Down the Rabbit Hole

The greatest tool in the prevention of substance abuse is knowledge. It would be unfair to make you accept my words without sharing my history, so I begin with my addiction story; the one I have told at hundreds of Narcotics Anonymous meetings. I began my life in an average middle class family and had the chances to do great things with my life but by associating with the wrong people and making some incredibly poor decisions, I wound up on the downward spiral path to self-destruction before being arrested for a crime I did not commit and given a shot at redemption in a rehabilitation program, at a point where I really wanted to change. I did not succeed the first time or the second but i refused to give up. I now have a dozen years clean of drugs. So I will take you into the world of addiction as I lived it for more than two decades and hopefully give you the tools to prevent a loved one from falling down this rabbit hole into a life of Hell. I also give some of the tools used during my recovery to help anyone in rehab get a better grasp on achieving a clean lifestyle. Definitions of street drugs, pharmaceuticals (most kids start out raiding their parents and grandparents medicine cabinets); their names, nicknames, the effects they produce and the physical symptoms a user will display. I also illustrate the most common reasons why someone will try drugs and how you can help them break the cycle of use. For the person seeking help with recovery, I have a whole section on how to affect real change to get out of the mindset which traps you in the drug world, common stuff that we often overlook is the stuff that foils our efforts. Once these steps are enacted they will help, then you have to deal with your own personal inner demons which can drag you right back in if you ignore them, and they will not be ignored. I also have some nifty websites and Facebook pages that are available to assist you with encouragement. I also have included several inspirational posters which were given to me over the course of my recovery and still reside on the face of my refrigerator and several convenient pages for you to jot down notes and complete some of the exercises if you wish.