How I Ended Up an Addict
Like most people, I messed around in high school and experimented with smoking pot and drinking alcohol at parties. Things really started to get more intense in college because at that point, I would basically just party every day.
I thought it was no big deal at the time. I also experimented with pain pills, LSD, ecstasy, and cocaine. But all this was sporadic, mixed in with drinking and I didn’t consider it was really a habit. However, once I finished college, I just kept living the way I had, with the same job I’d had in college and the same routine of partying every night.
I graduated when I was 24 or 25 but I maintained the same college-lifestyle for a good two years after. I found myself seeking out drugs I occasionally used during my party years and utilized those more and more. I did this to escape reality. I was never able to make the transition into a profession that allowed me to utilize my college degree, and because most jobs required drug screens, I obviously couldn’t pass. I was never able to move forward and let go of the lifestyle because the drugs had become a way for me to cope. Yet I had a life I wasn’t happy with.
This all came to a head when I checked myself into rehab on my 27th birthday. I realized I needed to do something to change the way I was living. I remember being able to come off all the drugs I was on and after a week I was released. The treatment facility didn’t feel long-term treatment was necessary, considering it was my first time seeking help. I was given the Vivitrol shot and advised to go to 90 meetings in 90 days. After about a month I decided to drink again. I had been given a week-long sober start and medications developed for me to remain abstinent from drugs, but I never figured out what I was running into in life that caused me to want to turn to drugs and alcohol.
The next two years of my life were spent pretending things where ok and trying to convince those close to me that I was doing better and was no longer affected by addiction. I blamed my ability to get a job on a tough job market and my lack of experience. All the while I was continuing to use and hide it from those closest to me.
This whole facade was shattered when I got a DUI and totaled my parents’ car. I lost my license and had to live with my parents again. I was 28 years old and going nowhere fast.
I turned 29 in June and spent that summer working at a deli and Office Depot. I remember at Office Depot I would get a taxi to work because my license was suspended. I would buy four shots and a Red Bull then go into work. I would go in the bathroom, drink the four shots and chase these with the Red Bull and then start texting my dealer to see if he had pills that I could get from him later. This is how my day would start every morning for four months before I eventually quit.
“When I looked up, I saw myself in the mirror and it freaked me out when I realized where I had gotten to in life…”
Finally, I thought I had figured it all out when I got a job that paid 10 dollars an hour working as a pool boy. I specifically remember snorting a bag of heroin off the bathroom sink at my friend’s house. When I looked up, I saw myself in the mirror and it freaked me out when I realized where I had gotten to in life. There I was with a bachelor’s degree from a prestigious university snorting heroin and working as a pool boy. Half my bills were auto drafted out of my parents account without their knowledge and the other half they willingly paid for.
All this finally caught up with me when I went on a trip to visit a family member and ended up stealing some of their medication to get high. My family became very involved and luckily for me, they found out about Narconon Louisiana. One of my college friends had gone to treatment there and since he was doing well in life, my family worked with the Intake staff to get me into treatment straight away.
There I finally found a program which helped me sort out why I used drugs in the first place and what I was running away from. Most importantly it helped me to handle those barriers once and for all. I have been sober now for four years and began working in the treatment field to help other people discover and handle their issues. Along with my new career path, I fully support myself and pay my own bills now in full. My life is rewarding, and I am able to achieve the goals I set!
—ML Narconon Graduate
