Mutual aid organisations may be the closest thing we have to a free lunch in public health, but what's the reason the seats are so empty?
Category: Mutual Aid
Hooked: The Unexpected Addicts
I've been listening to a BBC podcast on my way to work this last couple of weeks which I've really enjoyed. Called Hooked, it’s about 'all things addiction and recovery' and is frank, funny, well-informed, upsetting, entertaining, resonant, authentic and powerful. Melissa and Jade share their lived experience but also interview experts and others who … Continue reading Hooked: The Unexpected Addicts
God and recovery
Churchill famously said that the US and Great Britain are two countries separated by a common language. Arguably TV and movies may have bridged the divide a bit, but nuances of language and spelling are not the only things that differentiate us; something I was aware of when reading Marc Galanter & colleagues' paper on … Continue reading God and recovery
Faith is given in sufficient quantities to communities
(This post was originally published on September 11, 2013) I recently listened to an interview with Nadia Bolz-Weber. There were a lot of keepers in the interview (even for a non-believer). She's described as a recovering drug addict. Her recovery shines through in this, "fake it till you make it" discussion: Ms. Tippett: So a sermon … Continue reading Faith is given in sufficient quantities to communities
Medical Students and AA
Part of my job is teaching medical students about addiction and recovery, something I enjoy. Like others, I encourage future doctors to attend mutual aid meetings as part of their education. A couple of studies with this theme recently caught my eye. In the first, 138 medical students attended an AA meeting and then wrote … Continue reading Medical Students and AA
Recovering community as political fiction
This was originally posted in 2011 and seems like a appropriate follow-up to yesterday's post. I suppose the notion that the the recovery community is a useful fiction can take us in multiple directions. If the recovery community is a fiction, then it's boundaries are also a fiction, not static, and can be changed (expanded) at … Continue reading Recovering community as political fiction
Family Recovery
I was reminded of how important it is to ensure the family members of patients/clients with addictions realise that they need to recover too. This blog by a doctor on the British Medical Journal's website captures the harrowing sense of loss as a partner's alcohol dependence takes hold and then the dawning of hope as … Continue reading Family Recovery
Faith is given in sufficient quantities to communities
I recently listened to an interview with Nadia Bolz-Weber. There were a lot of keepers in the interview (even for a non-believer). She's described as a recovering drug addict. Her recovery shines through in this, "fake it till you make it" discussion: Ms. Tippett: So a sermon of yours I wish I could have heard is … Continue reading Faith is given in sufficient quantities to communities
The adjacent possible and hope
I heard a radio show this morning about where ideas come from. They interviewed a guy who wrote a book and gave a TED talk on the topic. During the interview he discussed the concept of the adjacent possible and it's importance in forming new ideas. During the interview, he described it as the building … Continue reading The adjacent possible and hope
Book Review: The Recovering Body
Jennifer Matesa's The Recovering Body: Physical and Spiritual Fitness for Living Clean and Sober seeks to provide "a roadmap to creating our own unique approach to physical recovery" and frames "physical fitness as a living amends to self--a transformative gift analogous to the “spiritual fitness” practices worked on in recovery." She focuses on five areas, … Continue reading Book Review: The Recovering Body
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