Recovery Community Combats Isolation Of Social Distancing

LOS ANGELES, March 20, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — From Refuge Recovery: In the next 12 months, at least 158,000 people are expected to die in the United States, not from the coronavirus outbreak, but from the scourge of addiction. Drug overdose deaths in the U.S. have reached 70,000 per year, while another 88,000 people are dying each year from alcohol abuse. Study after study shows that isolation and loneliness are among the main causes. It is not surprising then, that connection and community have been proven by most studies to be among the most critical factors in recovery.

With the social distancing and isolation required by the onslaught of the coronavirus, addiction recovery organizations have been forced to adapt to the challenge, to try to avoid the death toll from addiction climbing much higher. Non-profit organizations such as Refuge Recovery, Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Smart Recovery, and others rapidly have moved most, if not all of their recovery meetings — the heart of the recovery process — to online platforms.

Peer-led Refuge Recovery meetings in particular, which are critical to that organization’s mindfulness meditation-based approach to recovery, are now available for free online, around the clock, at www.refugerecovery.org. In those meetings, as in all Refuge Recovery meetings, participants are offered guided meditation, a reading from the Harper Collins book, “Refuge Recovery: A Buddhist Path to Recovery from Addiction,” and perhaps most importantly, an opportunity to share their personal accounts from the front lines of the battle for recovery. 

Smaller Refuge Recovery meetings are continuing in person, in compliance with government guidelines regarding social distancing. But many are too large, so they’ve gone online.

Ironically, by forcing thousands of recovery meetings online, the coronavirus might be opening the addiction recovery process to millions of people who, for whatever reason, did not or could not attend in-person meetings.

ABOUT REFUGE RECOVERY:

Refuge Recovery, a non-profit organization, is grounded in the belief, based on over a decade of its own experience, and 2,600 years of Buddhist practice in general, that Buddhist principles and practices can create a strong foundation for the addiction recovery process, especially for addicts who have difficulty with other programs. Wisdom and compassion enable those struggling with any form of addiction to become more mindful of their mental processes, while also developing a deep understanding of the suffering that addiction has created, and compassion for their own pain. We foster free-of-charge meetings and communities that practice regular meditation, offer mentorship, and use Refuge Recovery literature to educate and provide free, Buddhist-inspired guidance for anyone seeking recovery from addiction.

The international network of hundreds of Refuge Recovery meetings is strong and growing every week. More information is available on our website at www.refugerecovery.org, and on our two main Facebook pages with the @refugerecovery handle.

Press Contact:
Joseph Souhrada, Refuge Recovery World Services
Seattle, Washington
+1 (206) 913-9625
refugerecovery-pr@refugerecovery.org 

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SOURCE Refuge Recovery