I lost my whole, entire life: Recovering Addicts Share Their Moment of Clarity in Seeking Their Best Drug Rehabilitation
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Have you ever felt completely lost, then had such a strong moment of clarity that you knew exactly what to do? For recovering addicts, this moment often comes when they decide to enter treatment. Here are a few of the insights the rehabilitation graduates I spoke to shared with me about making the choice to seek a sober life.
The shock of a major loss shook Tiffany to her core
Tiffany’s substance abuse started at a young age and threw her into a world of drugs, prostitution, and gangs. She said she hit a lot of low points, but it wasn’t until her mother passed away that she realized she needed to get her life back on track.
“My breaking point wasn’t slinging dope, mutilating people or myself; it wasn’t gang banging, it wasn’t the prostitution. It was burying my mother,” she said.
Entering treatment was a sort of tribute to her late mother, who had made countless efforts to intervene in her daughter’s dangerous way of life.
“She chased me for 10 years and she tried to save me, because she saw something in me that I didn’t see for myself yet,” Tiffany reflected. “Today, I don’t have to live that way anymore.”
Kyle lost everything he had — and his family feared he’d soon lose his life
“Before I came to [Michigan for heroin addiction treatment], I was a pretty broken person,” Kyle confessed. “I lost everything I ever had — a loving girlfriend, an apartment. With all the drugs, I just lost everything. I lost my whole, entire life. I had a whole, entire life built up, and I lost it all.”
When his uncle died of an overdose, Kyle’s younger cousin told him she didn’t want to lose him, too, and implored him to get help. For the first time, he thought about changing the path he assumed he’d always be on.
“I took a good look at my life and realized where I was. I’ve been living this life since I was 14 years old, and now I am 23. That took a huge toll on my mind and my body. I always thought this was me, that this is what I was always going to be for the rest of my life,” he said.
It’s all about being ready to make the transition and not looking back, he explained:
“Because if you’re willing to come to rehab … then you know you are ready to change. That’s what my problem was: I was always second guessing my life, and now I know that that’s when it’s time to change.”
For Breanna, it was written all over her mother’s face
“The day that I chose to come to [treatment] was the day that I walked into my house and my mother just started crying. The look in my mother’s eyes — when I saw the disappointment and the upset, it was heartbreaking. And then I knew I had a problem, so I decided it was time to get help,” Breanna shared.
She admitted she was scared at first, but quickly realized she was in the right place. And she urges anyone on the fence about treatment to fight the fear and go for it.
“My advice would be to just take that step,” she said. “It’s scary, but the people here are only here to help. You just have to put that one step forward. Life is a beautiful struggle, and it is what you make it. You’ve got to be that change you wish to see in the world.”
Do you have a moment of clarity to share? What changed your life’s path?