‘It was sheer panic’: Recovering from addiction in lockdown

For some, recovery has equipped them with the skills to adapt to social distancing. Then there are those who are feeling the grip of addiction tighten more than ever before. Emily Goddard speaks to them

Recovery groups are yet another community forced to adapt to life in lockdown (Getty)

Addicts are prone to extremism,” says PJ Smith, as he reflects on the “wobble” he experienced at the start of the Covid-19 lockdown. The 39-year-old was showing coronavirus symptoms – no taste, no smell, feeling ill and achy – and had to self-isolate for 14 days.

“It was sheer panic about everything,” he explains. “Will I have a job? Am I going to die? Is my family going to die? … I went to the other end of the scale, I’m usually calm and well-balanced, but I had a couple of days of full-on anxiety.”

Smith has survived testing times before. Alcohol addiction resulted in a four-month stay at a Liverpool City Council-funded 12-step treatment centre in 2007. The intervention was the beginning of a remarkable turnaround. “That gave me the foundation of everything I’ve got now,” he says.