Addiction can come in many forms and it can often differ in degrees of severity, but in today’s society, alcohol and drug abuse particularly, are seen to some level everywhere.

New Opportunities Clinical Director Marie Sharon says getting into addictive behavior can be triggered by a number of events and there are many things that can stand in the way of individuals having a long-term recovery.

Sharon says alcohol is too often a focus of events in rural communities.

“Even in rural communities in general, there is usually a small number of individuals as far as an AA or a 12-step meeting.  There’s a small number of those meetings that are available.  Transportation is usually an issue for that.  A lot of the smaller communities, a lot of the activities revolve around alcohol consumption.  Be that weddings, softball, fairs, etc.”

Another difficulty in beating addiction is maintaining the commitment to staying sober.  Some people will get through their struggles faster than others, and Sharon says there is no benchmark time frame that guarantees greater success.

“It really is just case by case, person by person–depending on their support network, depending on how much effort they’re putting into it.  There isn’t really a benchmark unfortunately.”

Sharon says New Opportunities is available to anybody in Guthrie County who would like to seek out help for themselves or for a loved one.  New Opportunities will have events throughout the month of September to celebrate National Recovery Month.