My name is Jack and I am an addict.
Over the last 9 years I have been abusing all types of drugs. I started off just smoking cannabis with my friends in the local parks every few days. As addiction is a progressive illness it went from every few days to every single day quite quickly. I thought because of the stereotype around cannabis I would be fine, I could smoke it every day and I wasn’t an addict. This was until I realised cannabis just wasn’t enough for me anymore. I progressed into cocaine and party drugs. At first this occurred maybe once a week but again that progressed quickly until I was using in my room on my own mostly everyday.
I realise now I was just using drugs to cover up my emotions, I didn’t like to feel negative feelings and of course drugs make you feel good. But after abusing them for so long they no longer make you feel good anymore. You start to feel ashamed and guilty about what you are doing to yourself and the people around you. It took me a long time before I realised the damage I was doing to myself and the people around me. I found myself getting addicted to morphine. This was my rock bottom , that drug was the final straw. It made me deceitful, angry and emotionless. The damage it caused on my relationships was so bad I am still trying to repair it now.
Luckily the last 2 years of my addiction I was begun attending 1:1 sessions with Open Road Young Persons Service in Southend. This was huge for me as I had never gotten help for my disease before and I didn’t know there was help. Attending these sessions planted a seed in me to eventually want to get clean. For a while I didn’t want to but something in the back of my mind must have for me to keep coming back to sessions. I am so grateful for Open Road as they got me socialising with other addicts and made me feel like I wasn’t on my own which was something I had felt for years.
Early 2024 I met James, he was my new key worker at Open Road and my life changed from that first session. I identified so much with him and it just came at the perfect moment I was finally ready to stop. With his help and the help of other people I finally got clean. Like I said before I am so grateful for this service it has given me the opportunity to live my life again. I am so happy now and I’ve gained so much in life since getting clean. I’ve made so many new friends , I’m no longer isolated and I’m no longer imprisoned by substances. I strongly urge anyone struggling to come to Open Roads Young Persons Service and just try it out. If it can work for me it can work for anyone.
