"Great support"

I was doing well in life, I managed to fulfill my parents' and my dreams of owning a house. Life was going so well for me, having the house payments ahead and my car paid off.

I even had savings, until one of my relatives sat me down and said to try speed. I was nervous and scared and so humble I drank it. I stayed up all night and the next day feeling guilty because my parent had always said to never touch drugs. I had said to myself; I would never do that again, but never forgot what my relative said to me which is, it is good for losing weight.

Anyway, a long story short when one of my parent's passed away, I had the pressure of looking after my other parent and my younger sibling who was a young child at the time. I was going to work one day and nearly died due to being overweight and had a panic attack. I remembered what my relative had said about losing weight but not having done drug education in school, and with losing loved ones, family problems, and my parent getting re-married, I got heavily into drugs. It started small and increased without me realising where I have ended up.

Not knowing about the dangers of drug use and being dependant on it, I suffered making good decisions. I made threats to my family and being in a drug scene and my spouse putting DVO on me. I went through a period of time that I would never wish upon anyone. How drugs ruin friendships, family, reputation etc. Anyway, I’m sure all reading this will have their own story as to why they want to quit drugs/alcohol or any other substance use or addictions.

The first step for me was to start thinking about how and why I want to quit and the right people I can ask for help. I joined Shed Happens for Men and was told about Lives Lived Well (LLW) from a good friend who referred me.

This is how LLW have helped me in such a short time and supported me.

First of all, a non-judgemental atmosphere and their rules and regulations are something that I have adopted in my life. Our group sessions with Linda, Mark and Bec was a place I could be real and honest with myself and sharing with others in a safe place. The honesty and truth in sharing our stories are what stood out for me.

What was life-changing was the amount of information and compassion the facilitators had with trying to help us. There has been knowledge given to me about triggers and relapse coping skills. We discussed about isolation as a user and saw the amazing Rat Park Ted Talk. I learned from my wonderful counsellor, Linda, how to put in place Delay, Distract and Decide methods and also to know and love myself from within. I understand how to seek gratitude and of course my core values. The group sessions showed me about affirmations and how powerful they are. This is all positive for my life and now sticks with me and I practice these. My co-ordinators gave me many handouts that I can reflect on and my experience with LLW Day Rehab group was most helpful in me finding myself again and who I am. During group a lovely lady Barbara who was our Chef and from the goodness of her heart cooked healthy meals for us all in the group.

All this mentoring and finding my core values and simply start enjoying the finer moments and simpler things of life with my parent made me realise in myself and how truly lost I was. Now, I enjoy the finer and simpler things of life with full gratification for my country and community and family.

Thank you Lives Lived Well very much, I can’t thank you enough though I am still in early recovery. I have a purpose and a plan for my life again and have been abstinent now for several months.

Addictions come in many forms, please don’t be afraid to ask for help. We live in a very lucky country, never give up, say ‘No’ to things that want to destroy you or you want to get comfort from that are not healthy. If you are struggling, please just know there is help there. You can beat addiction a day at a time.