As part of our substance recovery project, we recently employed a recovery worker. Some of our clients are not ready to access traditional recovery services and Pathways can now be a crucial support in harm reduction and early stages recovery. Ben is one of the people our recovery worker is supporting.
Ben is in his mid 20s who has been diagnosed with a multitude of mental health conditions. Although he grew up in a wonderful, supportive family, trauma in his early years has meant he has always struggled to regulate his emotions in a health way. He has been detained under the mental health act in the past, has been charged with several offences and has become drug and alcohol dependant.
Ben attended Pathways Rough Sleeper Breakfast when he found himself homeless after a relationship breakdown. He talked about his alcohol use and withdrawal and when our recovery worker talked to him about whether he had ever tried to access support for this he said as he’d never really thought about stopping and wasn’t sure what support was available. Ben was experiencing numbness in his legs and our recovery worker discussed speaking to his GP to find out what was causing this as it could be alcohol related. As Ben didn’t have a GP we supported him to register with one.
Our recovery worker continued to build a relationship with Ben and, when he was admitted to hospital with alcohol withdrawals and was detoxed, he contacted her to ask for help to stay off the alcohol. Ben was referred to Derbyshire Recovery Partnership and our recovery worker attended his first appointment with him. She is supporting him to access mental health support services as his mood is often extremely low with suicidal thoughts. He is on a waiting list for a supported housing provider and is currently staying with a friend rather than rough sleeping like he was. Putting in place wraparound support for Ben will give him the best chance to reduce his alcohol use as he gains more stability.
It has been very up and down for Ben. He is trying different things and is struggling to remain drink and drug free but is engaging well with support and is starting his journey into recovery.
Good luck Ben!
