How to Protect Your Online 12 Step Meeting against Trolls, Zoom Bombers and Griefers

During this time of great upheaval due to coronavirus, our recovery community is likely to see an increase in relapse rates, mental health issues and suicides. With the inability to attend 12 Step Meetings, we still need a way to share our experience, strength and hope with each other and with new people struggling with addiction and alcoholism. It gives us purpose and is a cornerstone of our recovery program.

I know a lot of people, not just people in recovery, are afraid and feeling isolated right now. I feel very fortunate to have an active recovery community in my life that knows how to support each other. This translated online through Zoom very quickly. Our Zoom meetings are growing daily all over the world. People show up in the Zoom rooms before and stay after to connect with each other… just like we do in the physical world. And most importantly, many new people struggling with addiction in their isolation or those who are in very early sobriety are showing up to the online meetings.

A consistent topic heard in our online meetings is that if we were still drinking and using drugs this would be the perfect environment to self-destruct — fear of the unknown, lack of support, isolation, financial insecurity. This is why these newly created Zoom meetings are a lifeline…