Reflections on friendship, part 2: Keeping virtual and real-life sober friends
“A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.” – Walter Winchell
Friendship is one of the most important bonds and journeys throughout life. Sometimes friendships can be challenging to maintain because of physical distance and other priorities, or sometimes people are going through tough times and might think that their friends will not understand. Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter are social media sites that provide ways to find old friends, make new ones and keep up with current relationships that don’t get enough time on a regular basis.
Sobriety is a challenging milestone to attain and, along the way, many friendships are unfortunately broken. Addiction can take over people’s lives and cause them to forget about the important people. As a result, friendships are broken and become difficult to mend. Staying sober is difficult for those who are surrounded by social-drinker friends or even other addicts. Meeting friends through recovery is a great way to keep a social circle of sober friends.
Just like Facebook and Twitter, multiple online social networks exist for sober people in recovery. These sites not only support individuals in recovery but also support online friendships. Intherooms.com is a popular social networking site that allows people in recovery to connect to others without ever leaving their living room. Launched in October 2008, this site helps those in recovery obtain sober friends and find sponsors. Hazeldensocial.org and friendsofbillw.net are also recovery websites that allow online friendships between sober individuals to flourish.
Having friends who are in recovery can be challenging at first for social drinkers. Although going to a bar or sharing a drink with them might not be possible, there are plenty of fun sober activities to do with friends in recovery. The most important step to maintaining friendships with individuals in recovery is to support them through the recovery process and to keep an open and honest relationship. After all, friendship will always have trials and tribulations, and getting through these difficult times can make the friendship even stronger in the end. Maintaining friendships through recovery is possible, especially with all of these great virtual options.
Sovereign Health Group recognizes the importance of building and maintaining sober friendships in addiction recovery. If you or someone you know struggles with addiction, read more articles in this friendship series and contact 855-683-9756.
Written by Kristen Fuller, M.D., Sovereign Health Group writer