Confessions of a Crackhead - A Lesson in Drug Recovery

Many people beat the cycle of addiction and enter recovery, or a period of time when they're no longer using addictive substances. However, it's very common for someone who's entered recovery to relapse back into that addictive behavior. For Zach Samuels, author of the memoir Confessions of a Crackhead, going in and out of recovery was a fact of life.

As anyone who's been there can tell you, addiction is a hard animal to beat. It requires you to completely change your behaviors and get to the root issues of your addiction. And once you stop using substances and start dealing with the real problems, your stress levels can actually get higher.

You may feel like you have more to prove in order to show others that you're really committed. You may also feel additional stress of having to use new coping mechanisms for problems instead of medicating them away.

It can also be challenging to have good social health. Many of your friends were probably people who also abused substances, so you find that you must make a whole new group of friends or try to be around people who use the addictive substance you're trying to avoid.

In his memoir, Samuels shares what it's like to go in and out of recovery. He shares his experiences as well as the tools he used to break the cycle of addiction and remain in recovery.

When it comes to drug recovery, the main thing to keep in mind is perseverance. You should never give up - have hope even if you make a mistake and slip back into old patterns. Continue to press on and eventually the mistakes will be further and further apart.

When you're working to break your addiction cycle and live your life substance-free, it's very difficult, if not impossible, to do it alone. You need the support of those who are closest to you, but it also helps to have support from other people who have the same goal.

Entering a 12-step program, such as Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous, can provide that support for you. These programs work by giving you a structured plan for kicking your addiction and providing you with support in group meetings and with sponsors. In his book, Confessions of a Crackhead, Samuels helps readers to understand the importance of 12-step programs in his own recovery.

He describes his own path as he worked through each step of his recovery program. He also talks about the support he received from his sponsor and from attending recovery meetings. These programs can give you the hope you need to end your dependence on chemicals one day at a time.

One of the best things about 12-step programs is that they don't cost anything. You're always free to donate, but you're welcome to attend at no charge. And you can usually find a meeting in your area that's close and frequent - if not every day. That means that you can have the support you need on a daily basis.

And when you can't attend a meeting, but you need the support of the program, your sponsor can help you to get through the situation that's causing you to feel like going back to your addictive behaviors. 12 step programs work. They worked for Zach Samuels and they can work for you.

How does one who loves an addict; an addict who is still using and therefore in the problem help them get well and recover? How, you may ask yourself can I just stand by and watch them kill themselves day after day and not do anything to help? How you may wonder can you get them to see the light, see what they are doing to themselves and to others, and make them get help? You may have tried scolding them, lending them money, given them food, a place to stay, rides, taken them to detox or treatment, begged them to get help, guilted them, bribed them, taken time off work for them, reasoned with them, or many other means to try and control their behavior but still your efforts have not produced any long term results. How then do you help the addict you love get well?

I, as a recovering addict with 18 months clean have seen the frustration of my family in their attempts to help me get better after years of being in and out of recovery. I have gone for years of abstinence, and have had countless torturous relapses, times in which my family did not know whether I was alive or dead, living on edge, wondering all the time if they were going to wake up one morning to a tragic phone call from the police or see my name in the newspaper attached to embarrassing or deadly news. I have seen their pain and I have manipulated them time and time again in my sickness. Tricked them into getting money, shelter, attention, and any other help I could to continue using. It was often laid with the best intentions. Addicts can be very convincing. They will convince you without a doubt that they are finished using, desperate for help, willing to do whatever it takes to get well. But in order for you to really help them the main tenant you must remember is you must allow them to help themselves

The most important thing you can do to help an addict is detach. Anything you do to enable them-giving them money, shelter, food, rides, etc. will only prolong the agony for you and them because until they are willing to go to any lengths to take responsibility for their problem and do what it takes to help themselves, they will not get well. Enabling an addict gives them more time to continue using, plain and simple. Talking to them (as long as they are being respectful), telling them you love and care for them and are there for them, pointing them in the direction of helpful resources such as detox centers, treatment facilities, twelve step meetings, counseling services, shelters, food banks, are all fine, but do not give them anything monetarily, and do not do anything for them which will allow them to avoid helping themselves. Here's why.

Until an addict hits their bottom they will not stop using. Usually an addict must get to the point where they have lost something (sometimes everything) before they are willing to get clean. An addict must see, feel, and experience their own powerlessness and unmanageability in every area of their life (financial, relationships, emotional, etc.) and feel a sense of hopelessness before they can be open to new hope. They must be desperate and willing to help themselves and go to any lengths to get clean. They must take responsibility for their disease and be willing to walk the walk, (rather than talk the talk) do the work, and take action. They are master manipulators and will try every trick in the book to make you feel bad for them, guilty, and afraid and will try to avoid doing the real work, the hard work which is helping themselves. They will not get well until they do it for themselves and furthermore in enabling them you will not only delay the recovery process but rob them of the sense of accomplishment and pride from taking the necessary steps to help themselves and recover.

Finally, in order to help them you must be well too. Addicts can literally make the ones they love sick physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. So take care of yourself first and foremost so you can be there for them when they really need your love and support- when they are in recovery. You do this by going to meetings such as families anonymous, alanon/alateen, codependents anonymous, reading recovery literature, meditation books with daily reflections and affirmations for families of addicts, detaching, and taking care of your immediate needs in every area of you life. Help them by helping yourself. Love them by loving yourself.

Let go and let God.