I am writing to tell you that at a young age I started to use drugs and lie to my family. Doing so has caused a great rift between myself and the people I love the most. It has caused heartache and pain almost leading to the destruction of the people that are there for you no matter what is happening in you life or the struggles you face.
Drugs and lying about drugs to your family is an extremely harmful action against the ones you love.
I will no longer be part of this, I want a healthy open honest relationship with the people I care about the most.
If you are doing this now please think about the ones you are affecting and the people you are supposed to care about the most.
The thing about drug addiction is that it does not only affect the addict. Not only are the addict’s family and friends affected emotionally and spiritually, but also the chances are good that at least one other person in the family will be or become an addict. Statistically, it is almost assured that the addict’s child will be an addict or perhaps they already have a sibling or parent that is an addict. People do not normally live with only one loved one who is an addict, but two or more. This takes a great toll on the family unit and it also affects friendships to a great degree. The addict does not realize the turmoil and upset being caused because they are not seeing reality. They are seeing a drug induced version of reality that obscures the truth of what they are doing to the people who love them.
Yet, silently and without notice, the very affliction that is destroying a person’s life is going to be passed down to another family member.
While in the clutches of drug addiction, the abuser does not see what they are doing to harm themselves and the people who love them. Many cannot even admit they have a problem. Yet, silently and without notice, the very affliction that is destroying a person’s life is going to be passed down to another family member. It may not hit every generation, but families are forever affected by drug addiction. It is a family affair in the truest sense. If there is someone today with a drug addiction, chances are they had parents, grandparents or even great-grandparents who were either drug or alcohol addicts. Not only that, but the chances are good that their own children and grandchildren will be more likely to be addicts. This fact only solidifies the truism that they need to get help as quickly as possible. The person who is the addict now could very possibly be the one who saves another family member from the same fate, if they get help.
Why addiction affects some families and not others is not known. Perhaps it s a genetic condition and the gene just has not yet been identified, or personal choice due to not handling life’s problems. For whatever reason, some families are just more predisposed to become drug and alcohol addicts than others. There are preventative measures that can be taken if one’s family is predisposed to drug addiction. Those who are already addicted can get help before another life is destroyed due to drugs or alcohol. Addiction is not an individual problem. It is indeed a family affair.
It happened so slowly that things were out of control before I realized. I found myself in a new town after accepting a promotion for the company I worked for. I didn’t know anyone, and have always found it difficult to be social the way others seem to do so with ease, which is possibly one of the reasons that I was hesitant when a group from work invited me for a ‘night on the town’.
I found myself in a new town after accepting a promotion for the company I worked for. That was the beginning of this path of destruction I’ve been on.
That was the beginning of this path of destruction I’ve been on. It began with late nights at the local club scene, and in the beginning, even when I knew I should call it a night and head home for the evening, the urgings from my colleagues had me following along behind them simply because it actually felt good to be accepted.
Several months later, we attended a private party – one of those friend of a friend situations, where everything seemed like the typical party, until one of my friends grabbed my hand and led me to a room filled with people, and drugs.
My immediate response was to run, but again, having the desire to be accepted by my ‘friends’, I thought it couldn’t hurt to try it just this once. In hindsight, that was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done.
That ‘one’ time, turned into another, and another, and I found myself sneaking into the bathroom at work to get my next fix. I was convinced that I was on top of my game, even when my family started calling and asking if something was wrong, because my contact with them had become non-existent. I shrugged it off, assuring them I was busy, but that life was grand. Reality was, I was on a downward spiral, one that I couldn’t recognize through the drug induced haze that had become my life.
The turning point was several weeks ago when my supervisor, who had always been more than pleased with my job performance, said they were concerned. They’d noticed an increase of absences, a lack of productivity, and that my physical appearance was lacking. I made several feeble excuses, promised myself I’d clean up my act, but it wasn’t as simple as it sounded.
I assured myself I could quit anytime I wanted, that I didn’t have a problem, but today – my boss, who I’ve always had a great relationship with, expressed his concern. He said that my job was on the line, and he knew what kind of work I was capable of, and without wanting to step on my toes, made the suggestion that I should possibly seek rehab to get my life together. I thanked him for his concern, and assured him I was fine.
They say that admitting you have a problem is the first step, so I suppose I’ve taken the first step to recovery, but where do I go from here? I want to believe that I can do it myself, with sheer willpower, but I had fooled myself into believing that I could stop whenever I wanted, and obviously that wasn’t true.
Even now, I have the overwhelming urge to hit the streets to score my next fix, but I don’t want this life, not anymore.
My first step, call my parents and explain to them that I have a drug problem and then call my boss and get the information on the drug addiction rehab he mentioned.
It’s going to be a long, challenging road, but I can do this with the help and support of my family and friends.
