True Stories of Addiction: Joseph
Joseph grew up feeling he was the weird kid everyone tried to avoid talking too. He was bumped up grades because he was a fast learner and spent most of his time playing video games on the computer. He never really found a crowd he fit into or tried to make friends, because he feared being rejected and was too shy.
Once he was introduced to alcohol, however, his life changed for what he though was the better. Drinking alcohol made Joseph feel like a better version of himself. He could come out of his shell, make friends and meet girls when he was drunk. What Joseph did not realize was that alcohol was leading him into a way of life no one ever deserves to live.
The alcohol was not enough for Joseph anymore and he needed a greater high. He began stealing, which is a high itself, more alcohol and drugs to feed his addiction. Joseph was so involved in the alcohol and party scene he ended up dropping out of high school and spent all his day getting loaded. When he dropped out, he began to feel guilt and shame, because he knew his mom was disappointed. He noticed she stopped talking about him to her friends and saw the shame in her face when she looked at him.
Regardless of how his mother felt, he kept using alcohol and drugs, because that is what made him happy and want to keep going in life. Joseph’s drinking started to catch up to him and he had many encounters with the police. However, Joseph was a lucky guy and for some reason the police kept giving him warnings instead of taking him to jail. Because there were no serious consequences for his actions he figured doing alcohol and drugs was not causing too much harm in his life.
The Drug Heroin
Joseph was not afraid of anything as soon as he was introduced to Heroin, he felt invincible, like nothing could stop him from living life with his new best friend, Heroin. Shortly after he started using Heroin, he had to start stealing to support his addiction. He even kicked his mom’s door in when she wasn’t answering to steal money from her so he could get loaded. His life progressively got worse but he loved the high from Heroin so much he didn’t want to stop.
Consequences began to catch up with him and the police stopped giving him warnings and ended up taking him to jail on a paraphernalia charge. He spent 16 days in jail thinking what his life has become with a strong resolution to stay clean and sober when he got released. Not even four hours after being released from jail, he was high on Heroin once again.
This time around, his addiction took him to some dark places. He ended up stealing car from his friend’s mother who was just trying to help him. Joseph was beginning to realize what his life was becoming and felt so shameful and was filled with remorse. The night he was feeling bad about his life decisions he went to get high but for some reason, no matter how much he did, the high wouldn’t take the pain away- it was not working for him anymore.
Drug and Alcohol Recovery
Joseph was terrified because his only escape, Heroin, stopped working and he didn’t know what to do. He was scared and alone, so, he called his sister for guidance. Josephs sister agreed to meet him to talk about his life and what he was going to do to better himself. He went to Peter Piper Pizza and as soon as his sister laid eyes on him the tears began to stream down her face. She has been so worried about her brother’s life, it was a relief to see him alive.
His sister asked Joseph to go into detox and he agreed. He would usually have an excuse on why he couldn’t go but he was so tired of being sick and tired that he agreed to make this decision to try and change his life. Although he was not accepted into the detox program, it lead him to the halfway house that showed him a new way of life and how to be a man.
Joseph got a job, was able to pay rent and became passionate about others struggling with drug and alcohol addiction. He works a 12-step program today and loves working with other men to show them there is a new way of life. Joseph wants to let everybody who is struggling with a drug or alcohol addiction that they are not alone and he believes in you.
