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Drug addiction rehabilitation

hifinutt

hifinutt
Just wanted to share some positive thoughts about drug rehab . we see such dreadful sights with spice addicts in our streets and crime from drug addiction .

been having some gardening work done recently by a charity that works with ex drug offenders , one of the chaps was 19 years heroin addict and 4 years clean . so wonderful to see this work and how lives can be turned around .

some years ago i watched them giving out leaflets and without knowing it . they passed an open window with a handbag on the seat and did not give it a second look and yesterday the gaffer found a sterling silver ring and handed it in . most impressive really

bce7f8bce8844ca6f02de20622a045a460140922_2_375x500 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/158267783@N02/, on Flickr

the charity is called Betel

http://www.betelgardens.co.uk/
 
Yeah, always good to hear people overcoming difficult issues and periods of their lives and go on to live a 'normal' life.
 
We watched the movie "Beautiful Boy" last night, which was a very powerful and moving two-accounts melded of addiction in the family. Great soundtrack too.

Once an addict, always in recovery was the underlying tone.
 
I read the book beautiful boy a few years ago - very powerful book. It’s grest to read about folks turning their lives around. There but for accident of birth (lucky genes, parents, location) go all of us.

I think the parts of the book that hit me hardest we’re that the father had a list of all the phone numbers of the local police, prisons, hospitals and mortuaries that he’d call when his son disappeared for weeks at a time. That and the addiction counselor telling the father that very few who came through rehab for opiates or meth stayed clean and they’d spend decades in and out of rehab.
 
Ahh, I've just looked at the length of this and might move it to the book thread ...

It's great when people get clean. To get a positive head on, and to stop being a criminal and lying, involves more than putting down drink and drugs. Rehabs and counselling help. So do 12-Step meetings of NA, AA and CA, or therapy and meditation. A lifetime of resentments, which addicts have when they get clean, are so emotionally painful the chances are you might use again. It's important to unpack them.

I personally know three people who have written books about addiction. One is a friend called Michele Kirsh. Her book is Clean: A story of addiction, recovery and the removal of stubborn stains. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Clean-addiction-recovery-removal-stubborn/dp/1780723814/ref=sr_1_fkmrnull_1?crid=3RTCAGTDMP59C&keywords=michele+kirsch+clean&qid=1555168203&s=gateway&sprefix=michele,aps,146&sr=8-1-fkmrnull

Michele has had cleaning jobs since stopping using. She used to work as a music journalist for NME and wrote for The Times before getting sober. Clean is very funny and moving. It has had great reviews and she has been likened to a Nora Ephron for the modern age.

Here's a piece she did for The Independent on being a cleaner in London. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...-my-life-as-a-cleaner-in-london-a6708181.html

Another person is Simon Mason. His book is Too High, Too Far, Too Soon: Tales from a Dubious Past https://www.amazon.co.uk/Too-High-Far-Soon-Dubious/dp/1780576315/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1A92BDUC00ROY&keywords=simon+mason+books&qid=1555168468&s=gateway&sprefix=Simon+Mason,aps,140&sr=8-2

You can find out what it is like to sell drugs to famous musicians and at the same time feel like a complete junkie loser. It's a great book, apart from the fact that he supports Liverpool.

Arguably the best for insight into trying to get clean is by Barney Hoskyns. Decades ago he used to be on NME and he has written for The Times and Guardian. He has also done some great music books. They include Hotel California, which was the basis for a television series, Waiting for the Sun and a biog of Tom Waits called Lowside of the Road.


Barney's book on recovery is Never Enough: A Way Through Addiction https://www.amazon.co.uk/Never-Enough-Way-Through-Addiction/dp/147212555X/ref=sr_1_5?crid=2ZFM44PL85CA1&keywords=barney+hoskyns&qid=1555169034&s=gateway&sprefix=Barney+Hoskys,aps,143&sr=8-5

If you think drug addicts and alcoholics are weak people who just need to use willpower to give up, one of these books should set you straight.

Jack
 
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addiction from my experience has no class boundaries, and intelligence or lack of it makes no difference.

Sometimes the ability of addicts I have known to hide their 'issues,' from work colleagues and family has been spectacular.
As I get older, I do notice it is catching up with some people I know. Physically, mentally and socially.
The behaviour gets more extreme, the social circle diminishes until there is no one left.
I have had a few 'wake up' moments, and fortunately recognised the path ahead and changed course. This has meant losing some long time mates, but I didn't want to go down on that ship.
Good luck to anyone facing the challenge to change direction.
Then of course there is sticking to it... which I reckon is harder.
 
Nice thread, glad to see some support. Addiction should be treated like a disease or a psychological condition, not as a criminal activity.

Indeed, but likewise we should also not be blind to the terrible crimes, damage and costs to individuals, families and society that addictions can and do afflict upon others. It is often the criminal activities, driven by addiction, that we hear most about, and that may because of lack of subsequent reparations. This feeds folk (maybe whom have not been personally touched or close to someone they love going thru ravages of addiction), in becoming outraged and getting all Daily Mail about addicts.

The thing that grates with me is that every addict is fed to an extent be a profiteering society and big company greed. Sex, booze, drugs, gambling are all huge industries with massive profits. If the smallest fraction went back into education, prevention, counselling and reparations, these massive social problems could be eased for good of all.
 
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