People are cutting the nonsense about substance abuse recovery as online communities re-shape the narrative surrounding it; is it enough to convince young people to seek out support?
The media portrayal of addiction and recovery in recent years has created a narrative that is consistent – the film and television industries have shown addiction through their own cinematic lens-warped by the need for aesthetics.
This ranges from the HBO hit Euphoria, in which the show’s glamour overshadows the main characters’ tragically unsuccessful recovery journey, to Skins – a favourite of young adults – in which all the characters have an aversion to generally looking after themselves, let alone seeking out help for their various afflictions.
All in all, the media made for today’s young adults has not been conducive with recovery; drinking your liver into oblivion is a concept shrouded in glamour, and recovery is reduced to a circle of plastic chairs arranged for dull-eyed individuals in their local town hall (because an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) group is always an easy on-screen trope).
Despite this, substance abuse and recovery appears to be getting a new treatment in the media, especially social media. On Instagram, along with other online platforms, a community has emerged, fostering and encouraging a change in attitude.
“I was definitely affected by the glamourisation of drug and alcohol use in the media” says sobriety influencer Abi Feltham.
If people like Abi are the new faces of the recovery community, then it is certainly a welcoming one; she is smiling as she tells me it is her pleasure to give me some of her insights. Myth number one is immediately dispelled: the recovery community is not one built on exclusivity and gate-keeping.
The powerful influence of film, television and other forms of media can play a huge role in either discouraging or stimulating substance disorders: “That was one of the reasons why I was doing it so much because I thought I was a rock star,” Abi reflected on her own experience of hitting rock-bottom.
“I was in my mid-20s when Amy Winehouse was at like her peak. She was in the news all the time and she was obviously in a lot of pain but seeing that from the outside it was like ‘Oh my God, it’s so cool’.”
Just like the popular fictional characters of the silver screen, the portrayal ( and mis-portrayal) of celebrities’ personal lives further stirs up this consumption culture.
Amy Winehouse, is one of an endless cast list of pop culture names that are sadly tied to drinking and drug culture. Regardless of the personal anguish that substances are causing the celebrities in their personal lives, the public sees a party and they don’t just want to watch – they want to replicate it.
The themes which Abi covers in her posts and reels vary from daily affirmations, to self-reflection, to how she managed to “completely destroy” her life before making some serious lifestyle changes. Regardless, she manages to make the whole spectrum more lighthearted, creating a sense of hopefulness, and sometimes gentle encouragement, for those in her audience.
“I knew there was kind of like an online community when it came to sobriety because I’d already started looking at other recovery accounts. I was aware there were other people out there who were processing things in the same way through memes and stuff,” she told us.
Abi, like most that have been in her position, strays pretty far from the on-screen stereotype of a former addict. Her experience also differs from the silver screen portrayal.
“I’ve used mental health services a lot but when it comes to substance abuse [services], yeah I don’t really have much experience,” she clarifies. “But lockdown was a big factor, obviously.” And with that, a second myth has been dispelled: there is no rigid set route to recovery.
On Abi’s pages, she has been transparent in the amount of recovering she had to do when she first started to explore sobriety, but she has been equally transparent in what she has achieved in terms of personal growth and turning her life around entirely.
It may come as a surprise to some that she did not need to fit into the AA attendee stereotype in order to do this – anyone can make the change, and no two routes to recovery are the same.
“I don’ t think I was aware of any services. I very much didn’t know what I was doing, all I knew was that I had a substance abuse problem and that I have to stop. I wasn’t aware of any services or anyone that I could get in touch with for help like I only just kind of discovered that sobriety was a thing, and that there were people out there who had the same sort of issues as I did,” Abi said.
Knowing that it is an extremely vague question, but confident that someone with Abi’s experiences would have an answer, I asked her if she had any misconceptions about people, in any stage of their journey to recovery, that she would like to see debunked.
“I get a lot online from trolls, pretty much their vision of someone who has a drinking problem or a substance abuse problem is like an old homeless man, or I don’t know, someone who’s destitute on the street,” she replied.
“So when they come across my videos, some very narrow-minded people are like, ‘What have you got to be upset about? Like, you’re just confusing going out partying with being an alcoholic and stuff like that. It makes me think okay, well cool, you’ve never met me’.”
This misconception is the same that holds back young adults from recognising their affliction, instills a sense of shame into those who are able to, and traps many in a cycle of isolation and self-destruction.
Social media users who are able to shape their struggles into relatable content encourages acceptance, appeals a younger crowd who have previously been excluded from having a support system, and can even go as far as making self-care and self-acceptance ‘cool’. No, you don’t need to spend tomorrow morning hungover to impress your friends.
When it comes to de-stigmatising the substance abuse disorders, there is certainly work remaining to be done, but Abi, along with the community she exists within are making the first steps to get us there – not only for those who are long recovered, but for young adults who may not realise an alternative exists and everyone in-between. Sobriety has made it to the mainstream.
Featured image courtesy of Abi Feltham.