Struggling to Cope
Dealing with the divorce of his parents and struggling with being the only boy out of five sisters, Sam began using drugs and alcohol in his early teens. “I really leaned heavily on this new world that I had discovered in drugs.”
Sam started socially drinking and smoking marijuana frequently. “It was a lot of fun at the time and it seemed so innocent.” He suffered from no serious consequences and “progressively started doing other drugs, from hallucinogens to prescription drugs to the party scene. And I started taking ecstasy and all that…I never thought I was doing anything wrong.”
As a skateboarder and amongst his friends, drugs and drinking were a part of the social culture that Sam was accustomed to. “I never thought that what I was doing was going to lead me in to digging myself in to a hole that I couldn’t dig myself out of.”
At 14, he developed a habit and system of stealing liquor from grocery stores. “I’d just walk in, wearing a sweatshirt, you know, stick alcohol in my pants and walk out. And I got away with it, a lot of times. I could not believe I was the 14 year old who was doing that.”
But Sam’s seemingly foolproof methods of stealing came to a crashing halt one day. “Something felt kind of off about it, walking in there.” He felt like people were watching him, but dismissed the paranoia and headed for the liquor, just as he had been doing for the past year or so.
When Sam began to walk out of the store, he realized he was being chased and yelled at by four “linebacker-looking” men. His bike was parked right in front of the store and he sprinted to it, hoping to get a running start and pedal away.
One problem: there was a sweatshirt draped over the handlebars of the bike. “The sweatshirt slips in to the front tire of my bike and it stops the front tire”. Sam consequently flipped forward on his bike, the glass bottles of alcohol smashing beneath him as he landed on top of them.
Sam didn’t stop though. “I was just fight or flight and I took off running. And I got away, I thought, but it was a long walk home.”
He was about two miles away from home, which felt a lot longer to him walking than it did riding a bike. “I had a lot of time to reflect on the person I was. And my parents didn’t raise me to be a thief, or any of that, and just real ashamed walking home.” But Sam also realized something else amidst his walk. “I realized that I had my dad’s cell phone that day, and I didn’t have it on me. I realized that it flew out of my pocket.”
Intervention for a Better Future
When Sam arrived home, he found his dad and a few of his sisters, along with their husbands, in the kitchen. Noticeably shaken up from the incident, Sam was “freaked out and on the verge of tears”. He tried to slide past their questions about where he had been and what he had been doing by going to his room.
But Sam’s family followed him inside (“it was like an episode of ‘Intervention’ or something”) and told him that they knew everything that had just happened. Since Sam had his father’s cell phone that day, the men at the store picked up the phone from where it had flown out of his pocket and immediately dialed the contact “Mom” to explain that Sam had been stealing alcohol. But since it was his father’s phone, the “Mom” that was contacted had been Sam’s grandmother. She was distraught thinking that Sam’s father had been the one who was caught stealing. “It probably nearly killed her.”
The guilt of putting his grandmother through the stress was completely overwhelming to Sam. “The weight of that just put me out for a little while. I didn’t even want to use, I didn’t want to get drunk, I was, like, wanting to start flying straight again, to prove to my family that I’m not this dirtbag kid.”
But the feeling of wanting to stop for good didn’t last long. Sam started abusing prescription medications heavily to the point where he was both physically and mentally dependent on them. Since the pills that Sam was using were mostly opiates, he said it seemed logical to “graduate” to using Heroin.
And once he began down that road, he was quickly addicted. “I couldn’t help but think, where did my life go? I had all these things I wanted to be and I wanted to get an education and get a good job and have a family and before I knew it, I’m just a dirty junkie who’s willing to do anything to get high again, and it’s a harsh truth to swallow.”
Moment of Awakening
But even with these moments of awakening, “little looks in to reality” as Sam calls them, he couldn’t stop the cravings and desire to go out and get high. Addiction had consumed him fully, often leaving him thinking “My life is over and I haven’t even lived yet, I’m still a teenager. I’m 17. I’m still in high school. And my life is over.”
Sam needed a way out, and he knew he couldn’t do it alone. “I got to a point where I was willing to get help…and thankfully I was out of options and was willing to listen to someone else and actually seek out some help. Because I spent all this time thinking that there’s no going back from the things that I’ve been doing, there’s no life after this for me. And I get in to recovery and I find out how big of a lie that is, that I’ve been telling myself for all this time.”
