Thursday, March 28, 2024

Stories Of Recovery From Addiction

Brians Drug Abuse Story

Joy’s Story of Recovery from Alcoholism

Brian, 56, from Hull realised he had a problem when his marriage came to an end because of his persistent cannabis use. Here is Brians story of drug addiction and how he achieved active recovery.

It was only when my ex-wife asked me to quit that I realised I had a problem. I was so sure that I could quit, you dont hear of cannabis being addictive, but I suppose because I had smoked for so long, it was part of my routine. I didnt seek help to start with I was so scared of being seen as a drug addict. My wife caught me smoking and the next day she left. Thats when I knew I had to get help. I contacted Port of Call myself and they talked me through the different options available. They were really understanding and not judgemental and helped me wake up to the fact that it was alright to reach out for help. Im pleased to say Im doing really well now, but only thanks to Port of Call and the level of support they gave me throughout my recovery journey.

Best 20 Books About Addiction Recovery To Read In 2020

Drug abuse and alcohol addiction are a serious disease that plagues millions of Americans. No matter where one may be in their addiction treatment journey, it helps to have peer groups and personal stories of others that understand what they are going through. This is also helpful for the friends and family members of those going through the recovery process. While self-help books are not a solution for long-term recovery, they can be very helpful for emotional sobriety throughout the journey of recovery. There is no replacement for a comprehensive treatment program for those that are struggling with substance abuse, but reading the true stories of those who have had similar experiences can be an excellent compliment to treatment. The team at BrightView Treatment Centers has pulled together a list of the Best 20 Books About Addiction Recovery to Read in 2020. Here are our favorites.

My Name Is Aidan And I Am A Drug Addict This Is My Story

I am 25 years old. I spent some of my childhood in Belfast, Ireland. I also spent some of my childhood in Edmonton, Alberta.

At age 14, I was smoking marijuana and tobacco daily, multiple times a day. Smoking marijuana helped me forget who I was, the feeling of getting out of my own skin was amazing. Since that first hit, I loved it. I knew then, I am able to get out of myself and I can use this substance to change how I feel, or not feel at all. Thats exactly what I wanted at that point in my life.

At age 15, I was smoking marijuana any moment I could and soon found out that everyone around me was drinking alcohol so I thought I would try it. I thought my parents and siblings drink so it couldnt be that bad. I drank so much that first time that I got very sick. Truth is I didnt like drinking but it was socially acceptable so I drank as much as I could. I couldnt seem to get enough. My drinking and using marijuana continued for two years.

At age 17, I began to wonder, I began to realize I was not good at school or sports, so what am I going to do with my life. I was hanging around with the wrong people who told me that I didnt need school and all I needed was them, and it will be alright. I believed them. I was looking for something to belong to. I felt at home.

A few years went by, which were the most eye opening years of my life, now that I look back at them.

We appreciate all the support we get, even if it doesnt seem like we do.

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Personal Stories Of Addiction And Recovery

SMART Recovery participants share their personal stories of addiction recovery from alcohol abuse, drug abuse, self-harm, and substance abuse as well as other addictions and unhealthy behaviors.

Do you have a story about how SMART Recovery has impacted your life? Share your addiction recovery success story using SMART Recovery with us, and inspire others to recover!

Share with us to post here on our site! Others will benefit from hearing your story and how you succeeded. Please email your story along with permission to share to

Please note that the views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily match those of SMART Recovery.

Read stories of SMART Recovery participants and their journey in addiction recovery.

Stories Of Overcoming Addiction

Recovery Stories  Helping People Recover from Addiction

The risk of relapse is highest during the first two years of your journey. Menon, J., & Kandasamy, A. . Relapse prevention. Indian journal of psychiatry, 60, S473S478. During this challenging time, it can help to remind yourself that success is achievable. By reading stories of overcoming addiction, you can find the inspiration to commit to your own success story. Whether you are on day one or year five of your sobriety, reminding yourself that you are not alone can help you stay focused on what truly mattersyour health and happiness.

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Jean Mccarthy: Blogger Podcaster Poet & unpickled

Jean McCarthy used to spend much of her life being pickled, defined by one dictionary as to be in a confused state of being not focussed a frame of mind induced by excessive intoxication by drink or drugs. Obviously, once Jean was able to overcome her drinking and she finally became sober, she became, by definition, unpickled, which was to become the title of her highly-acclaimed blog.

This was the first post to appear:

One Day Sober

Ive been here before. One day sober.

Ive even been two days sober, and once or twice in the past decade, three days sober.

I havent gone four days without a drink in over ten years.

