Lotta Dann doesn't mind people lurking around her "gang." The author, blogger and Living Sober website manager describes her former self as the kind of person who would never leave a restaurant with wine still in the glass. Sharing her story of recovery in Nelson on Friday at a conference about addiction, she said through blogging she found her "gang". Dann started an anonymous blog about her quest to be sober, and found it to be "hugely freeing, a really powerful process." Not drinking made her "better, calmer and happier," she told the audience. At age 15 Dann said she was drinking DB; by 39 she'd graduated to martinis. Through those 24 years, she was getting drunk frequently, becoming "a steady, heavy, regular alcohol user." In a happy marriage with TVNZ political editor Corin Dann, she says everything "looked fine" in her life. No one ever said they were concerned about her drinking. "I was hardwired to believe that alcohol was just a normal, everyday part of life and it was the best or only way to have fun." In reality she was "heavily addicted...feeling stuck, miserable and alone. It was hell."
Sunday marked four years of sobriety for Dann, and she says she has the internet to thank for that. After launching her site, she soon connected with other bloggers who were also recovering from addiction, and a strong support network soon wrapped around her. "The addict in me found her whanau. This is my gang." Online, she could anonymously get her secrets out, support others and feel supported. She found people who knew what it was like being "the sober elephant in the room" at family gatherings, and would be online in the bathroom at parties checking in with her gang.
She went public last year, launching a book on her journey, and soon after, the website Living Sober, which last week reached over one million hits. She was happy to have "lurkers" on her blog and the Living Sober website. "Lurking is when you visit sites related to alcohol and recovery, you visit blogs and forums but you don't show yourself, interact or leave comments, but you gain a huge amount from lurking." Dann said she often received emails where people told her they had "lurked" on her blog. "I know that lurkers can get sober, they can lurk on the blog and know they are not alone." Dann told the audience she worked for an imaginary person she has in her mind, who she wanted to encourage to overcome their addiction because it was worth it, and encourage that person to get the free support online. "It's a no brainer, more people should be in there."
The Cutting Edge conference Dann spoke at is in its 20th year. It attracted addiction and community service workers and researchers from across New Zealand, who heard from a range of speakers on addiction, with the theme being importance of whanau in treating addiction. Henare O'Keefe, a Hastings councillor and multi-award winning community spokesperson and advocate for Flaxmere, in the Hawkes Bay, also spoke last Thursday. He told the crowd about the importance of family and maternal and paternal instincts in healing people, and said the need to look beyond a person's addiction was crucial, as was acknowledging "there's no such thing as a bad baby, they are not born bad."
Culled from Stuff Online
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