Sam went in to rehab with an open mind and willingness to get better. “It was an amazing feeling. I didn’t know that there were people out there just like me. And I had a moment right there where I couldn’t exactly explain how I was feeling because I finally had hope in my life.”
4 years and 3 months later, Sam is in recovery, sober and most importantly, happy.
“I built a life for myself in recovery. Instead of walking around with all this guilt about how bad a son I am, and how terrible a brother I am, and what a terrible person of society I am, I get to walk around knowing that my dad is proud of me, and my sisters are proud to call me their brother, and they can actually depend on me to do what I say I’m going to, and I can actually show up for life and have a little self-worth. I’m happy to be Sam today…it’s like life just started once I got sober.”
Sam’s journey has been anything but easy, but he has learned that there’s life after addiction, one that is good, and in simplest terms, possible. “You don’t have to live your life controlled by a substance. There’s a life free of all that that’s worth living.”
63 comments
What an amazing story. Stealing things can be addictive too and when your so young, I guess that’s the only way to be able to get drunk. Im happy to hear that his family stuck by him and are happy about when he is at in his life now.
Addiction is not an option even if your world is turning up side down. A complete life cannot be compared to a repaired life. This is because if a repaired life act, at times people will say it was as a result of what he or she had engaged in initially.
Excess of everything is what is called an addict. Addiction, should not be an option no matter the situation of things in life.
This is a great article. It contains facts
His life and story is a testimony that no everyone can be healed from addiction if we really wanna change
It’s always good discover oneself after each success. Thank God for your life
This is a perfect way to rebuild ourselves after addiction. Thank you so much detox for this.
It was truly a weird beginning for Sam, be allowed peers to influence his lifestyle during his teen years. It is very much good to hear that, Sam didn’t incur serious damage as to the use of hard drugs.
Life after drug and alcohol addiction is a very interesting one. It is one that this filled with progress and undiluted achievements.
Addiction to drugs and alcohol aren’t the ways out of depression. The only sure way is to believe in Jesus Christ and calling upon His name for help.
Thank God for the love showered on him by his family members. It actually assisted him towards recovery.
Life after recovery from an addition can be so boring, but with the help of family and friends you will find it interesting.
Drug and alcohol addiction shouldn’t dictate how one will leave his or her life. Thanks for this piece of information.
When parents divorce, I bet they have no idea how that affect the kids. That is exactly what happened to Sam. I understand how it feels when people try to cope with divorce of their parents. Some lean on hard drugs , alcohol, pornography and lots more. I’m sorry Sam had to go through this path. Knowing that he is now in recovery and sober makes me happy. 4 years and 3 months of staying sober is no joke. I’m glad he is happy and living his best life. Drug destroys
Life after recovery from an addition is worth living for. Sam’s story is truly emotional. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for this inspiring article. Detox to rehab is really doing well.
Instead of getting involved in alcohol and drugs addiction as a result of the parent divorce, it better to take the responsibility of their living together. Thanks for this piece of information.
I know the feeling Sam but good you were willing to go through the rehab for your own good and it was the best decision you took. Well done.
17 and your life is over? Wrong dude!!!! But then again drugs do that. Any addiction does that. Which is why we should avoid them and if you are in it get help early.
It is well with you Same. Quick recovery in Jesus name.
With any addiction it is always a struggle to cope. But believing that you can do better is all what needs to snap out. This is all what addicts need to know, be willing to get your healing.
Rebuilding of one’s life after addiction is necessary. Thanks for this piece of information.
Addiction is not an option to overcome the challenges of life. One can seek another better way to overcome challenges of life. And there is hope even when one is addict ed
There is no one without a story to tell. Ability to stand up and rebuild oneself again is what makes a man.
Rebuilding of one’s life is inevitable after recovery from alcohol and drugs addiction. Thanks for this piece of information.
One can overcome alcohol addiction if seeking good advice. Alcohol addiction is not the end of the life. Thank you.
Sam was determined to recover from drug and alcohol addiction. Thank God he was able to achieve it.
This article is very educative. Thanks to Detox To Rehab for this piece of information.
Addiction is a terrible and dangerous habit. However, it is crucial for one to rebuild his or her life after addiction. Kudos to Detox for rebuilding people’s lives.
