RECOVERY
INSTA INSPIRATION
Mark Reid meets two young people
whose posts on Instagram help keep
them and thousands of others sober
I
nner strength is needed for
young adults to move into
recovery. Your friends might
still be drinking and using and
you can still see the fun side
of it socially. Instagram recovery
is where people tend to choose to
stop, rather than having to.
Young people coming into
recovery now are also part of the
millennial generation building their
connections with others online. It is
of course not surprising that Millie
who founded sobergirlsociety and
Scott who started proudandsober
met on Instagram. The old ways
of meeting for the first time
are dying out. If you can link up
without going to the pub or a
party it begs the question – what
is the drink for anyway?
16 • DRINK AND DRUGS NEWS • APRIL 2020
Millie and Scott, founders
of sobergirlsociety and
proudandsober met on Instagram:
‘The old ways of meeting for the
first time are dying out. If you can
link up without going to the pub or
a party it begs the question – what
is the drink for anyway?’
Choosing wellness combines
with meeting people online as a
cultural shift – sober and sober
curious are new norms. It is more
peer example than peer pressure.
When recovery comes at a younger
age, it is a lifestyle refresh rather
than the complete reset suggested
by traditional approaches. It’s
far better that a train changes
direction at the points without
losing momentum than coming off
the tracks altogether.
Instagram recovery means
people share with others of a
similar age who they can most
easily identify with. At face-to-face
recovery meetings people under
30 tend to be hugely outnumbered
by older attendees. In recovery it’s
time to stop being your own worst
enemy and beating yourself up.
As Millie says, ‘It wasn’t so much
other people; the person who was
pressuring me most was me’. Her
toolkit includes a playlist, candles
and chocolates.
The Instagram recovery
message is keep doing what you
were doing – except drinking and
using. Don’t stop socialising, just
instead of bringing a bottle, bring
other entertainment like a quiz.
If someone you know in recovery
needs support with their self-
esteem and yours is okay at that
point, go to an event with them.
Millie took Scott out clubbing sober
for the first time. Before that, his
social anxiety had constrained
him. And of course recovery should
not feel like a constraint as it is
intended to be a liberation.
Another essential in the
recovery toolbox is a delicious
soft drink. Unlike the sugary
options of old, there are now
intriguing citrus and herbal non-
alcoholic ‘spirits’ distilled to taste
satisfying. Marketed as ‘what to
drink when you’re not drinking’,
drinks columnists say they are
‘a genuinely tasty, grown-up
alternative to alcohol’.
Scott’s proudandsober page
promotes not drinking in the
LGBTQI+ community, which faces
many unique challenges. Alcohol
and other drug use rates can be up
to twice as high among this group,
while levels of anxiety, depression
and suicidal ideation are also
‘The alternative
offered by
Instagram recovery
is based on an
awareness of the
non-alcoholic
self, emphasising
continuity of
talents and
interests.’
higher. There are many factors –
self-identifying can be distressing
as can passing as heterosexual,
internalised homophobia can lead
to self-loathing, and there can be
trauma from childhood bullying. It’s
crucial that addiction and health
care services include multilayered
cultural competency training across
the entire LGBTQI+ range – it’s
important to ‘unpack the acronym’
as Amy Sutherland, the health and
wellbeing writer so neatly puts it.
As spaces safe from social and
psychological minority stress,
bars and clubs offer acceptance
and relaxation but this can feed
back into the cycle of dependence.
Non-alcoholic social bonds like
Scott’s proudandsober are all the
more important and he recently re-
launched his page (formerly known
as the boy who drank too much) to
reach out to others who need help.
Traditional 12-step recovery is
predicated on being aware of the
alcoholic self to redress having
‘failed at life’. The alternative offered
by Instagram recovery is based on an
awareness of the non-alcoholic self,
emphasising continuity of talents
and interests. Many Instagram posts
are simply requests for ‘a sober
friend’. This is not the realm of the
park bench skid row alcoholic. With
its keynote of hope, it is an upbeat
and welcome addition to the wider
recovery community.
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