Drug Addiction Stories

Hi,

This post is for anybody who is not caring about his or her family. I am now on the last part of a life changing program called Narconon and this program made me realize how important a family is in one’s life and in their level of happiness. I am now 20 years old, and for about 10 years I neglected my family by doing what I wanted and by not caring about what they said, even if their words were for my best interest. I found myself unhappy and unwanted. I started drinking and using cocaine. When my addiction grew bigger, so did my problems with my family. I would scream at my mom and fight with my dad every time they would get on my nerves trying to reinforce a positive mentality in my sick brain. They were only trying to help me live an honest and happy life, but I only saw that they were trying to hold me back and make me miserable. Now I realized all my errors and I am happy and drug-free thanks to them and their huge support and love they always had for me.  Even when my family was really mad and frustrated with me, they always had me in their hearts and I’m sure that your family has you in theirs to. Thank you for your time and I hope that I would have been of some positive help to you so as not to go down the path of sorrow and unhappiness that I did.

I remember my sister’s spiral into oxycontin drug addiction like it was yesterday, although it has been more than two years since the day our worlds turned upside down.  Following a car accident in May 2007, she was prescribed oxycontin as a way to reduce her chronic back pain.  Having never really indulged in anything other than smoking cigarettes, we did not really think anything of it except relief that she had a pain reliever to help her get through the after effects of the car accident.

Then one Sunday afternoon, my brother-in-law called and asked if I could come over immediately.  My sister was not acting like herself and he was concerned because their two sons were witnessing behavior from their mother they had never seen before.

I drove over and found my sister to be slamming doors and screaming things at her children I had never heard her utter before.  Concerned, I took her into the bedroom and tried to talk to her.  She kept going on about being unappreciated. This was not the sister I had known all of our 30 plus years together.  As she walked around, I noticed her pill bottle turned over with the cap off.  It was empty which was a surprise because she should have just barely been halfway through it.

That was the day our family discovered my sister was addicted to oxycontin. After she settled down for a nap, I went home and did some research.  The following morning I called a successful drug addiction rehab and they advised me on how to do a family intervention.  I got together with my sister’s husband, my two brothers and their wives and my sister’s sons and together we did just that.

It has been two years since my sister went into drug rehab treatment program and today I have my sister back and more importantly, her sons have their mother back.  The drug rehab center helped us help her when we were in uncharted territory having never had a family member with a drug problem.

It was a scary time for our family and I do not think we could have gotten through without the help of a caring and professional drug rehab center and their wonderful counselors.  They educated us and helped my sister face her addiction.  They introduced her to others who had walked the same path she had and showed her that there was no shame in what had occurred.  They gave us back the lovely woman we love so much.

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.