Was Planning on Avoiding Social Media for a Month But...
 

Found this site as I was researching outpatient substance abuse treatment centers in my area last week.

I'm new to this "party" officially as of today, but have been eavesdropping the last week.

I cancelled an RV trip to a casino/campground in upstate NY last weekend getting together with RV friends, mainly because of the exposure to alcohol with my group of RV friends.

I started an "intensive outpatient program" for substance abuse (alcohol) yesterday, supposed to last a minimum of 8 weeks with 3 sessions a week, 3 hours a session. Hoping for more than I received Monday, back there tomorrow.

I'm presently on day 12 of abstinence, and have stopped posting on Facebook and Sparkpeople till August 11th.

I also am an avid league bowler, and took myself out of the two leagues I bowl in for the first four weeks of my treatment...bowling has always been a great trigger for excessive drinking and thought it was the smart decision for now. I have been able to bowl without drinking in the past, just thought skipping a month made sense.

So here I am, hoping for all the help I can get...can anyone make time go faster? Seems like everything is happening in slow motion! Funny to hear time is crawling for the "elderly" like me!

Hello & welcome Toadie youl find tons of support here nice to meet you

Thanks soberwolf.

I'm making this website/forum an exception to my self imposed abstinence from social media for a month...no doubt it is extremely helpful!

Welcome toadie54!!

I am happy to hear you are making Sober Recovery an exception to your social media abstinence! This place is so full of support and advice; I can't imagine going sober without it :13:

Congratulations on day 12 :c011:

I hope you will put some thought into finding other sober activities to replace the ones that you are taking a break from. Sobriety is no fun just twiddling thumbs, lol!

I had a hobby that I was really able to throw myself into, plus I am an avid reader. Of course, SR is another new hobby, lots of reading and learning to find here!

:grouphug:

Welcome. Sounds like you are off to a great start. You are already doing some things that many others struggle with. Keep up the good work and focus and it will be a piece of cake!

Welcome to SR toadie :)

D

Welcome to the family. :) I'm glad you found us and joined us. :)

Thanks everyone for the welcoming words!

I just complained about the boredom, and it doesn't help that I haven't worked since the end of September.

Need to find something, maybe a career change at 60? Difficult now since I'm in an IOP program for at least two months, though they do have night sessions.

Being pretty particular in what I'm looking for in employment, luckily I do have that luxury...

Welcome to SR, toadie. Keep us updated on the IOP program progress please. I love hearing how such programs work in others lives.

During my second week of sobriety this time, I disconnected myself from Facebook and permanently deleted every post and comment and photo I'd ever put on there. I'm on day 68 now and it's still one of the smartest things I've done for myself in the last two-plus months. I don't miss it at all.

I don't think of SR as social media at all. This is a recovery group, plain and simple. In some ways, much like an AA or other group, only with even more emphasis on the "anonymous" part of the equation. I love this place and am so grateful for the fellowship I've found here.

Casey, my first day at IOP involved a session they call "skills"...this day it was music therapy...a woman asking to rate your mental status 1 to 10 or with song lyrics and then if you have a song or artist you want to hear. Thought this was a little strange but knew music therapy was a part of most IOP programs. after she played/sang the song on her guitar or played it on her IPad, she asked the requester why he/she suggested it and what it meant to him/her...thought it was an unusual therapy for sure.

The "process" session was just people expressing something, anything and then, if requested by the person, feedback from the group. There were maybe 8 people in the group and a therapist. Being my first day I was asked about my situation and why I was there. I got a little more out of this session.

Today will be my 2nd IOP session, and will post about it here later in the day.:thanks

Day 2 of my IOP for substance abuse (alcohol) was not very impressive to me.

The skills section had a yes/no questionnaire on codependency then a handout on the subject and discussion of same. From my answers I'm not codependent at all!

The process section involved mainly two people talking out their recent issues, one a recovering alcoholic and another a recovering heroin addict.

I'm hoping for more out of these sessions but not ready to give up after only two days of them.