Addiction is an illness that not only affects the person who is suffering with it but also those around them. A drug addiction is something that can leave physical and emotional scars and has far-reaching consequences.
Once a person develops a drug addiction, he or she may become so profoundly affected that they will begin to neglect their relationships with loved ones. They often find that their addiction affects their ability to care for their children or to carry out their work. Inevitably, relationships, home life and work life all suffer.
Children of addicts are also negatively affected, with many suffering emotionally for many years. Children of addicts often feel abandoned or unloved, and they tend to suffer in school as a result. These children often suffer from anxiety, loneliness, and depression.
Destructive Illness
Lee Finkle knows all too well how destructive a heroin addiction can be. At the age of sixteen, Lee began smoking cannabis. When he left school and found employment as a civil servant, he was still taking drugs and was using them to give himself more confidence. He met his partner and felt ready to set up home with her. However, despite the fact that he was earning a good wage, it was not enough for them to live on and feed his drug habit.
When Lee’s addiction led to him losing his job, he turned to crime to feed his habit and, even though he and his partner now had a child, he found that he was in and out of prison. As Lee began taking heroin, his relationship with his partner suffered.
After seventeen years together, Lee and his partner split up. He was caught in a vicious cycle of addiction and criminal activity that led to him being shunned by friends and family members.
Even after several stints in rehab, Lee would always return to heroin and, as he puts it, ‘that’s the power of heroin’.
Back on Track
Nonetheless, after years of suffering at the hands of a devastating drug addiction, Lee is clean, and he is hoping to get his life back on track. He attends the Fareham project ‘About Turn’. The project involves reformed offenders working as role models for other offenders. The aim is to stop individuals from re-offending and to bring some order to their chaotic lives.
Project co-ordinator, Roy Phillips says, “I look to identify those service users who show even a small bit of motivation to change. Then I encourage them with support, guidance, and training to work towards becoming a group facilitator at the About Turn project.”
Lee is now working as a group facilitator and says, “This group has helped me immensely.”
About Turn works with a number of other support agencies to help stop the cycle of re-offending.
Addiction Support
One of the biggest problems for addicts is learning how to break the cycle. Many addicts who have lost everything because of their addiction will keep returning to crime to fund their habits. Unless they get help for their addiction, this cycle will continue and will see them in and out of prison while continually taking drugs.
Nevertheless, if they can access the treatments they need, they can learn how to live without drugs and learn how to cope with the pressures of everyday life.
Rehab Helper is a free service providing information, advice, and support to addicts and their families. We work hard to make sure that those suffering from addiction can access the most suitable treatments based on their circumstances. If you have an addiction and want to beat it, contact Rehab Helper today for more information on how we can help you.
Source:
- http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/local/back-on-track-after-heroin-addiction-1-6812693
