5 Online Resources for Opioid Recovery

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Opioid recovery is a full-time task for anyone looking to become sober. And yet, traditional peer meetings and regular medical visits won’t fill up your entire day. How can you build your recovery at any time of the day?

Try the many online resources for opioid recovery. They’re made for people who want to be sober but who also have questions and concerns. There are infinite options across the Internet, but here are five common ones that can help you or someone else take up recovery each day.

1. Online Meetings

Online meetings combine the traditional peer-group approach with the ease of virtual hangouts. Just like an in-person gathering, an online meeting chooses a time for its members to come together (at seven o’clock every Thursday, for instance). Different online forums offer different time slots for online addiction meetings. You can choose one based on what you suffer from and when you’re available. The convenience of an online meeting is that you have no place you have to be: just boot up a device with Internet access and visit the meeting’s URL. This will likely connect you to a large video conference, where you can see, hear, and speak to your fellow attendees.

Online meetings happen like most in-person meetings do. The host or chair of the meeting will list the meeting’s agenda, begin with a statement or prayer, and then open the floor to the audience. Members might discuss the chair’s agenda, or ask their own questions of the larger group. This format allows for honest dialogue between people suffering from opioid addiction.

One more add-on to online meetings are online chat forums, where you can type in any question you have, wait a few minutes, and receive an answer. You might hear from a recovery doctor, a support specialist, or someone pursuing their own recovery. Whoever you hear from, you’ll get a chance to digitally chat with them.

As of now, online recovery meetings aren’t very common on the the Internet. Here are two recovery sites that offer online recovery meetings and digital chat forums:

In the Rooms

Smart Recovery

2. Online Contact with Opioid Recovery Clinics and Doctors

Many opioid recovery websites have online databases of rehab clinics and doctors. You can search these databases by state, city, and even zip code. What a rehab clinic or doctor advertises will depend on the site, but it usually includes the name of the clinic/practice, its phone number, its physical address, and its website. Anyone can research the details and choose a rehab clinic or doctor based on what’s most convenient for them.

Many opioid recovery websites also list crisis hotlines. If you call a crisis hotline, a treatment advisor or peer specialist will pick up and answer any of your questions or concerns. If you’re on an opioid recovery site and don’t have the time to look through rehab clinics or doctors, the crisis hotlines are the most immediate way to get help.

Here are five recovery sites that include resource databases and crisis hotlines:

buprenorphine-doctors.com

substancerehabcenter.com

drug-rehabs.com

rehabs.com

drugabuse.com

3. Online Articles About Opioid Addiction and Treatment

Most opioid recovery websites also include articles that helpfully explain opioid addiction and treatment. They might read like textbooks or like newspapers, and they cover a wide range of topics. The article you’re reading right now is just one example of what you might find. Want to learn more about opioid rehab clinics? Medically-assisted treatment? Suboxone? Across the Internet, you have your pick of informational articles. They might explain treatments, list recovery resources, or give news updates on opioid research. You can read them any time of day or night, by yourself or with others. This online content is the most available recovery resource.

Here are four recovery sites that include helpful online articles:

buprenorphine-doctors.com

drugabuse.com

Addiction Professional

Family Recovery Solutions

4. Opioid Recovery Podcasts

Just like online articles, online recovery podcasts can help you learn about opioid addiction and recovery. But the podcast format makes it feel more like a conversation than a reading assignment: you might get to listen to an interview with a guest expert, a talk show hosted by someone who has also recovered from opioid addiction, or a bit of music which has become therapeutic for someone during their treatment. Like the articles, there’s a wide array of podcast content. What you listen to is up to you. It’s more convenient than reading, because you can listen for your own recovery while multitasking.  So give it a try while you drive, or while you do chores around the house.

Here are four recovery podcast options:

I Love Recovery Cafe

The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

That’s Good Craic

Opiate Support Group

5. Recovery Blogs

Online blogs can be a more personalized way to learn about opioid recovery. This depends on who runs the site and who writes its content. Sometimes, doctors and psychiatrists write recovery blogs for readers (these blogs are often called “Pro Corners”). Other times, those recovering from opioid addiction create blogs to reflect on their experiences, teach those fighting the same battle, or share the poetry and stories they’ve written in their sobriety. If there’s any content you’d like to find for your own recovery, there’s likely a blog that already has it.

Here are four recovery blogs you can look at:

I Love Recovery Cafe

Rehabs.com

Drugabuse.com

Recovery.org

What Are You Waiting For?

There are always resources available when you need help for your recovery (or for someone else’s). You don’t have to travel to attend an in-person meeting, and you don’t have to have a professional on speed dial. These things are great options that can help you, but they may be inconvenient in your day-to-day life.

Thankfully, the Internet offers enough community, information, and expression to help you keep going. You can choose what best suits your needs and your time. You can take hold of your recovery and learn more, connect more, do more than you might have thought possible. Begin as soon as you can, because it’s for your own sobriety.