Drug addiction and Treatment - My Story

Drug addiction and alcoholism plague society today. There are so many people that have problems with drug and alcohol and just may not be able to see it. Most people associate addiction with crime and lower society standards when in reality addiction is more a prevalent in middle class America than in any other portion of society. What is addiction? According to NIDA (National Institute On Drug Abuse) Addiction is a chronic, often relapsing brain disease that causes compulsive drug seeking and use despite harmful consequences to the individual that is addicted and to those around them. The term harmful consequences is a very broad statement, intentionally so. Harmful consequences can be things like driving people out of your life with your addictive behavior or alcoholic drinking. Loss of social life loss of job. I endured all of those things. The one constant was that I "needed" to get high to forget about how I had thrown my life away. What I didn't realize was that by fulfilling that need I was keeping my self in an emotional hole which caused me to need to use drugs and alcohol in order to forget about how I was ruining my life. That is the brutal cycle of addiction and alcoholism. The part of it that makes it so difficult to stop is 1) I didn't see that I had a problem 2) I was physically addicted. My body didn't feel right unless I had some substance in it. Finally I had backed myself in to a corner and was given a choice, I could either enter treatment or go to prison. The choice was simple. I could sleep in a bed in treatment or sleep on a cot in prison. I could be "free" or I could live in a cell locked up for 22 hours a day. You get the idea. For me the choice was simple. I was going to treatment. I entered Mountainside Treatment center in November of 2005. I remained in treatment for 11 1/2 months total. The difference between my life than and now is un measure able. I have a life now. I am truly free now. Free of addiction free from fear of legal troubles and I am enjoying life. For this alcoholic and drug addict the choice wasn't apparent in the beginning. But now I do not know how I didn't see what my life had become. I have been through the journey of recovery myself and know what it is like. I can help you take your life back. If you or someone you know is addicted to drugs or alcohol please contact me. I can help you find treatment options or alternative addiction treatment facilities for you or your loved one. Visit our site today. Mountainside Treatmetn Center.