news-record.com

There’s a place in Greensboro called Fellowship Hall, where lives of people seeking recovery from alcoholism and drug addiction are being changed for the better.

Michael Whaley, director of outreach services, is responsible for referral source development and public relations and marketing activities of Fellowship Hall for North Carolina.

“Addiction is an 'equal opportunity destroyer’ ” said Whaley, who recently spoke at Greensboro’s Holy Trinity Episcopal Church. “It affects business professionals, teachers, students, doctors, nurses and manufacturing workers. It can affect anyone, just as diabetes, heart disease or any other chronic illness does.”

Fellowship Hall uses a holistic approach to treatment, Whaley said. Alcoholics or drug addicts in the depths of their addiction are, for the most part, suffering physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually, he said. Most feel “broken” and helpless.

A good treatment program will address all these areas to help a person with his recovery by using individual counseling, group counseling, family counseling, good nutrition and structured physical activity.

The most successful programs of recovery are the 12-Step Programs of Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. They are responsible for helping more alcoholics and addicts recover than all other programs combined, he said.

Because of that proven success, Whaley said, the 12-Step Program of recovery is what Fellowship Hall has been using since opening in 1971.

But like any other chronic and progressive disease, addiction often reappears.

“One of the primary symptoms of addiction is denial,” Whaley said. “People do not like to admit they have a serious problem and may see their drinking or drugging as 'somewhat abnormal or excessive at times’ but resist the label of alcoholic or addict.”

The simplest definition of addiction, Whaley said, is continued substance use despite adverse consequences. If drinking alcohol or using drugs is causing continual problems and threatening things such as a person’s marriage, family relations, job or physical health, that person is likely an addict.

True “social drinkers” can take it or leave it and would not allow it to damage these important aspects of their lives, Whaley said.

When Whaley speaks to groups, he tells them one out of 10 people who drink will become alcoholic and that scientists know there is a genetic predisposition to addiction. People inherit the genes related to addiction the same way they inherit other biological and physical characteristics.

Children of alcoholics have a significantly greater chance of becoming alcoholics than children of nonalcoholic parents, he said.

By the time a person crosses over the line into alcoholic drinking, Whaley said, he is no longer drinking for the euphoric effect that social drinkers seek but to try to “feel normal.”

The more a person drinks or uses drugs, the more her body shuts down the natural production of neurotransmitters that give her a sense of well-being. Alcoholics and addicts develop a tolerance for their substance of choice, and it takes more and more of the alcohol or drugs to achieve the same desired effect.

“There may have been a time when a couple of beers made them 'feel good,’ ” Whaley said. “Now, they are drinking a case of beer and cannot experience that feeling that two or three beers once gave them.”

Whaley said many family members of alcoholics and addicts assume unnecessary guilt.

“Many wives of alcoholics think, 'If I were a better wife or mother, he wouldn’t drink like this,’ ” Whaley said. “This is not true.

“They are not responsible for their husband’s illness. They didn’t cause it, and they can’t cure it. By participating in the family program at Fellowship Hall, they can learn how they have been affected by their husband’s illness and how they need a recovery program of their own.”

Since opening in 1971, Fellowship Hall has treated more than 22,000 people who come from all walks of life. About 50 percent of the guests at Fellowship Hall come from the Triad area. About 40 percent come from the rest of North Carolina and about 10 percent from other Southeastern states.

In 1996, an independent company studied the treatment program at Fellowship Hall. Results showed that 69 percent of the people who completed the program were sober six months after discharge.

Whaley said he has been sober since 1987. Because of his own recovery and his desire to educate the public and help others overcome the disease, he joined the staff of Fellowship Hall in 1990.

“Many people who work in the addictions treatment field are recovering alcoholics and addicts,” Whaley said. “Recovering from such a devastating illness leads many people to want to try and help others recover.”

Whaley’s wife, Joni, works for Fellowship Hall as medical records director. They live in Archdale and commute to Greensboro.

Fellowship Hall is on Hicone Road off U.S. 29. For information, visit www.fellowshiphall.com or call 621-3381 or (800) 659-3381.

To nominate a person or organization for “Making a Difference,” contact Peggy Longmire at rlongmire@triad.com or
288-9040.