Stay tuned. This should be interesting.

I Found Out Not Only Do I Have A Higher Power But I Also Have A Higher Purpose Its One Of The Greatest Feelings You Could Ever Have When You Really Know You Helped Someone

I stayed one more week, which turned out to be good because I was actually able to help someone. Thats when I found out not only do I have a higher power, but I also have a higher purpose. Its one of the greatest feelings you could ever have when you really know you helped someone. It was one of those WOW! moments. Staying that extra week, God being in control, my sponsor holding me accountable all those things led me to find something else I treasure a lot.

My sponsor keeps saying: Be proud. I dont want to be proud. Im the same as the next addict. Im still struggling with it. I cant stop the vultures from flying over my head. I still want to get high at times. Not as much now which is pretty cool. But Ive found that through the tools Ive learned reading, putting pen to paper, speaking up I can chase them away. They cant build a nest.

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Alone In A Room Full Of People

In fact, it was that very experience that has spurred much of Lauras best work: I found myself in an all too familiar position. In September, 2018, I was the only black woman in the room at Brave Magic, a famed writers retreat. After it was over, I wrote about my only one experience in The Huffington Post, and comments started flooding into my DM from people from all races, ethnicities, creeds, and nationalities who had felt othered.

In her podcasts, Laura interviews people about their own only one story in each episode raw, vulnerable, accounts from people who are like most of us, as Laura describes, We are eager to connect. This is a podcast for anyone who has ever felt alone in a room full of people which is to say, this podcast is for everyone.

To return to the concept of blog-writing as a way of giving back to the recovery community, Laura has this to say: The most crucial call-to-action in recovery is our charge to pass our experience, strength, and hope along to anyone that wants . People in recovery are great respecters of confidentiality . More than likely, any horrible, scary thing that you have to say will probably sound perfectly normal to me.

You can follow Laura on her website: TheOnlyOnePod.com, or through her other social media channels .

IMAGE SOURCE: https://sobersenorita.com/about

Will The Cravings Ever Stop

Lauras Story of Recovery from Alcoholism

Cravings are the intense desire for alcohol or drugs given formidable force by neural circuitry honed over time into single-minded pursuit of the outsize neurochemical reward such substances deliver. Cravings vary in duration and intensity, and they are typically triggered by people, places, paraphernalia, and passing thoughts in some way related to previous drug use. But cravings dont last forever, and they tend to lessen in intensity over time.

Studies show that craving has a distinct timetablethere is a rise and fall of craving. In the absence of triggers, or cues, cravings are on a pathway to extinction soon after quitting. But some triggers cant be avoided, and, further, the human brain, with its magnificent powers of association and thinking, can generate its own. Studies show that craving for alcohol peaks at 60 days of abstinence. For methamphetamine, it peaks at three months.

People can learn to resist or outsmart the cravings until they become manageable. There are strategies of distraction and action people can learn to keep them from interrupting recovery. One is to shift thinking immediately as a craving arises. Another is to carefully plan days so that they are filled with healthy, absorbing activities that give little time for rumination to run wild. Exercise, listening to music, getting sufficient restall can have a role in taking the focus off cravings.

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Eddie’s Addiction Story: 9news Reporter And Anchor Eddie Randle Shares His Story

My name is Eddie Randle and Ive always had a problem with drinking.

I feel like that dates back to maybe high school.

I remember being in my senior year, I went to a lake with friends, and the next day, I was vomiting because, of course, I was hungover.

I didnt really think, “Im never going to do this again,” to me, all I can remember was the effect that it gave me the night of, and I kept going from there.

I drank in high school, I drank in college, and I drank in early adulthood.

It just really never stopped.

Rock bottom came before I even quit.

I was working in Tulsa, and I went to a party that one of my friends threw at her rooftop apartment. I drove home and didnt make it home.

I crashed my car, my aunts car, into a tree, and I remember coming to when someone said, “I think theres a dead body in the car.”

I could have killed myself and I didnt. I could have killed someone else or hurt someone else, and I didnt.

You would think that would be my rock bottom, the reason, the day I stopped.

I stopped drinking and driving in any possible way, but I still went out and drank a lot.

Here in Denver, one day, one of my friends from the station was leaving, and I went to her going away party. I was drunk by the time the party started, and I ended up getting kicked out of that bar.

From that moment on, I really listened. I talked to a therapist, and I started my recovery journey.

My sobriety date is Nov. 3, 2018.

She said, “You already have because youre present.”

And Save Lives In The Process

To learn more about Adam Vibe Gunton, visit his website, Recovered On Purpose, at

https://recoveredonpurpose.com.