This is very educative and useful. Of course, there’s always a life to build after drug and alcohol addiction. Thank you for sharing this with the public.
Life after drug and alcohol addiction is very necessary to give attention to. In fact this contents is very helpful and useful. Thank you.
It’s doesn’t matter how many times we fall, rising up each time is what matters. An amazing story here Sam, you don’t have to live in regret but rely on the family love is what matters. Glad you’re up and doing well.
Sam’s story is particularly touching. However, drug and alcohol addiction should be avoided as much as possible because of dangers involved. Big thanks go to Detox for the information.
Can’t help but be amazed at the major transformation in Sam’s life, from being an innocent adolescent to a chronic shoplifter and drug abuser and now he’s started on the way of mental and physical recovery through Rehab and gaining back his lost sense of belonging and purpose. Amazing!.
It is good to stay away from drugs and been addicted. Because been an addictive patients won’t help but cause havoc.
This is a great story. Addiction isn’t an option to anything.
So glad that you were able to rebuild your life after such dark moments… You deserve to be great.
Rebuilding life after addiction is quite hard but we have struggling with it,and focus on what your good life decisions
Addiction is really terrible and dangerous… It’s better to do away with something and diving deep into them
Good thing that Sam into rehab with good intention and open mind. I believe that helps him to keep going and recover.
This is an inspirational story about Sam. The main essence of recovery is to rebuild your ways for better future.
What an inspirational story. Been addicted to drugs and alcohol isn’t a joke but to overcome it is not easy but it is possible if you want to.
Thank you Detax to rehab for sharing these type of stories with all of us.
SO happy for Sam for finding recovery through sobriety. Hope he keeps progressing in his future endeavours.
No one doesn’t have a story to tell. But the moment the circumstances warranting it is been faced addiction is not an option.
One must know that addiction is for those in the darkness and there is light after that. Thank you for sharing this information here.
Happy for Sam for getting that quick intervention through recovery. Nothing beats having a normal after facing the consequences of addiction.
Let try and follow the right way out of our addiction. Thank you for sharing this information here.
Sam’s story is very inspiring. I hope other people who will watch this, experiencing the same, finds hope for their life.
When a person is addicted to something, it makes them act in ways they least expect. Sam found himself indulging in acts that he never thought he would have , but he should be grateful for his family intervention and the realisation that dawned on him to be a better person.
Sam’s story is a concrete evidence that one can get through any form addiction no matter all it takes is an intervention from a victims love ones, this matters a lot
What an experience this was for Sam. Addictions are scary to be honest. It’s like a leech mostly; hard to shake off easily. Thanks for this one .
When it comes to experimenting with drugs due to peer pressure I think most of us I our teen age have done it. The true challenge comes in when you get hooked, I just thank God I never got addicted.
Great to see Sam to have recovered.
A lot of children end up in a bad state after their parents get divorced. So unfortunate Sam had to experience this and ended up abusing substance, but I am glad he made a brave decision to go to recovery.
This is a perfect way to rebuild ourselves after addiction. Thank you for sharing this information here.
It now feels good to live a life drug free and having nothing to disturb your peace. It is the best way to live.
So happy for Sam’s resolution with his family and transition into happy living. I’ve definitely seen how skateboard culture and other influences can make it hard to find temptations, but it seems throughout it all, Sam still cared about his loved ones and felt guilty of his addiction. Really interesting story and very motivating. Thanks for sharing.
Rebuilding life after alcohol and drug addiction is really hard. It takes dedication and self control to pull through.
Life changes a lot when you become free from addiction. I am also struggling from addiction and I remember the kind of life I was living when I was free from addiction. I pray to Allah to grant me that life once again. Ameen.
Trying to cope with a lot of things at a very young age certainly leads some people to experience drugs or alcohol for the first time, and gradually becoming dependent on it to temporarily forget their problems for a while. Being the only son, along with many responsibilities and expectations his parents must have had of him, led Sam to such a dark spiral. I’m just glad that he faced the problem he had and worked really hard to rise above it.
Life is a little harsh on this boy, but his story tells everyone that no problems in this world is unbeatable, happy for his recovery and new life.
The fact that Sam went into rehab with an open mind is what helped him the most. The attitude one goes to with in rehab matters a lot.
It’s clear the intervention didn’t do much to help Sam. It’s his own self realization that helped him.