For substance abusers, help in a virtual world
By Eric Reuters
SECOND LIFE, June 5 (Reuters) - “Hi, my name is Gracie, and I’m an alcoholic.”
It is the standard introduction for members of recovery group Alcoholics Anonymous. But at this meeting, one of several held each week in Second Life where recovering alcoholics find support and camaraderie, Gracie’s anonymity was never in doubt.
By Second Life standards, the virtual AA meetings are fairly tame events. Avatars teleport in at the appointed hour, lounge on reclining chairs in a virtual oceanside hut, and take turns telling their stories. There’s no appointed leader; the avatar who’s been around the longest usually volunteers.
“We have no opinion on whether SL or RL is better,” said Freedom Delgado, who led a recent meeting. “Some say RL is the gold standard, but I have seen SL meetings bring people back into AA.”
(Delgado, like other AA members in SL, wished to be referred to only by avatar name, consistent with the group’s policies on anonymity.)
Online AA meetings aren’t new — support groups have met on Javascript bulletin boards and Internet Relay Chat since at least 1997. And addiction experts who have been studying online support groups say the Internet can help addicts, to a point.
“Internet support groups are largely a good thing,” said Maia Szalavitz, co-author of “Recovery Options: The Complete Guide.”
Whether someone is geographically isolated from their local Alcoholic Anonymous meeting, or seeks help from another recovery group with a different philosophy but smaller network, places like Second Life can help connect people needing help with groups ready to receive them.
But Szalavitz said that while meetings in Second Life could be a great first step or help someone though a crisis, in the longer term substance abusers benefit from face-to-face real-world interaction with others. “If the Internet is a supplement to your existing support, it’s great. If it’s a replacement, it’s a problem,” she said.
The complete anonymity offered by Internet meetings can make attending the very first meeting less threatening for many. “It’s not like sneaking in the back door of your neighborhood church basement.” Delgado said.
Second Life isn’t without special challenges to emotionally vulnerable addicts just beginning recovery. “There is a lot of emotional toil in SL,” Delgado said. “Romantic stuff for one. It upsets the newly sober easily, and they might drink.”
“When I first got on SL, I did stupid stuff,” echoed Eden Knoller. “It can be so anarchic, and sex is ooozing.”
Virtual AA doesn’t have all the trappings of a real meeting. No one will smell your breath for liquor, for instance, which is something of an AA tradition. And as AA member Crighton J. points out, Second Life requires a computer and Internet connection, which can be out of reach for someone who has hit bottom.
“I had no computer when I got sober, I lost everything,” he said. “In SL, you don’t get the real low bottom people.”
Second Life meetings also tend to de-emphasize the sponsorship process, where an AA member who has been sober counsels a newer member. Neither Crighton J. or Knoller have had a virtual sponsor, although Delgado said he’s mentored three avatars. He gives his sponsees his email address for easier contact.
“I suggest, particularly to the newcomer, to get to RL AA,” Crighton J. said. But as a veteran of real world Alcoholics Anonymous, he’s found a community, friends, and support inside the virtual world.
“I was bored and wasn’t planning on sticking around,” he said. “Then I found AA and the music scene, and quickly realized that SL was much more than I thought it was.”
