A Story of Overcoming Addiction

 

I was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, up until the age of 12. Then my family moved to Gilmer, Texas.

Before I started doing drugs, I enjoyed sports such as baseball and football. I also traded baseball cards and enjoyed playing outside, just like any kid my age.

I especially liked helping my mom whenever she needed anything.

I really was a happy kid before getting involved with doing drugs. Starting at 7 years old, I used to love to fish up in Corpus Christi on a fishing boat. There were times when I caught the most fish out of everyone in my family. Since that time, I always loved fishing.

I started using drugs when I moved to Gilmer, Texas. I was around 13 years old.

With my friends, we at first started huffing with kids that I met in middle school and on my baseball team. We would go to each other's houses looking for stuff to do and got into huffing gas with gas cans that we found in the garage. We did this to pass the time and give us something to do, which eventually turned into something I couldn't live without.

This then led to being introduced to weed by one of our friend's dads, who essentially became our drug dealer, and we would buy bags of weed from him and smoke it.

Then I had other friends in school who also had parents who we would get weed from. We had to be very smart about this as, in some cases, the parents wouldn't sell it to us as we were so young, so we would send other people to go get weed for us. It was very easy to get drugs.

Then, when I was 14 years old, one of my friends found a big bag of meth in their parents' bedroom. At first, we didn't know what it was, so we had to have one of our friends show us what to do with it and how to use it. We then started smoking it, snorting it, eating it—whatever we could do to catch that high.

Drugs really took a toll on me and my life. When I first started using drugs, I would always start things but never finish them. I started withdrawing from the people I loved. I would pull myself away from the people in my life, from my environment, and my friends.

I got into the habit of just using all of the time, day and night. I would find ways to avoid people. Some people were outgoing when they used drugs. But for me, it had the opposite effect; I mostly got wild and crazy or completely withdrawn.

My mom was always really worried about me. She would call me all of the time. She was always upset with me. I tried not to be around her and stayed gone for days as I didn't want to hear from her what I already knew. I shouldn't be using. She would ask me why are you not eating? Why have you been in your room for 5 days and never come out, etc.?

December 29th, 2016, was a life-changing experience for me. I was high on meth in a Walmart, supposedly causing a disruption. I say "supposedly" because I do not remember that day as I was so strung out on meth. I got behind the wheel of my car and was headed to my dad's house in San Antonio. That day turned into a nightmare because I got into a car wreck and injured people in another car. I was so high that when I got in the car accident, I tried running away. I ended up getting charged with evading arrest and intoxication of assault due to hitting and injuring others with my car when I was high.

Even though this was terrible, I didn't immediately change. I still continued to use meth.

One day, I was posting stuff on social media and an acquaintance who I barely knew reached out to me based on one of my social media posts. She asked if I was okay. It was after that moment, I started having more people I didn't even know start to reach out to me trying to help me. I realized that I had hit my rock bottom and I needed to do something with my life and my addiction.

It hit me. I woke up. I was thinking that I was tired of this lifestyle. I was shooting up meth, I was tired of living this life. And this friend who had reached out to me on social media referred me to Narconon. I decided that this was what I needed. I was tired of it. I wanted to change my life, and it was with my mom’s help that I arrived at Narconon.

When I first arrived, I felt really welcomed. People were really trying to help me, and I started on my path to rehabilitation, doing the program steps exactly by the book.

Through the various steps of the program, starting with the detoxification, I went through stuff and got rid of the toxins in my body and started to feel great. It was at this point that things really started to open up for me. I was focused and able to handle more things.

Removing myself from the workaday world was exactly what I needed, as I was able to focus on me and bettering me. I had no outside distractions. I just got up in the mornings and would do the steps of the program. If you just show up and be present, everything literally is taken care of for you. All you have to do is show up.

Even when I was at Narconon, during my free time, I would fish at the river near the Narconon center. I would get up early in the morning and catch 5 or 10 fish.

The steps to my recovery and rehabilitation were very smooth. I was able to see things more clearly about my future, about what I want to do, and it helped me put more control on my environment. There were things that used to get to me, and now they don't.

At graduation, I felt I had a plan. I didn't go back home; I got a job, and I tried my damnedest to make it. I made my own way, I decided to do something, and I did it. It worked. I did my graduation program, I changed my environment, and I even volunteered at Narconon for a bit until I was able to find a place to live and get a good job.

I was looking forward to seeing what else I could accomplish in my life.

I was given a very tailored exit plan that was my program to follow after I graduated. Even when there were situations that presented themselves in my life, I did not deviate from this. For instance, I was living with a roommate and their son who had just gotten out of prison, and he smoked a lot of weed. I couldn't have this in my life, so I just aborted the situation and I moved out. Narconon helped me spot those types of people that were a bad influence in my life and would pull me down.

It is because of Narconon that I am able to choose the right friends and those that are a positive influence in my life. I found real friends. I was able to overcome problems in my life because of what I learned.

My proudest accomplishment is helping others and giving back to Narconon for saving my life.

I now have a great relationship with my family. I even connected with members of my family that I had never met before. I no longer shy away from problems anymore; I just solve them.

My favorite thing about being drug-free now is that I no longer have to worry about ever going back to that lifestyle ever again or going back to jail. I can be more myself and see more of who I really am as an individual.

“I am here years later, and I haven’t relapsed. I am a manager of a successful metal fabrication company that deals with United States infrastructure such as bridges, waterways, dams, train stations, etc. I am now a productive member of society ten times over.”

I am here years later, and I haven't relapsed. I am a manager of a successful metal fabrication company that deals with United States infrastructure such as bridges, waterways, dams, train stations, etc. I am now a productive member of society ten times over. This is my biggest win.

My advice to anyone suffering from addiction is to take a look at yourself and what you are doing and where it is going to lead you. Look around you and who is being hurt because of your addiction. Look at who is being affected because of your addiction. It is not just about you. There are others in your life who care about you. But more importantly, you must care about yourself or you are going to die. That is the goal of addiction. It is a trap. The Narconon program is a solution that can help you get out of the trap.

I was looking at death and a way out of my addiction. Narconon saved my life. It will help you look at those problems and give you the way to handle them. I invite you to take that chance. I did, and I will never regret it as it gave me my life back.

Eddie R., Narconon Graduate