A Ten-Year Addict Gets Back His Life
An addict is not the same person he (or she) was before he began using drugs or alcohol. Addiction affects every aspect of a life, from personal values and self-esteem to future goals and family relationships. Barret experienced the worst that life could deal out in the ten years he spent as an addict.
He said, “Through my drug use I had lost track of my own principles and thoughts of who I really am. For ten years I lost track of who I was. I had been down and out for so long.”
When Barret found the Narconon drug and alcohol rehabilitation program, he found a way to turn his life around. With the Narconon rehab treatment lineup, he discovered the right way to come off drugs and to learn life skills that would help him far into the future in his life endeavors.
On the Narconon withdrawal phase, an addict is assisted in the withdrawal from his drug through nutritional support, one-on-one work with trained staff and unique relaxation techniques that make the withdrawal as comfortable as possible. Barret said, “When I first got here, the staff were really nice to me, explaining what the process was going to be. They were considerate of my cares, my needs, and my wants. When I got to withdrawal, they made sure I was getting nourished. They got me feeling better about myself.”
The next phase addresses the physical dependency on drugs or alcohol. The Narconon New Life Detoxification uses sauna time, moderate exercise and a certain proportion of vitamins and minerals to flush out residual drugs stored in the tissues of the body. These residues can remain for years unless eliminated and are known to be associated with the activation of drug cravings. Many say that once they finish this sauna portion of the program, they feel brighter, more clear-thinking and their drug cravings are greatly reduced.
The next phase of the Narconon program is life skills training where the recovering addict goes on an adventure of self-discovery. Through the courses, he learns many things about himself and he can come to his own conclusions as to why he ended up addicted to drugs. Building life and coping skills is important to going back home once you complete Narconon program and being able to maintain a drug-free life from there on. He can also learn to restore relationships damaged through his addiction and build toward his future.
Barret said, “About halfway through the program I started to see changes in myself, in my personality, and the way I treated people. This program showed me that you need to be the best for other people, to be productive and contribute to everybody. It made me want to become a better person.”
He continued. “When I finally finished the program I was on cloud nine. I felt like I got myself back again. While doing the program I constantly became a better person, became myself again—the Barret that I was when I was sixteen. This was the guy who would open the doors and pull out chairs for girls, instead of the guy who would ignore people and hide in his room. I grew as a person here. I became a great man again, the person I wanted to be. Now I feel I’m back and I can conquer anything and I can have anything that I want in my life.”
This is what the Narconon program is all about—giving an addict back his life and his future.
Barret completed the Narconon drug rehab program in Oklahoma.
