The first anniversary of the only-female drug recovery group Amazing Group was celebrated at Imphal Public Library, Uripok Sorbon Thingel on the theme ‘Freedom from Active Addiction’ on Monday.
The Amazing Group is an exclusively female recovery group under Narcotics Anonymous (NA) banner which is an organisation that helps active drug users recover from drug addiction.
Speaking on the occasion, a recovering addict and member of Amazing Group, Celestie, highlighted that the group was established a few years but was defunct because no female addict during that time came out openly to join the group.
“The group was in stalemate for a long time but it was started again with renewed purpose and objective under NA to exhort women addicts in Manipur to come out and embark on the road to recovery,” she said.
The Amazing Group currently has five active members, she added.
She specifically mentioned that the sharing and caring programme under NA had been able to successfully aid recovering addicts maintain stability in their recovery process.
“Under the programme, recovering addicts share stories about their recovery and share their experiences with other recovering addicts; the programme tries to create a stigma-free environment where recovering addicts can receive the support they need and eventually return to mainstream life,” she said.
She stated that stigmatization in society is one of the primary factors which impacted the recovery journey but exhorted the addicts to overcome all the noise and channelise all their focus on the recovery process.
The stigma will be there but if you are serious about recovery such stigmas should not be an obstacle and hindrance to your confidence; if you need help come join NA and embark on the journey to recovery, she said.
She extended gratitude to everyone for making the anniversary celebration a grand success and hoped that more women will come out openly and join the recovery movement.
