Poll for UK Gamers-- OLGA Chapter?

Hi Raven,

I'm all up for UK face-to-face meetings but it would need to be nearer to home. I attend face-to-face meetings for another fellowship in order to fill that need. Actually I have addictions in that area and was going to those meetings before I had a problem with gaming.

I would certainly support a meeting if it was close enough. I have found that you'd probably need 7-10 people in attendance for the meeting to be fully self supporting.

I live in Dorset

An empty room is almost enevidable, esp at the start.

Sorry.

Hi Raven,

I live in the Midlands and am an hour and a half away from Manchester by transport so am interested in a group meet up as a gamer who has lapsed this week and is feeling the effects of that. I have no experience of the 12 step programme or addiction programmes other than having read messages on this forum but I think it will be easier talking to others who understand gaming habits face to face than writing on this forum as much as I am thankful for the existence of the forum and hard work of those who maintain it I am self-conscious when it comes to sharing things on the internet.

I can imagine John Of The Roses is right about the difficulty of starting up the face to face meetings - the empty rooms to begin with. So I'd like to suggest ourselves and anybody else meeting up in a central manchester public venue like a pub or coffee house. I'd like to talk about why I go back to gaming, all the negative effects for me of gaming and how I plan to to keep to living life and fulfilling my responsibilities rather than risking messing that up as I do anytime I pick up a joypad. Likewise I'd like to listen to the experiences of others and I have read your account of yourself, your partner and relative, the eating less and hardly sleeping sticking out as things I related to and the time lost.

I can meet next week if you like, you can message me to arrange times and somewhere in Manchester City Centre. Is there an afternoon or evening you're not working?

Best wishes.

Hey all,

There is no rule that says you have to meet every single week, or in a designated space, or even invoke the serenity prayer and shake the secret handshake when you do meet.

At first, just get together over coffee or cocoa, and talk.

Then worry about all the rest.

Good luck to you all.

X.

For what it's worth, here is my experience: Starting a face to face group meant that I had to commit to sitting in a room by myself for as long as it took for others to show up. You are right, sitting in a room alone isn't fun, but then again, that's what books and ipods are for, right? Or homework or extra work from the job, or whatever else. AND, it meant getting away from the computer for at least an hour. It was a good way to fill a little bit of that vast amount of extra time I suddenly had on my hands after I stopped gaming.

I had no committment from anyone, no poll, no other DC gamer who "signed up" or agreed to meet me when I started the DC group. But I did have an abiding faith that I was doing the right thing, and that if I built it, they would come. I did what I could get to the word out here, on Meetup.com, by posting flyers at other 12 step meetings and getting word out to the DC recovery community as best I could. Yes, I sat by myself many times, hoping that others would show up. What was hardest was having folks show once and then not show up again, so that after a week or two of having one or two others at the meeting, I was back in the room by myself again, again hoping that others would come. But you know what? They did come. Some repeat customers, others not. But they've kept coming. New people show up all the time, more and more. We've had a lot of people walk through the doors.

The DC group is going strong now, I am happy to report. We are still a small group, but we've been meeting for more than a year, every Sunday. People know from the posts and our consistency that we are there for them. If I am in town, I am at that meeting. Period. Personally, I think that consistency is the key to having a stable group that is capable of growing. If you only meet when everyone agrees to meet, how do you ever grow? And it's the newcomer who walks in the door for the first time and finds a friendly, understanding face to greet her that is so essential to the health of the group. Very few of our members called or emailed ahead of time. Most people just read about the meetings and show up. There is nothing worse than having a new person who really wants to meet show up for a meeting, and no one is there. It's like this website--Imagine if the folks who maintained and paid for this site suddenly closed up shop. No more olganon.org. Where would you go? But thankfully, this website is here - 24/7 - and you can come here, knowing that there is support. We view our face to face meetings like that. It's that important to us.

That is what it took to get the DC face to face meeting off the ground. But it's nothing compared to the benefits I've recieved from it, and the joy of being a part of others' recovery. It doesn't get any better than that!

Not everyone wants or needs a face to face meeting. And not everyone who started a face to face group did it the same way. But I would be happy to help in any way I can, if you like. Our group has worked on hard on meeting materials. They are not the same as those that are posted here, so you can have an alternate approach to consider. You can even attend one of our meetings via phone to get a flavor of how we hold our meetings in the DC group - we'll call you and you can listen in and even participate. Maybe you'll get some ideas that will help you figure out what you want to do in your own meetings.

Send me a PM if you want more information. Either way, and no matter how you do it, good luck!!

more groups!

yea!:)

good luck to you guys

i am in NYC and don't know when i will be in the UK next..... but maybe I can join by live feed to your meeting when it happens?

Hirshthg - isn't there a face to face meeting in NYC?

i would certainly be interested in a meeting in the south-east area (i live in london).

even in my extended families, there are like 5-6 kids who will one day need olga rehab :D