Early Introduction to Drugs
The first time Darren smoked pot was in fourth grade — when he was only nine or ten years old. In seventh grade, he tried LSD and Cocaine for the first time. He fell in love with how Cocaine made him feel that very first time and he did it a handful of times over the next few years. Marijuana, though, was a constant, and he continued to smoke it throughout school.
After he graduated high school, his drug use got out of control. Darren began regularly using Cocaine and addiction consumed him swiftly. When he started smoking Cocaine, he lost grasp of self-control. Even though he had a job, he was doing shady things to get more money to buy drugs with, spending around a hundred dollars a day.
Ups and Downs of Substance Abuse
When Darren joined the navy, he stopped using Cocaine and stayed clean for his full term. He wasn’t sober, though, because he picked up a drinking habit. He met and married his wife during this time. They had a child together and things were going alright, but when he hadn’t fully dealt with his drug use of the past.
It came back to haunt him later, when he left the military and began smoking Marijuana again, and within a year, Darren was using Cocaine again. Eventually, in his early thirties, he was introduced to Heroin and flippantly decided to try it out. A lot of people would be wary of a drug like Heroin, but Darren had played with fire already.
He used Heroin intravenously for six months, and this is what drove him to treatment for the first time. Heroin was different, which he realized quickly.
He only lasted two days in rehab; he wasn’t ready to really address addiction yet. He just wanted to get clean and stop feeling sick, so he went home and got off Heroin on his own there.
High Functioning—Addiction Sticks Around
While Darren stopped using Heroin, he continued drinking and using Cocaine. Most people who abuse substances at the same rate are unable to hold jobs or maintain responsibilities, but Darren was high functioning; he never lost a single job — in fact he did well at work.
High functioning addiction like this can be deadly, as it is easier to deny you have a problem if there aren’t many consequences in your life. Darren went on like this for many years.
Despite his success at work, he was eventually drinking a fifth of tequila a day and had uncontrollable shakes.
Acknowledging the Problem Honestly
Darren knew he didn’t want to live like that anymore, being held prisoner by Alcohol. He told his mom first, texting her that he was an alcoholic. Then he told his boss and the others in his life, acknowledging the reality of his problem.
He went through thirty days of an inpatient program and started attending meetings. After considering the deeper issues that were underlying his substance abuse, he saw everything in a new light.
He has been clean and sober for about a year and a half now. Darren realized that there is a difference between abstaining from drugs and Alcohol and dealing with the disease of addiction. To truly overcome addiction, you must assess the underlying reasons for it. You might get clean, but relapse is inevitable until you deal with the core of the problem.
If you have a drug or Alcohol problem, you can stay clean and sober too. Rehab and treatment are the best routes to truly setting the foundation for recovery. There are many options out there and tons of people who want to help you through.
Call (866) 579-7471 to speak with someone who can help you start this process today.
