Addicts live in a world full of self-hatred and shame, and a multitude of these individuals do not want anyone to know the truth about their pain. Our textbook states that “ninety-five percent of untreated alcoholics die of alcoholism an average of 26 years early even if their death certificate might read they died of heart disease, cancer, or something else to protect the family, but the real reason they died is due to addiction” (Perkinson, 2012, p. 2). An individual’s repeated drug use causes long-lasting changes in their brain which causes long-lasting changes in their brain which causes the addict to lose voluntary control. The individual’s addiction is their only way of feeling normal which makes them feel hopeless, powerless, helpless,…
Dania Reynolds, “Former Addict Speaks Out About His Past Experiences”, www.covecenterforrecovery.com website, Original author, published by Cove Center For Recovery at 10:06 AM , accessed on October 10th,…
I learned that many people with addictions tended to relapse at different points in their sobriety. Some people admitted to relapsing multiple times throughout their journey to recovery. They have relapsed for months to years. People…
Megan was 23 years old when she first transitioned from pain pills to heroin. She quickly became addicted and eventually lost everything due to her addiction. When she finally hit rock bottom and decided to seek treatment, she was not sure she would be able to recover. Megan entered a rehabilitation center and began the process of detoxification. Once she had detoxed, she was placed on a drug called methadone to control her cravings. After a couple months of being off heroin, she started attending a 12-step program that offered the support she needed to stay off the drug. Today, Megan is 5 years clean and attending college to become a drug and alcohol counselor. Even though heroin addiction is hard to recover from, with detoxification, methadone treatment, and a 12-step program recovery from heroin addiction is possible.…
Intervention intrigued and hooked me because I have witnessed people I was close to suffer through a battle with addiction. I feel an emotional connection with some of the people’s stories that were documented. I looked forward to seeing the new stories aired every week and anticipating the outcome of each, because as I discussed earlier, not all of the stories ended happily.…
As I watched the closest person in my life go from bad to progressively worse, I went through cycles of hope and despair. Today Iunderstand what my wife must have gone through with me during the years of my addiction, when I made many promises to her that never came true until I came to SA. I suffered a similar pain as I watched her dying.…
Before I attended the NA meeting, I had felt more than a little apprehensive; I really wasn’t quite sure what to expect from the meeting and that made me very nervous. I have talked to and listened to addicts and recovering addicts many times before, my brother is a recovering addict and a few friends are also, but that did not prepare me for the sadness, grief, and happiness I saw in this meeting.…
During and after my addiction to prescription pain killers I have experienced many things, good and bad. I’ve experienced my personal rock bottom and also some of the best moments of my life. My experiences before and after quitting prescription pain killers have shaped my life, and myself into what it is and what I am today. I would like to compare and contrast my experiences before and after getting sober.…
Hello everyone, I went to my first NA/ AA meeting tonight and could not wait to discuss the outcome. The main thing I found interesting is many people was in recovery for years. At least 10 people was clean over 5 years, but continue to attend meetings as part of their recovery process or to maintain clean. Also, many people became addicted to drugs due pain management. Speaking about knee pain, back pain, several people was in car accidents or hurt at work. Regular pain medication was not working and they wanted something stronger that turns into an addiction. Or they did not want to feel severe pain and kept taking pain medicine to prevent being in pain. Then emotional pain was also a discussion, causing people to abuse alcohol and drugs…
Going to this meeting I learned that alcoholism cannot be cured but instead, when sobriety is achieved, the alcoholic is still an alcoholic (he will always be one), yet now a recovering alcoholic. During the meeting it was also mentioned that alcoholism is often called a “disease” that is somehow a “family problem” rather than an individual problem. A few people shared their experiences and constant battle with their addiction to alcohol, they taught me that it is possible to overcome anything and everything that we want by believing in a God or a higher power and surrendering to it. Being self-centered, angry, depressed, among others, are some of the characteristics of the personality of an alcoholic, and surprisingly enough they change during recovery. I learned that recovering from addictions is highly important because it affects everyone around you (directly or indirectly).…
The purpose of this paper is to not only describe my experience at this meeting, but to also see into the life of a person trying to overcome their demons. We all have obstacles we are trying to surpass, but these people have a stronger hold to their demons because they bring them pleasure. These types of addictions is not an easy thing to overcome. The fact that they are so determined to change their lives, that they are willing to meet with complete strangers and tell them their deepest darkest secrets is admirable. One main theme was the tie to recovering from ones addiction and the help of a higher being. Religion has always been the centerpiece when it comes to hardships in life, but when it…
The novels, Tweak by Nic Sheff and Beautiful Boy by David Sheff have shed an enormous amount of light on a topic that most of the population tries to avoid and pretend doesn’t exist: drug addiction. These novels are both compelling and haunting. They leave the reader anxiously turning each page, unable to read quick enough. Both sides of a drug addiction story, the addicts and the families of addicts, are told with deep sincerity and powerful insight. Because of these novels countless of people have a changed perspective towards addiction, sobriety, and strength. Addicts are not solely comprised of their addiction and addiction does not equal strength. People should not be ashamed to talk about their life story, Nic Sheff explained that “[He’s] come to discover that holding on to secrets about who [he is] and where [he came] from is toxic. [His] secrets will kill [him]” (Sheff, N., 2009, p.322). These novels have challenged society’s “hush, hush” mentality about addiction, and have brought an intimate insight into how addicts and families of addicts think and feel. This information will greatly change addiction treatment, therapy, and the Social Work profession.…
In Massachusetts, the death toll per year on average over the last ten years has stayed in the high fourteen thousands. Doctors have been prescribing opiates unnecessarily, patients are becoming over dependant, crossing over to more dangerous drugs, death tolls are high, and there has always been attempts on to correcting the problem, but what are the resources available, and why is the death toll still so high? Many families lose loved ones regularly due to drug dependency. The hope of this paper is to paint a picture of what it is like to go through the recovery system. Hopefully, the takeaway from this paper is that there is a chance to get better, but we need to be able to completely get rid of the problem without actively helping those…
Drug abuse is a serious issue that affects many addicts. There are many resources to treatment available, but addicts must want to completely recover from drug abuse in order for treatment to be successful. However, recovery does not always go smoothly. There may be challenges along the way. But some people may need to go through treatment more than once in order to have long-term effects.…
On November 9, 2010, my best friend was pronounced dead due to asphyxiation caused by a drug overdose. Desmond Miller Harris was one of the thousands of people in the United States who died in the year 2010 from a drug overdose. Depending on the person and the situation, losing a loved one to drugs can impact people in several different ways and on multiple different levels. Some people move on quickly and are not affected in any way while others are stuck in a deep depression. This depression can cause some people to spiral out of control and lose who they once were. Others assess the situation and improve themselves as individuals. Watching my friend deteriorate while feeling hopeless to help him is something I will not likely ever forget. This traumatic happening is beneficial to me due to its effects on my life, which made me realize the impact that drugs have on us, who my true friends are, and what I want to do with my future.…