Remember long ago, before you ever acknowledged that drugs and alcohol were making your decisions for you? If youre like me, in the beginning of your drinking and using, you thought you were just partying and having a good time.

I took my first drink at age 11, then went on to snorting cocaine and smoking weed at 12 or 13, which continued through my years as a star high school athlete you know, just for fun. I couldnt have imagined I would eventually find myself homeless, kneeling on the floor of a crack house, staring up the barrel of a loaded gun, wishing the dealer would pull the trigger and end my misery. Or that I still wouldnt be able to get sober after I had my lifeless, ODed body dragged out from behind the wheel of a running car all recorded on a policemans bodycam.

As a kid, I didnt pay attention to the Just Say No campaigns or the D.A.R.E. people who gave talks at school. What did they know about my life? These police officers or teachers who have no idea what its like to be a kid now, telling me what to do? If only Id heard warnings from people I could relate to people who grew up like me who got seriously hooked on drugs and crawled out the other side to tell their stories. Them. I might have listened to them.

Mind Dump Story Vault

Categories

1- before addiction

4 – through the recovery process

5 – post addiction

Keywords

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Helping Others To Help Our Own Efforts

For some, it was their first exposure to Windows or MacOS. My duties soon shifted to assisting those who were interested in applying to Santa Barbara City College . Encouraging participation in EOP, applying for grants and searching for scholarships endowed for the disenfranchised to experience education without fear became part of duties.

With optimism for a new life, I felt sympathetic joy serving those who were once on the street or sacrificing soul for substance. This act of kindness shifted my perspective on what I desired in my own life, and how my personal support and advancement in the academic realm might be utilized to assist individuals in a situation similar to my own.

While addressing the initial facets of treating addiction, I believe a strong focus should be applied towards granting tangible hope of a possible quality of life for those freshly approaching recovery. There are some methods we already know will help: Implementing recovery programs over incarceration is a given, and of course one must first treat the physical ailments, followed by psychological and social strongholds of addiction.

We Do Recover And So Can You

Voices of Recovery: Eight Inspiring Stories of Life After Addiction ...

In todays world, we often hear more about whats going wrong than whats going rightespecially in the realm of substance use disorder. Success occurs outside the spotlight. At the Process Recovery Center, we want to shine a spotlight on success. We believe in the profound healing power of sharing. When we raise our voices, we not only validate each other in celebration, but we also show that recovery from substance use is possible.

Success Stories

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Now I Do What I Am Supposed To Do I Have A Sponsor I Text Him Every Morning And Every Night I Go To Meetings Regularly And I Write Step Work

I started smoking pot the summer before middle school. It was a good time. I didnt fall in love with it but it was fun. The DARE program had instilled in me that drugs are bad but I thought: Yeah, theyre not so bad. I met a girl who liked to robo-trip, which means you drink a bunch of cough syrup, and I started stealing a couple of my moms Oxycontin. That was the first time I did pills. Once again, I didnt fall in love with them but they were a good time. Some people say: I fell in love instantly. I never really fell in love with any one particular drug the first time I did it.

They Cheered Me On Supported My Recovery And Answered Any Questions I Had From Their Own Experiences

As young children, we are frequently asked: What do you want to be when you grow up? Instantly, our minds dart from a doctor or a lawyer, to a famous athlete, or even a rockstar. I remember feeling a jolt of excitement over the endless possibilities. Never once did I consider being a drug addict no child ever does. Unfortunately, it was out of my control and addiction chose me. After years of torture and pain I chose recovery.

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People Are Laughing And Its Like A Family Here The Women And Men Are Like My Kids Or My Brothers And Sisters There Is So Much Support

This experience has been amazing. I cannot say enough about the staff. The staff here truly care. When I first got here, I felt like I didnt belong. After the first day, that we all share the same disease of addiction. I could go on and on about everything Ive learned. Im inspired to do so many positive things. I want to go back and help my tribe. I would love to build a sober house and really involve myself with service work.

Addiction Recovery Workbook: A Simple Guide To Long Term Sobriety

Chris Herren Speaking on His Addiction Recovery Story | PeaceLove

Dallas Bennetts small workbook is not a substitute for professional counseling and recovery assistance but is rather a tool that his years as a substance abuse counselor inspired him to create.

Bennett understands that quitting drugs and alcohol is the easy part. Staying sober is where the difficulties lie. His workbook takes the approach of education and application, gaining knowledge about addiction and recovery, and then sticking to those lessons to apply them to your own life of recovery.

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