The Importance of Environment

I am blessed today that I have been given an apartment under the ‘Housing First’ scheme jointly run by the Galway City Council, Galway Simon, Cope Galway and the HSE. The scheme works on a model of housing someone and then work on their life challenges rather than the archaic system of fixing a persons’ challenges and then housing them. Today I’m very grateful for the position I’m in. I did a meeting online yesterday and I could see the background of one of the attendees. I could tell straight away he was in Abbey House, one of the better homeless shelters I have once spent time in. Most homeless shelters in Galway you are welcomed by a gated door, to ensure the safety of who comes and goes. It brought me back to my times trying to get sober whilst in homeless accommodation. It can be very hard, generally there will always be at least one person in the midst of addiction whilst you are trying to stay sober. Thankfully today I can get to a point of recovery, detox and sobriety faster than I could in homeless accommodation. I don’t have a bad word to say about Abbey House or the Fairgreen Hostel. They do their utmost to help, especially if you’re trying to get sober. They are trained professionals with empathy for those struggling with addiction. Living in a tent is no place to even attempt to detox, a lot of the hostels nowadays offer respite rooms and the opportunity to stay until you’re in a position of sobriety. As I’ve mentioned I’m one of the lucky ones, I have also been given opportunities to detox thanks to my psychiatric team. The Adult Acute Mental Health Unit is another place I highly regard as a good environment to get sober if you suffer from mental health challenges, they have always been very good to me. Some of us are lucky enough to have friends and colleagues who may be more than willing to help, again this can only promote a healthier environment to get sober. It can be the simple things too. My ideal environment and one I can suggest for detox would be thinking of the opposite of HALT (Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired). If you’re lucky enough to have a fridge make sure it’s stocked up, try and practice gratitude to make you happier, connect with friends or family (if you’re not in a position to do this connect with others’ in recovery through online or in person meetings. Finally rest, get as much Librium and sleep into you as possible. Your body probably needs it and probably deserves it. I was once told relapse is like getting into the ring with Mike Tyson time and time again and getting knocked out time and time again.

The recovery environment is important too, they say in AA ‘People, Places and Things’. At present I am only talking to my family and myself. I’m avoiding people I used to drink or gamble with, I feel selfish at times for this but I now must protect my early sobriety. I do my best to avoid the city centre, I was a street drinker and Eyre Square was my playground. Things I’m avoiding include getting worked up. For example my social welfare application was lost so I had to visit INTREO again to reapply. This at first annoyed me, but I let it slide. I need to avoid traits like perfectionism for now. It is quite simply a luxury I cannot afford. It will drive me back drinking if I don’t lay back a bit. My positive environments today include Dangan (A beautiful landscaped area in Galway, it’s scenic and serene, the river flows by its side. I cannot wait to visit it tomorrow.) Meetings are my latest achievement, this is probably the best environment an addict can hope to be part of. Lastly, I’m finally communicating with my family again, I no longer feel ashamed of my disease and have come to terms with a lot of the things I have done in addiction. As they say in AA and Residential Treatment Centres across Ireland ‘I am not my addiction’.