You may be a reader who has discovered your own tendency toward dependency on substances that cause persistent disruption of relationships, work, education and support systems. Wherever you fall on the continuum, I encourage you to read on and discover the opportunity for recovery and celebrating your life!
Speaking of celebration, we are just weeks away from our Pride Festival and Parade! San Diego Pride is the largest civic event for the city of San Diego. Our first Pride event in 1974 started out as a yard sale and a potluck dinner with an informal parade to Balboa Park! The Pride festivities of 2015 offer a wonderful way to celebrate ourselves this summer as we join hundreds of thousands of other LGBT individuals, each uniquely different and sharing the same excitement of our community! For so many members of the LGBT community, the festivities represent an enormous challenge to stay sober and avoid the triggering situations related to early recovery from addictive use of substances.
We are a proud community, and this is our opportunity to cheer each other on and have a fun-filled weekend expressly set aside for us! From a quiet communal Pride Day breakfast with friends to the adrenaline-fueled dance party deep into the night, we as a community embrace our Pride events with enthusiasm and gratitude to the trailblazers in our society.
Sadly in the LGBT community, celebrations have gone hand in hand with an underlying assumption that good times can only be had partying the night away with no memory of what happened. When did we start believing the lie that we needed this to have fun and accept ourselves just as we are?
As we celebrate LGBT Pride Month, let’s turn our focus to establishing a community engaged in our health and welfare. The Pride Institute gives some guidelines for recognizing a substance use problem. They say that these are several symptoms of substance dependence: you have to drink more alcohol to achieve the same effects as before, you’re thinking about drinking (or using) all the time, you have problems trying to give up substance use and you experience disruptions to work, relationships and social activities because of it.
On a daily basis, the individual contemplating changing addictive patterns of substance use is faced with multiple triggering events leading to ongoing dependence on substances to manage social situations, life stress and underlying mental health issues. Researchers Prochaska and DiClement created the stages of change model in 1983. This universally-used model of how we change behaviors describes how we go from pre-contemplation to contemplation, then to preparation and action. In the pre-contemplation stage, a person is not considering change at all. The old saying that “ignorance is bliss” applies here. Pre-contemplation is the stage of not being ready to make changes in lifestyle behaviors. Once you move to contemplation, you may be ambivalent about change or “sitting on the fence.” You’re considering the changes as some that you might make at some point in your life. In the preparation stage, you’re experiencing some change and may be “testing the waters.” This is the time when you start to look at your treatment options on the Internet and when you pick up the phone and make the initial inquiry about your treatment options. Then, in the action stage, you begin practicing your new behaviors. Prochaska once said, “The only mistake you can make is to give up on yourself.” I encourage you to consider what stage you’re in. Are you reaching out for help with the patterns of living that are wreaking havoc on your life?
Many times, it just seems easier to focus on the partying than the celebration of who we are born to be. If you are struggling with addictive use of substances and identify with the resulting problems of addiction, then help is readily available to you. All of us know others who have lost their lives way too soon and still others who have lost touch with their purpose due to addiction.
The decision to seek treatment is a step of courage and determination to celebrate your true self. Foundations San Diego is part of the Hillcrest community and offers resources and treatment for the LGBT individuals who are curious about making change and regaining their authenticity.
Patricia Bathurst, MFT is the director of Foundations San Diego, an outpatient recovery facility located in Hillcrest at 3930 Fourth Ave., Suite 301, San Diego, CA 92103. Ms. Bathurst is a certified advanced addiction counselor, as well as a licensed marriage and family therapist. Questions for Pat? Contact Foundations San Diego at 619-321-1575.
