anonymous (NA) is a non-profit fellowship of recovering addicts who meet regularly to help each other stay clean.
NA offers recovery to addicts around the world with a message that is “broad enough to attract addicts regardless of gender, race, creed or religion.”
Help for lockdown
“Narcotics Anonymous is pleased to announce it has expanded its NA online meetings programme to 10 meetings each day of the week. This helps ensure every addict, and every person who feels they may have a drug problem, can attend a daily meeting where they are unable to attend one of the 350 existing face-to-face meetings happening across South Africa,” said the organisations spokesperson this week.
“Online Narcotics Anonymous meetings were launched in 2019 with the objective of providing a NA meeting to persons, communities, and patients unable to travel to any of the existing, face-to-face meetings held across South Africa.”
According to a press release sent out on Tuesday even before the outbreak, the organisation had seen an substantial growth in its online meetings.
Online meeting growth
These digital meetings are reaching communities and individuals in South Africa’s remote regions, many of whom have not yet benefited from face-to-face NA meetings.
“The online platform additionally provides valuable information, skills transfer and hands-on experience regarding how to run a NA meeting, while functioning as a vital resource for those unable to get to meetings,” said the organisation.
It is hoped this growth will extend to extra services for addicts following the lock-down period and the Covid-19 outbreak.
“In time, and with the support of the NA Fellowship Development Subcommittee, the hope is to foster the start of face-to-face meetings in these outlying areas.”
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Inclusion
“The online platform has also provided for inclusion and participation from a number of countries across Africa. For many of these countries, Narcotics Anonymous meetings are very new, but the accessibility provided by online meetings is making an enormous difference to NA members in other African states. It has become common practice for existing face-to-face meetings in remote areas to access an online meeting, and thus benefit from seasoned NA members with decades of recovery. Globally, these online meetings are increasingly being supported by members in North America, Australia and Europe.”
“Our daily online meetings follow the same format as a face-to-face NA meeting and are for addicts as well as individuals who feel they may have a problem with drugs.”
Newcomers are made to feel welcome at our online meetings: NA is geared towards helping every person who feels they may have a drug problem and anyone who would like to seek help may join, regardless of age, race, sex, creed or religion.
12 Steps
NA’s programme is based on the 12 steps which are, simply put, a set of guiding principles through which many have found recovery.
The journey through these steps can be life changing. Our message is simple: an addict -any addict – can stop using drugs, lose the desire to use, and find a new way to live.
For more information on the times and dates of online meetings, visit https://virtual-na.org/meetings/ or call the national helpline on 0861 00 6962 for support.
Caxton Local Media Covid-19 reporting
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