For many suffering, or in recovery, from, an alcohol use disorder, however, the use of alcohol or other drugs is typically not a safe coping option. Also, the social isolation and more monotone existence has proven challenging and serious as the positive interpersonal therapeutic support that so many use successfully to cope and support their recovery through in-person mutual-help meetings, like AA and SMART Recovery, largely stopped. While many have been able to maintain recovery-specific social support via online meetings through platforms like Zoom, others without digital access or otherwise who are not “tech savvy,” have struggled, and distress and mental health symptoms have increased. 

Nevertheless, whether Zoom-savvy or not, or connected to mutual-help organizations or not, there are several survival activities that we can implement to create an adaptive structure to our daily lives and thereby help us manage feelings of loneliness and stress, shift negative thinking and renew hope each and every day, and protect against worsening symptoms and potential relapse. Together these form a Social, Activity, Nutritional, and Emotional (SANE) approach. (See Infographic A).